A beneficial self perpetuating circle of learning is initiated. Observation makes better drawing and drawing motivates better observation . . . . Children only learn to see when they are free to stop looking at their paper as a mistake. They have to observe and totally become the thing being drawn. Children often need help to learn that observational drawing is much different than drawing from memory and drawings from imagination.
Observational drawing is based on external data.
The data must be allowed to come from the subject. In other types of drawing, the data comes from within. When data comes from within, the information emerging on the paper can also be an important source of additional ideas for development. This is not so true in observational drawing. When the student begins to see creative ideas in the work instead of only mistakes, the student has been set forth on a path of self-learning and fulfillment.