Artists For Kids

Contemporary artists should be a part of any art education program. Melanie Smythe is an artist from Texas. She is a botanical illustrator who loves to draw flowers. She uses many techniques including pencil, pen, ink, graphite crumbs on mylar, watercolor, colored pencil, computer drawings, etc. Her work is called scientific illustration, which accurately depicts plant life found in nature. Scientific illustrators are always telling a story using drawing and composition to visually explain the structure, organization and relationship of an object. Smythe works together with scientists to be able to interpret and reconstruct her images with accuracy. Her art work is a great addition to art education since she applies creativity to science. Smythe brings art to kids by participating in Abrakadoodle’s Artist of Distinction program.

What Kids Can Learn From Smythe
(Art for Kids)

Melanie Smythe studies each flower before drawing it. Children can learn so much about nature while observing a flower. They can learn about the flower’s structure while using different techniques to represent it. Children can learn to use watercolor by blending colors, creating value with thin overlapping strokes, drawing lines, texture and more while painting a flower. Melanie’s art helps children appreciate nature by representing it through her unique style – a blend of creativity and science.
Smythe inspires creativity in children with her style which uses dots instead of lines. She teaches children to use this technique of applying hundreds of dots in a pattern to produce a flower. The dots are put closer together to make the image darker, and farther apart to make it lighter. This technique is called stippling, and children learn how to represent light and shadows. Her style lends itself to art education at its best!
Learn more about her work at: