Morning Sharing – Tuesday 1^st November 2022

Good morning, Principal, Teachers and Students. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you today.

In the past, I have shared my love of art and comic books with you all. I have told you that I think reading comic books can really help you improve your English reading and comprehension skills. I have said that comic books can help you understand stories and use Past, Present and Future tenses better. I have said that one picture is better than one thousand words when you want to explain something in English. I think all of those things are true but today I don’t want to just talk about art, I want to talk about DRAWING. Just picking up a pencil and some paper and drawing; drawing faces, drawing people, drawing the world around you. Or even just drawing designs. I want to talk about how drawing can help you in ALL of your life NOT just learning English.

In my time with Sun Fong Chung College I have seen many students who are good at drawing. I am really impressed with how good many of you are good artists.

But many of you still say to me, “Oh, I cannot draw! I have no talent for drawing.”

But I say, So what?! Who cares?!

Draw even if you are not good at it.

Draw BECAUSE you are not good at it!

Draw even if you have no talent.

I love drawing but I am not good at it. I am not talented at it. But I still draw and so should you and here is why…

Drawing makes you pay attention. When you draw something you REALLY look at it. You really think about it. You realise that things that look simple are not simple at all. You realise that complicated things can actually be quite simple.

When you draw people you realise that everyone has an interesting maybe even a beautiful face. You may ask why is that important but it is important because it helps you see the best in people, the beauty in people. When you draw a mountain or a river or a tree or a house you ask yourself why is this mountain, river, tree, house beautiful? Or why is it ugly? It makes you appreciate the world around you.

Drawing also helps you concentrate. To work on one thing for a long time. Concentrating is a skill. How long can you do one thing before you get bored? Five minutes? Ten minutes? Thirty minutes? Do you just stop, or can you keep working even if you are bored? When you draw, you concentrate on one thing for a long time. It is very tiring but you get better at it and it helps you concentrate on everything. This is a very important skill to learn.

Drawing helps your DEXTERITY. You may not know this word DEXTERITY (spell it). It is how good you are at doing things with your hands. For example; writing, making things, fixing things. I’m sure you all know people who can do amazing things with their hands. Maybe there are amazing things you can do with your hands. Drawing can help you with all of these things.

And lastly, drawing can make you happy. When you draw a picture you make a small piece of art. You make something new and it is all your work, nobody else’s just yours. So if you draw a picture (and you should) keep it somewhere safe with all the drawings you do, so you can look at them in the future and see how you have become better at working with your hands, paying attention, concentrating and at art.

Thank you for your time and I hope you pick up a pencil soon.