early childhood art
DESCRIPTION
Early Childhood Art. Rhoda Kellogg. “I merely want you to observe that it (visual language development) is universal and is found not only in the scribbling of children but everywhere the making of signs has had a symbolizing purpose—which is from the Neolithic Age onwards.” Herbert read. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Early Childhood Art
Rhoda Kellogg
“I merely want you to observe that it (visual
language development) is universal and is
found not only in the scribbling of children but everywhere the making of signs has had a symbolizing
purpose—which is from the Neolithic Age
onwards.”
Herbert read
Evolution of Graphic Representation - Kellogg
Basic Scribbles – Visual interest is an essential component of scribbling, whether on not it is primary.
Placement Patterns – Require a well-defined perimeter, a frame of some kind.
Emergent Diagrams to Diagrams
Consider this
Emergent
Diagram that
can lead
children to
create Diagrams or shapes.
Consider these
Emergent
Diagrams that
lead children to
create Diagrams or shapes.
Simple shapes (Diagrams) are
prevalent in young children's artwork. They repeat theses shape often as a way to use
them in a new way.
Diagrams are put together to create Combines (two shapes)
Examples of
Combines are
readily found in
young children’s
drawings and
paintings.
More than two diagrams placed together become
Aggregates; eventually leading to early Pictorials.
Examples of
Aggregates are
readily found in
young children’s
drawings and
paintings.
When a child discovers that she can make designs,
she draws confidently and
with real flourish. This design has
everything—circles, squares,
triangles, crosses, and shapes that
defy classification.
Simultaneously, young children are
experimenting with Mandalas,
Suns and Radials which eventually become their first
attempts at portraying
the human form—among other
representations.
• Mandalas
• Sun
• Radial
Mandalas
The Sun symbol is repeated in all
of these pictures—
though some are faces, some
are purely decoration, and some could be big fat spiders lying in wait for
Little Miss Muffet.
Radials can be common
asterisks, plants with fronds,
Fourth of July explosions, or if the center of the
radial is expanded, a familiar sun.
This pensive sun had its origin in a
painting of the sun. One of its elongated rays
forms the stem.
This is a mandala-type human. The
parts are arranged to fit beautifully in a circle. The lines
at the top right of the painting complete the circle, not the
human.
There is charm in a child’s early
Humans. Whatever his treatment of
arms and legs and faces, the total effect is always “good
design.”
Note of overall balance found in
these early human forms. Consider there predecessors:
Mandalas, Suns, and Radials.
Children’s early Pictorials are
not mainly based on
observations of objects and
persons in the child’s
environment.
Aside from Humans, the
early pictorialism of
child art may be grouped under the following
headings:
Animals
Buildings
Vegetation
Transportation
Four suns, drooping smoke, and
exaggerated rainbows may be necessary to
give balance to children’s
compositions. The first four drawings have in
common the remarkable sense of
spacing which is natural to children.
The drawing in the upper right of the hungry cowboys home from the
round-up shows perfect balance if
not perfect etiquette. And what could be more balanced
than the picture of the houses
frolicking around in logical disorder!
Objects found in early pictorials are not drawn or painted as
they are found in the
environment, but in sizes needed to complete
patterns or achieve other
aesthetic goals.
The critical period in child art is
between the ages of five and seven.
The child who feels free to use the colors and basic shapes
which please her will continue to
flourish artistically when she moves into pictorial work.
As a result of her research Kellogg contends:
• The uniformity of child art throughout the world leads me to believe that the human mind is predisposed to remember—that is, to like—certain variations and to discard others...child art seems to be a balanced, self-regulated source of stimulus, at least until adults attempt to guide it.
• Humans are not drawn from life, nor are they crude, immature, stumbling efforts in art. They represent an advanced stage of the child’s evolving mental capacity to create complex Gestalts of great interest to the human eye.
• Again, drawings do not accurately reflect children’s conceptions or perceptions of objects. Consider “task demand analysis” proposed by Golomb.
Viktor Lowenfeld
“...It is
through
the process of
art that art
itself unfolds.”
“It is not the
adult’s
answer but
the child’s
striving to her
own answer that is crucial.”
Lowenfeld
Scribbling Stage
• Motor activity utilizing large muscles
• Kinesthetic pleasure• Looks away while
scribbling• Utilizes drawing
surface; sometimes scribbling beyond paper
• Ignores previous marks
• No attempts at human representation
Disordered Scribbling
Controlled Scribbling • Smaller marks• Repeated
motions• Watches
scribbles while drawing
• Stays within drawing area
• Draws around previous marks on the page
• May concentrate on certain parts
• Prefigural marks made—circles loops...
Named Scribbling • Relates marks to things known
• Holds tool between fingers
• Identification of subject may change in the process of making
• Scribbles placed purposely
• Empty space may take on meaning
• Lines become edges of shapes
• Scribble may be identified as a person
• Action may be named; such as jumping, running
Preschematic Stage“A different
method of
drawing has begun with the creation of form; the beginning
of graphic communication. Now children are
consciously making forms that have
some relationship to the world around
them.”
Lowenfeld
“Although it is not clear just how the person symbol
originates, the universality of the circle for the head and the two lines representing legs
gives support to the notion that this is
somehow biological in nature; that is, all
children, either through their sight, hand control,
or cognitive development, make surprisingly similar configurations for a
person.”
“The drawn symbol is not particularly influenced by the
real world.”
“At times children will regress to an
earlier stage...growth is never a smooth
process.”
Lowenfeld
• Objects seems to float around page
• Paper sometimes turned or rotated while drawing
• Size of objects not in proportion to one another
• Objects are distorted to fit space available
• People are looking at viewer, usually smiling
• Distortion and omission of body parts is to be expected
• Clothes, hair and other details expected by the end of this stage
“Any motivation
should make the
art experience
much more than
just an activity; it
should stimulate
a child’s
awareness of her
environment and
make her feel that
the art activity is
extremely vital and
more important than
anything else.”
Lowenfeld
Kindler and Darras
Art Production is Multimedia
• Biologically and culturally propelled.
• Children do not lose their earlier approaches to art production, but incorporate them or return to them as needed throughout their lives.
• Art production is a blend of graphic , verbal and kinesthetic expression that reveals the child’s thought processes.