He just likes to draw

Oct. 28, 2020 –

In Maureen Nelson’s second-grade classroom at Sanfordville Elementary School, students can bring something special from home to share with their classmates on their birthdays.

Sometimes it’s a favorite stuffed animal or maybe a family photo from a favorite place.

For Griffin Luthin, that something special was a binder filled with almost 60 of his drawings.

“The students enjoyed seeing all of his drawings and were impressed by the realistic drawings and detailed coloring,” Nelson said. “He definitely is deliberate and careful to illustrate pictures that help tell the stories he writes during our Writers Workshop time. He enjoys learning in all areas and is a pleasure to get to know and work with.”

The drawings in the white binder were not part of a school project. Griffin just likes to draw. When in-person school closed last March, he decided to start watching videos on how to draw different subjects.

Animals, both real and imaginary, are Griffin’s favorite subjects to draw. His binder includes drawings of a bunny, a pigeon, a tiger, a monster and Sonic the Hedgehog. The drawings are all detailed and colorful.

“I like doing the How to Draw videos, and I like drawing,” Griffin said. “It makes me feel proud when I finish.”

Griffin’s classmates also like the drawings, although he did not have time to show all of them in class.

“They were like, ‘How did you do that?’ and “How did you do all of those?’ Griffin said.

Griffin has also impressed his art teacher at Sandfordville, Leah Mednick. He drew a few of the animals last spring when Mrs. Mednick was doing live drawing sessions online.

“Griffin is that student who gets so focused in his artwork, he doesn’t notice that time has passed,” Mrs. Mednick said. “He loves to work up until the last moments of class finishing his artwork. Griffin spends a lot of time on detail and loves to draw. It is so much fun to watch Griffin grow as an artist. His enthusiasm is contagious!”

Griffin likes to draw with oil pastels because they make it easy to stay in the lines and to color without missing spots. Putting the drawings in the binder was also Griffin’s idea.

“This was my kindergarten binder,” Griffin explained. “I took out the kindergarten pictures and then just dropped my drawings in (plastic) pages. This is my whole collection. It’s all right here.”

Actually, the whole collection is not in the binder. His best drawing was of an eagle and he gave that to his father to put on his locker at work.