|
  |
|
|
The art of children – a wonderland of the imagination
By Tony Mcgregor
Put a crayon and a blank sheet of paper into the eager fingers of any little person and they are likely to create something wonderful. In the child's early years this wonderful thing is likely to be very fresh, very natural and uninhibited. And that's what gives these creations their charm. As children grow they begin to internalise a lot of expectations from the grow-ups around them, often to the detriment of the drawings they produce. By this I mean that the drawings tend to lose some of their spontaneity and therefore their charm. Researchers into children's art are starting to define certain stages that children will go through in their discovery of their artistic abilities and the range of their imaginations. One model posits these stages: 1.Scribbling – this is what tends to happen when you give a one-year-old a couple of crayons and a piece of blank paper. They tend to make scribbles which have meaning to them and possibly not to anyone else. They do tend to show some understanding of colour and how colour works, though. 2.Pre-symbolism – this is the stage when the child will start to draw shapes and lines which he or she will interpret as a person, often themselves. This stage usually starts around age three. 3.Symbolism – this phase is when the child will start to create its own “vocabulary” of symbols for things around it or in its imagination. Each child will tend to develop their own unique set of symbols which they will elaborate as they grow in skill and understanding. This phase starts at about age five and lasts perhaps until about age eight or nine. A notable feature of this phase is that the child will attempt to “ground” the drawing by drawing a base line on which the figures of symbols will stand, or to which they will be related. 4.Realism – in this phase the child will attempt, usually under prompting from an adult, to create “realistic” images. It is during this phase that some children will stop drawing because they start to feel inadequate, that their drawings do not live up to their own expectations or the expectations of significant adults. My daughter Caitlin, who at the time of writing is almost eight, is firmly in the symbolism phase and draws enthusiastically from her imagination whatever is important to her. In doing so she is creating a world of meaning and beauty which I am finding quite fascinating. The attached illustrations are some of her more recent drawings. As I am not myself an expert on art or on the art of children, I make no claim as to the merits of these drawings as art. What I do find though, as a student of people, is that they represent interesting aspects of a child's world of meaning. I also enjoy Caitlin's use of interesting details in her drawings, details which add to the meaning of the pieces and show her attempting to grapple with the world around her and her own perceptions and wishes. It is a fascinating period of growth for her. |
     
An early, transitional painting between the pre-symbolism and the symbolism phases
Caitlin drew her bedroom. Note the carpet on the floor and the light switch on the wall.
Note the caterpillar eating the leaves of one of the flowers!
Two figures and a snowman. Caitlin has never seen a snowman in real life
Faerie and flower
Mermaids. Look at the details she has included like the turtle, the jelly fish and the seaweed!
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
No reactions yet.
Please login or sign up to rate this intel.
Please login or sign up to add a comment.
I think Caitlin has talent, Tony. She should be encouraged as much as possible.
Thank for sharing this great story,Tony.
The breakdown of the stages and the images bring back many memories.
Keep up the good work.
Best to you.
Frederick
When an elephant in a zoo first earned thousands of dollars for a single painting, it was no longer necessary to think about the merits of art. Caitlin's drawings are darling, as I am sure she is also. Thanks for sharing.
The copyright for this content entitled "The art of children – a wonderland of the imagination" has been specified by the contributor as:
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
Details 
This content may be copied and distributed (but not modified), as long as a) it's for non-commercial use and b) the original author is acknowledged with a link back to the content page.
If you use this content according to the license specified, you must link to the following URL:
http://tonymac04.qondio.com/
|
 |
February, 2012
| | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | | | | |
|
2008
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2009
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2010
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2011
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
2012
January, February
|
|
Not a member yet?
Qondio is a powerful network for making it online. If you have a website to
promote, we can help.
Sign up and get in on the action.
|
|
Welcome to Qondio! Discover the awesome power this network can deliver by going to our About page. Or you could skip straight to the Sign Up form.
|
|
