[Nfb-krafters-korner] Braille Drawing cont'd...

[Jewel S.]

I know most of you have gone on from talking about Braille drawing,
but it is actually one of my favourite crafts, so I can't resist
continuing the talk about it with a book I found on Bookshare.org
today.

Braillables: A Manual for Parents and Teachers - Techniques for
Teaching Drawing with Braille
by Marie Porter

>From the book: Braillables are pictures that are brailled by people
who are able to braille them. They are outlines, sketches, sculptures,
drawings, artwork. They are a creative expression that uses a
necessary skill of blind people. They are fun to do, easily shared by
sighted people, and they give an added dimension of freedom in using
what can be a very rigid mode of communication. Blind people can draw
in a medium over which they have complete control. Drawing with
braille builds skill in reading, in interpreting charts, maps,
diagrams, math and science figures. For those who pursue it, drawing
with braille encourages imagination, creativity, a feeling for
abstraction, perspective and proportion--all elements necessary for
good concepts of objects, spatial relationships, and, ultimately,
skill in orientation and mobility. Braille has an aura of mystery
about it which isolates the reader. It can be austere, unpenetrable, a
symbol of struggle and pain both for the blind person and for the
family and friends. There is a coming together, a sharing, a breaking
down of barriers when two heads bend over a picture of a dog and both
the blind person and the sighted person see it as a dog. That is the
fun of it.

I started reading the book today, and have already drawn an apple, a
boat and a bus, and a very cute pot-bellied pig. Oh, and a Christmas
tree, of course.

The great thing about this book is that it not only gives directions
for increasingly more complex drawings, but it teaches the concepts
behind creating the drawings. For example, the first drawing is an
apple. The main concept is learning to make a rounded shape. With this
concept, you could then go on to create a baseball, a balloon, the
Olympic rings, and much more! The next picture is a boat, and it
teaches about proportion and placement, as it shows you how to add
water under the boat. The bus teaches further proportion and realism,
as well as more basic things like how to draw tires (they're easy!).
With this knowledge base, you could go on to make your own car, truck,
ship, or maybe even a plane! Since it's intended for children, the
concepts are simple and perfect for beginning artists.

I hope you will check this book out. It is wonderful, and the scan
quality is perfect as far as I can tell.


-- 
~Jewel
Check out my blog about accessibility for the blind!
Treasure Chest for the Blind: http://blindtreasurechest.blogspot.com