All children go through similar phases of artistic expression: leaving the first accidental marks, deliberate scribbling, and drawing. Victor Lowenfeld, in his classical book, Creative and Mental Growth, offers rich knowledge and developmental tables.
He recognized, and referred us to, constructing forms and compositions that accumulate as the child grows. The process is not necessarily linear. There are slow transitions and mixing of phases, and it is not perceived as regression.
His tables may reassure teachers and therapists in an era when there are many unneeded measurements and competition.
From my observations, especially as an art therapist, I can say that each person will have their combination alongside universal development. Sometimes, different phases might be related to an emotional context. Also, there are some cultural differences. Japanese children, for example, have exceptional hand motor skills, perhaps because of the use of chopsticks?
Or, in Morocco, I noticed ornamentation in boys’ and girls’ drawings at younger ages than we see in Israel, Europe, or the US. It seemed like a natural echo to the rich cultural visuality.
The process presented here is of a boy in the pre-schematic phase. This means that shapes and forms, when taken out of his composition, will lose their meaning. We will not know that it is a wave, a cloud, and/or rain. In this phase, lines and shapes have a context only within the general drawing.
This child is particularly interested in how things work. He rarely plays with toys, except for Lego and cars. He prefers real tools like screwdrivers and hammers, watching how to fix a car, chop up a salad, vacuum, and doing things at home like father and mother. He asks a lot of questions about natural phenomena. One can admire the human wonder and how, with very simple lines, children can explain complex natural phenomena.
Just as we rock babies to sooth them (and quite often, I believe, ourselves too) scribbles can be a part of soothing ourselves. It can be the rhythmic feeling of the body moving, the sensory stimulation of fingers in/on materials, or the vibrations sensed through the tools used. It can be the delight experienced by the eyes or ears as patterns form – the patterns, the sounds… even the smells.
Whether it be doodling to maintain focus while listening on the phone, or to a lesson or lecture… or intentional scribbling, where the individual sits down to create… Many times it is a part of a process to feel calm, to self regulate, to feel good or to maintain focus.
From a brain point of view things that feel good, often feel good because the brain wants you to repeat it again. Doing things over and over is one of the ways the brain learns and evolves. Making connections.
Scribbling, doodling and drawing, especially in things like sand, mud, ooblek, whisked aquafaba, salt etc offers multiple stimuli for the brain. The fingertips pick up the vibrations and texture of the materials, and senses how it moves. The eyes observe the actions of the fingers – traces and tracks appearing that impact how the finger continues – just as both Nona and Roberta have previously shared in their posts.
We should never hurry this process of scribbling – in those scribbles lie the roots of writing, maths, and music – as well as a growing ability for sustained attention. Watching the squiggles, taking joy in impacting the outcome, exploring the possibilities of what their own fine motor skills allow them to do…
Scribbles ought to be valued more, so that children feel safe to scribble and doodle when they feel the need without the adult gaze or judgement of peers limiting their freedom to soothe themselves through art and/or movement with art materials.Providing sensory materials can often open up the door to this scribble freedom. To simply enjoy the process of making marks and tracks in diverse materials – whether that be sand, food, paint or any other sensory material that allows this experience that frees a child from the must-do feeling of having to draw something.
My observations of young children over the years has shown me that scribbles have a kind of magical quality to them… sometimes they are just a scribble, sometimes children observe their scribble and assign a symbol to it – an animal, flower, human, or number/letter – depending on what their eyes convey to the brain. Often I find children start writing almost before they start drawing… small tiny symbols start appearing in rows – lines, almost circles and squiggles, representing letters and words. Sometimes the scribbles, drawings and writing are interwoven on the same piece of paper… small intentional figures and things start to appear, that moves into a sensory need to scribble and end with a few intentional symbols – especially those children with older siblings or in mixed age groups.
I really cannot sing the praise of mixed age groups enough for the genesis and growth of the children’s scribbles and drawing in an organic and joyous manner – that frequently leads to children teaching themselves and each other how to write with only the supporting hand of an adult.
Only one thing is certain – that the written language of children develops in this fashion, shifting from drawings of things to drawings of words. The entire secret of teaching written language is to prepare and organize this natural transition appropriately…Make believe play, drawing, and writing can be viewed as different moments in an essentially unified program of development of written language. Lev Vygotsky, “The Prehistory of Writing,” an essay, c. 1930 in The Mind in Society, 1978
Scribbling is an essential part of this process, as I already wrote it is like the roots, nourishing the soul of drawing, writing and expressing opinions and emotions. The roots don’t stop growing or evolving, just as a plant grows visibly upwards and outwards, so the roots grow downwards and outwards. Scribbling is something we need throughout our lives, and is not simply a phase of the very earliest years of childhood.
What is the relationship between hands, eyes and the mind while drawing? So intriguing, isn’t it? The deepest essence will probably remain a mystery, but still we can know something about. Let’s start from the beginning.
