The Creation of Imaginary Worlds by Claire Golomb begins by discussing the evolution of child art. I found that the imagery discussed in this chapter were all familiar examples of child art. The connection the reading made for me was how that specific imagery often falls on a timeline of common ages and experiences. Also differentiating mark making and drawing was helpful to know because I had always assumed children drawing were trying to depict something they observe. I had not considered that they were making marks just because they had recently discovered the crayon, pencil, marker, etc. could do that! I also appreciated the acknowledgement in class by Mrs. Brinn that age doesn’t always correspond with the stage of art making the child is at as speed of development into these stages varies from child to child. I know when I was four years old, I was drawing Fred Flintstone and Woody Woodpecker quite well. I was well past the tadpole and trunk figures stage at that age. By the time I was ten I could draw very realistic human figures and I continued to develop my art skills through high school. My friend’s daughter also excelled past the beginning stages of art making quickly. I believed she would do as well if not better than I did in art. But she is a teenager now and never really progressed further than where our book shows a seven or eight year old artist's skill to be. So I feel our reading this week gave structure and understanding of the progression a child makes when learning to create art, but I don’t believe I will I will tie on an age to that expected level of development. I also don’t feel inclined to believe all children who excel early in their art making will go on to become great artists, much in the same manner I choose to believe children who develop slowly may in time take their art making practice much further than a child who excelled early on. What a great revelation to have.
I feel that this Chapter really does show how much motivation and encouragment play a role in the development of a child's art, and that talent early on can eventually be lost if not kept up and those who may have started off behind the rest can surpass other students with their effort. This just shows how important it is for us as teachers to push our students to do more and to push themselves, even if they are ahead of the rest. It is also important to keep the material new and interesting in order to compete with the number of other things, such as clubs and sports, that an take up a child's time as they get older.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you used the chapter and applied it to your own life and then to compare it with another child. It is a great example of how people learn at different speeds. You also showed how the phrase "if you don't use it you lose it" applies to art just like any other subject. Children development is such an interesting subject, especially in art. When children make art through their lifetime it is physical proof for caregivers to keep that displays what stage of artistic development they were in at that time, and I think that is fascinating!
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