Chameleon Art

 

What does Art have to do with a good education? I enjoy the arts, but I tend to think of art as a more frivolous pursuit. A luxury for the affluent. I value more highly the subjects that I associate with production; Reading, Math, Science. These subjects have real practical applications. Skills in these areas keep food on the table, they keep people alive. 

Art has been added to the STEM education acronym for a while now, making it, STEAM education now. STEAM stands for: 

S- science

T- technology 

E- engineering

A- art

M- mathematics

I am coming around to seeing the practical value in learning art. This experience shows my progress:

I saw a really nice picture of a chameleon in a board book that I rented from the library for my 2 year old. I really wanted to try my hand at drawing this chameleon, just for fun.

It was fun, but I really had to slow down and pay attention to details. That is a practical skill that art helps to develop. Observation, noticing differences, and minute details are valuable skills. Paying attention to details saves lives! 

Art also exercises one's creativity. Creativity also has practical applications. Being creative helps develop new products and come up with solutions for problems.

I made some step by step drawing instructions on how to draw a chameleon for my children.

Easy Version 

This is the easy version with obtuse shapes and stick legs. 

Step 1. Is draw a rectangle for the body.

Step 2. Add sideways U shape for the head and a tail. Make your tail spiraled or tapered.

Step 3. Add a hood and stick legs. Make elbows/knees point towards one another. Draw the toes forked like an upsidedown letter Y.

Step 4. Draw the face. Chameleon mouths point down, so, give your chameleon a frown. Draw a sawtooth line of points down the back and down the chin/belly.

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