The first lines emerges from a movement that leaves a trace of itself, or better, from the awareness of the sign left by a movement, as Nona Orbach describes in her post Genesis of line. The mind is involved since the early experiences in terms of awareness and intentionality, but the main player is the body.
In fact, all the basic scribbles drawn from 2 years old (accurately described by Rhoda Kellogg), derive from the natural movements of the child’s hand and arm, without the need of eye-control. The directions of lines correspond to the spontaneous articulation of wrist, elbow and shoulder joints.
Then, another important player soon comes in. It occurs when the child is drawing on a precisely delimited area, like a sheet of paper or any kind of surface with a well-defined perimeter. Here the eyes have an important role. After the child has drawn a scribble, the sheet of paper will send him back a visual stimulus. This will affect the next drawing step, which in turn will create another new stimulus and so on.
Is the scribble in the center or close to the edges? Up or down, left or right? Horizontal or vertical? All this information can arise from the relationship between the scribble and the paper area only if the scribble is placed within a defined context: the child – perceiving the sheet of paper and the scribble as a whole – consequently reacts according to their relationship. Seeing a set of different things “as a whole” is a natural characteristic of human perception, studied by the Gestalt psychologists.
That’s how the process of drawing develops like an amazing play with its inner rules, continuously going back and forth, a series of mutual “provocations” and reactions: it is the the flow and play-frame of drawing that Suzanne Axelsson described in her post.
In this stage, the action of drawing implies the hand’s movement and visual perception, with no other cognitive or symbolic aspects involved. Thus, asking “what have you drawn?” makes no sense here.
Later on, as the drawing process unfolds through its next stages, this first active role of the eyes, as well as the importance of the body’s movement, will not disappear but progressively interweave with new skills and interests, like for example the symbolic or realistic representation. In fact, the aesthetic question that adults or even mature artists deal with, is still connected to the same “rules” of our visual perception (as well as to many further aspects, of course).
In his book Art and Visual Perception, Rudolf Arnheim explains it very well, putting the Gestalt perception theories in connection with visual art works. For example, if we have a very quick look at the picture on the lower left, we immediately know that the circle is not in the middle of the square. How?
Our eyes do not “measure” the distance between the circle and every side of the square for comparing them, but see the two geometric shapes “as a whole”, perceiving the asymmetric position of the circle in relation to the square.
Besides, there’s more. We also perceive the circle a bit unstable, or unquiet, as if it wanted to reach the center… or as if the center was attracting it. It’s because the visual perception is a dynamic experience: like a stone falling into the water, every element creates a kind of force lines and attractive points (for example the corners of the square, its median axes and its center, as shown in the upper right image). All of us have dealt with this kind of visual balance sometimes, maybe composing a greeting card: a little further… the text is too high… maybe these two ones are a bit closer… perfect!
From the first scribbles of a child to the greatest masterpieces, from a toddler educator to the master of an art academy, let’s always observe with wonder and respect the constantly evolving process of drawing, one of our most precious gifts as human beings.
As a play-responsive educator I view children’s drawing with the same respect as I view children’s play. In play-work there is the theory of the “play-cycle”, where the idea to play first manifests in the imagination, a play cue is then signalled and responded to, which evolves into a back and forth of cues and responses that becomes the flow. This flow is found within a frame – a space that is physical/mental/emotional surrounding the flow (so it is not a fixed space but moves with the play).
The flow of the play can be interrupted, annihilated in playwork language, by the cue not being responded to, or the frame being destroyed interrupting that flow. For example, a child may see a ball, get the idea to play catch, pick it up and signal to another child, through words or gestures, and throw the ball to that child. This child then responds by catching the ball, and sends a new cue when throwing back the ball to which the first child responds to by catching. Flow is created as the ball is passed back and forth. The space that the children are playing in is their frame. If an adult (or a child) were to step in the middle of this frame/space there is the potential for a new cue, or for the flow to be ruined.
As play-responsive adults, we have the responsibility to protect the frame to allow the children’s flow to continue until it comes to a natural conclusion, or it is paused to continue later or another day. We can use the same theory when children draw.
A child could see pen and paper and be inspired to draw something. They pick up the pen and begin drawing on the paper, the paper and pen respond by marks appearing. Sometimes the pen and paper do not behave the way a child expects and therefore sends a cue back to the child, which the child can respond to (or not). A flow develops between the child, the pen and the paper.
Just like in play, this flow is found within a frame. The flow can be disturbed by an adult (or child) sitting too close, or by asking questions about the drawing, or by moving the materials. Our role is to facilitate the children’s flow. This means we need to be aware of both the flow and the frame, and also the flow and frame of all the other children in the same space so that we do not cause the flow to decay prematurely.
This is the first of many posts of a project about the language of drawing in a collaboration betweenSuzanne Axelsson, Nona Orbach and Roberta Pucci, where all our voices will be shared via our websites/blogs to share our collective wisdom. The blog posts are translated in five languages:
Si trovano in quasi tutte le case, le scuole, gli zaini. Sono accattivanti e facili da usare, non necessariamente per disegnare qualcosa di riconoscibile.
