There are a few books I love because they capture the spirit of what I try to promote on Kid Can Doodle — a love of drawing. One is Laura Carlin’s A World of Your Own, part picture book, part how-to-draw manual. It is exactly the kind of drawing book I wished I’d written, for its fearless drawing philosophy. The other is I Don’t Draw, I Color! by Adam Lehrhaupt (Paula Wiseman Books), about a child with a knack for coloring. What really makes this book come alive is Felicita Sala’s vivid, expressive artwork. Take a look:
I Don’t Draw, I Color!
by Adam Lehrhaupt & illustrated by Felicita Sala
The child artist claims he’s not into drawing, “I don’t draw, I color.”
But as he shows us how he colors, we start to believe otherwise. We see that he actually has a colorful way of drawing. He knows how to express himself through color.
I think the image above of color bursting out of him/her is genius! I know that many people regard a “good” drawing to be representational, but as this story shows, there is more than one way we can draw well. It’s what we aim to show you on Kid Can Doodle, and one of the reasons why we love this book so much. The book also teaches us about color: how it can change mood, add drama, and how it can add vibrancy to our drawings.
Images from I Don’t Draw, I Color! by Adam Lehrhaupt with pictures by Felicita Sala, courtesy of the artist. To see more of Felicita’s work, please check out her website.
For more on color, please see our 3 & 1/2 Questions interview with Marion Deuchars, about her book, Color.