Saddle Up and Draw

Besides being a Professional Visual Artist since 1989, Paul has also been a full time school teacher for over 16 years. He has taught Art to all grade levels from Kindergarten to Grade 12, as well as Adult and Art Education for Seniors, and in the Indigenous Community.

Upon the outbreak of the Covid-19 Pandemic in March of 2020, Paul needed to bring his Guided Drawing lessons online for his K-8 students. His first attempt, with little video, was entitled, “Let’s Draw a Snail!"

Paul says, “We had just told the students one day in March, to pack up their things - as the feeling was that it would be the end of the school year. I felt like every teacher, in that I’m going to have to quickly figure out how to recreate my class on video. It troubled me immensely that children were going to be isolated for the rest of the school year, so I decided to create a YouTube Channel, where anyone could access my drawing lessons. I was pleased to learn that students in other countries such as Finland and Italy are trying them.”

This first attempt at making a video was the day after the children were sent home at the outset of COVID. It was a wobbly attempt in my classroom - a drawing of a snail on a smartboard, but I suppose we might consider this the “Pilot “episode:)

All of Paul’s guided drawing videos are based on Alberta Education Curriculum. While it may seem like students are simply drawing nature, many learning outcomes are addressed. In terms of Visual Art, Paul’s drawing instruction covers much in the K-12 Fine Arts Curriculum in Alberta, and can benefit all students, as this is the general statement of what a Fine Art Student should learn in Alberta:

Throughout the grades, an articulated Fine Arts program involves students as creators, performers, historians, critics and consumers. The Fine Arts enable students to enhance the depth and breadth of their expression and intuitive response to fine art.

Art with Raspo also is relevant to the learning outcomes of Grade 1-4 Science, where it covers Needs of Plants and Animals, Light and Shadow, Animal Life Cycles, Wetland Ecosystems, and Air & Aerodynamics, also Grade 9 Biological Diversity.