Every year I get myself a birthday and a Christmas gift, and I encourage you to do the same. Nothing is quite as awesome as opening your gift, giving yourself the thumbs up in the mirror and saying "It's just what I wanted. Thank you, me!"
Just kidding, I don't go that far. This year I bought myself the Klutz Spiral Draw Book, mostly so I could get birthday bonus points on my Indigo book club card. Klutz books are great because they come with everything you need to get started right away and the materials are good quality, plus, they're just fun. It comes with a drawing book, a spiffy six colour pen and the drawing gears. Perfect for the impatient childor adult. Amazon has a picture of the older version, which was spiral bound and had three gel pens with it.
Even though this book is Klutz proof, it's not without a couple of flaws. First of all, I didn't even realize the book came out of the package! Doh! Secondly, the frame needs to be held down quite firmly and the paper needs to be as flat as possible, so don't be afraid to bend the book open. I could see this being a challenge for younger children. On more than one occasion the gear slipped under the frame (woe!) and then when drawing near the binding of the book, the gear wouldn't turn all the way. No problem though, because the drawings don't need to be perfect. In fact, you don't even have to make a whole circle to make a cool picture.
It would have been nice to see some blank pages in the book, as it is illustrated with cartoon characters throughout. The Klutz editors were very thoughtful though in making it appealing to girls and boys and adults.
There's a zen quality in creating for the sake of it, especially when the results are so random. Nowadays people tend to plan everything down to the tiniest detail, so happy accidents were just that. I found myself absorbed in making round after multicolored round of shapes, so much so that I barely noticed the time passing. That kind of relaxing, imaginative play is the most priceless gift of all.
Just kidding, I don't go that far. This year I bought myself the Klutz Spiral Draw Book, mostly so I could get birthday bonus points on my Indigo book club card. Klutz books are great because they come with everything you need to get started right away and the materials are good quality, plus, they're just fun. It comes with a drawing book, a spiffy six colour pen and the drawing gears. Perfect for the impatient child
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| No batteries, AC Adapter or expansion set required! |
Right way I began making these masterpieces. Clearly, the cover of my next book is going to have a lot of spirals.
Even though this book is Klutz proof, it's not without a couple of flaws. First of all, I didn't even realize the book came out of the package! Doh! Secondly, the frame needs to be held down quite firmly and the paper needs to be as flat as possible, so don't be afraid to bend the book open. I could see this being a challenge for younger children. On more than one occasion the gear slipped under the frame (woe!) and then when drawing near the binding of the book, the gear wouldn't turn all the way. No problem though, because the drawings don't need to be perfect. In fact, you don't even have to make a whole circle to make a cool picture.
There's a zen quality in creating for the sake of it, especially when the results are so random. Nowadays people tend to plan everything down to the tiniest detail, so happy accidents were just that. I found myself absorbed in making round after multicolored round of shapes, so much so that I barely noticed the time passing. That kind of relaxing, imaginative play is the most priceless gift of all.
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