drawing by Françesca at age 3
I wanted to do a post about the drawings that my children made. I have an incredible amount of them (drawings, that is, plus five kids). The first thing was to choose and scan and crop and choose and scan and crop.
I chose drawings that use pen (as well as pencil) because I am always so moved by the expressive output of such a simple medium. I like the sharp lines — like in etchings. I like the blue color. I am amazed about the sensitivity in the lines, especially when you look from close up. Then I gathered some drawings from different children, and scanned them and cropped them. Then something else came to my mind. How they change in time as the children grow older? Which age do you like best? Which drawing?
drawing by Olivier at age 7 (now he’s 18)
. . .
drawing by Sarita at age 10 (now she’s 20)
I tend to prefer the artwork by youngest for the beauty of the lines, but the middle one I find moving because of the expression — it’s parts of a series of portraits. What do you think of the last portrait? Interesting that she made the skin color with pen as well.
. . .
Note to Parents Children’s art is an appropriate subject for Art & Perception, but not all subject matter on Art & Perception will be suitable for children. The children’s content from this blog, plus other artwork by children, appears on a blog devoted to kids called Child and Art.
The child and Art link did not open
Birgit,
I noticed this too. It seems to be a temporary problem with the web host, because it affects more than my sites. I’ve contacted the web host. If they can’t explain what is wrong, or if it happens regularly, I’ll get a new webhost.
Thanks for reporting the problem. I appreciate this kind of feedback because it allows me to see what kind of service we are getting.
The Child and Art site is working now. There was a problem with the server. The support team at the web host is studying why this happened.
Hanneke,
I never saw any of these drawings before.
The first one is very curious, with the figure on the left with hair flying about the figure on the right. I like the way that the figure on the left is mixed-media with pencil and pen. It is interesting the way that, except for the hair, the different media are used for distinct features.
I think the second drawing is quite expressive. Interesting that it has a “frame” around it. The expression seems a bit down for a seven year old to make.
The third drawing captures my imagination less than the first two. I think that is because it is a much more literal drawing of a person, but without elements of style that I react to in the way of the previous drawings.
Hanneke,
I like this drawing by Sarita better.
Hanneke,
Do you have the materials to compare drawings done by different children of the same age? I think the stages of development of the brain is fairly standard among children and it’s natural that Sarita’s age 10 drawing would be quite different from Oliver at age 7, But I’m wondering if it’s possible to differentiate between the children who seem, for example, to use line in specific intentional ways as opposed to those who play without any patterns in their usage.
I am afraid I’m still with Arthur in thinking that most children aren’t artists, at least not within the definition of artist that I use. That they in their play stumble into artfulness, that I do believe. I also think I could come to believe that perhaps specific children work with art tools until they come to use them in very intentional and specific ways, which we might only know because we see a pattern of use.
I wouldn’t expect a child to articulate about what they do, but if they are to be called artists rather than playful animals happening into intriguing drawings, then I think a pattern that differs from the norm or perhaps simply a pattern itself should emerge. Am I making sense?
It’s an interesting and difficult topic and perhaps Sunil, with his interest in vision and neurology, could add information. I read an article he had posted on his blog last night and found it wonderful — here’s his blog url; the link works from there.
Sunil Sunil?
It’s amazing that both I and my husband grew up affectionate drawers, starting as young as 2, standing out from the classroom throughout childhood and ending with artistic careers, while our daughter, now 3 just not into art at all. I was really impressed with the first drawing you have posted as my daughter all she does is scribbles and cannot draw any type of shape yet.
Despise of this she is advanced doing other activities.