Quanti tipi di punti, linee, segni si possono inventare? E in quanti modi i segni si possono distribuire nello spazio a disposizione? Seguendo queste sollecitazioni, “Io non so disegnare” o “Io non so cosa disegnare” non sono giustificazioni valide.
In quanti modi si può creare una forma o riempire uno spazio di colore?
Proviamo a esplorare tutti i movimenti possibili con il polso, la mano, il braccio, e ad osservare le tracce lasciate dal pennarello durante i movimenti. Si può anche muovere o ruotare il foglio sottostante.
Ogni segno può essere ripetuto con diverse combinazioni per formare delle texture, con diversi gradi di rarefazione o addensamento. Probabilmente, quello che man mano prenderà forma sulla carta ci darà nuovi stimoli per continuare.
In quanti modi possono interagire punti e linee? Un punto è una linea in movimento, o come diceva Paul Klee “una linea è un punto che è andato a fare una passeggiata”?
Che differenza c’è tra disegnare attraverso delle linee e disegnare attraverso delle campiture di colore?
Chi guida: l’occhio, la mano o l’idea? In che modo i colori si attraggono e si richiamano a vicenda?
Nel mio atelier, vicino ai pennarelli, c’è a disposizione una piccola scatola con dei cartoncini bianchi. Alcuni sono già disegnati, potrebbero essere uniti in un libricino a fisarmonica o restare sciolti per un uso più agevole in contesti di gruppo. Questo “kit” si è rivelato uno strumento molto utile nelle situazioni in cui i partecipanti sono inizialmente un po’ inibiti dal foglio bianco e non sanno cosa disegnare, perché fornisce uno stimolo per cominciare.
Il modo di presentare i materiali è un aspetto fondamentale, che in qualche modo condiziona il processo creativo. Come sono esposti i vari toni di colore? Sono tutti visibili? Nel caso di un gruppo, in che modo i componenti hanno accesso agli strumenti? Anche il contenitore è un elemento importante, che influenza la percezione del materiale contenuto. Da quale tipo di contenitore preferiresti scegliere un pennarello e perché?
Ho notato che a volte, in contesti di gruppo con i barattoli di pennarelli sui tavoli, i colori non vengono scelti con attenzione e i pennarelli non vengono rimessi a posto dopo l’uso. Questi inconvenienti scompaiono presentando i pennarelli su una lunga striscia di carta piegata. Si possono mettere a disposizione anche delle strisce più corte ad uso individuale, sulle quali ognuno può posizionare i colori che ha scelto. Le strisce di carta sono anche molto comode da ripiegare e trasportare.
Come scrivono Nona Orbach e Lilach Galkin nel libro “Lo spirito della materia”, la caratteristica principale dei pennarelli è la possibilità di ottenere un buon risultato con il minimo sforzo. Di solito questo materiale non suscita esitazioni, piuttosto permette di sperimentare il piacere di creare con facilità un prodotto soddisfacente. L’immagine risulta pulita, esteticamente piacevole. Inoltre, i pennarelli sono particolarmente adatti a una funzione ornamentale o decorativa. Ciò è significativo soprattutto per le persone che manifestano una propensione ad organizzarsi attraverso il ritmo e la ritualità.
Un’altra caratteristica è che il segno del pennarello non si può cancellare. Questo potrebbe generare timore o ansia in certi adulti o bambini che vogliono ottenere un “bel” disegno secondo i canoni convenzionali. Tuttavia, una volta superato questo atteggiamento (magari anche grazie agli stimoli proposti qui), il fatto di non poter cancellare diventa proprio la molla che può liberare il segno dalle aspettative, lasciando spazio a un’espressione più fluida e spontanea.
A questo punto, spero che vi sia venuta voglia di prendere un pennarello in mano, perciò… buon divertimento!
Questo articolo fa parte del progetto Grammar of Drawingdi Suzanne Axelsson, Nona Orbach e Roberta Pucci, ed è stato tradotto in 4 lingue:
They are in almost every home, school and backpack. They are attractive and easy to use. It is not necessary to “draw something”, that is representing something recognizable (just a reminder for those who get stuck with I can’t draw or I don’t know what to draw).
How many types of points, lines and marks can be invented? In how many ways and patterns can these signs be placed on the sheet of paper?
How many ways can we cover an area with colour or create a shape?
Try to explore all the possible movements of your wrist, hand, arm and observe the traces left by the marker during the movement. You can also move or rotate the sheet of paper below.
Each sign can be repeated creating various types of textures, thinning out or thickening the signs that compose the texture. What is gradually taking shape in the sheet of paper, will probably give us new suggestions for continuing the work.
How many ways can points and lines interact? A point is a moving line, or as Paul Klee said, “a line is a point going for a walk”?
What is the difference between drawing through coloured lines and drawing through patches of color?
Who leades: the eye, the hand or the idea? Does a colour “call” another one?
In my studio, next to the markers, there is a box with small sheets of paper: some of them are already drawn on (and eventually joined together, like in the picture above). In some situations, where the participants do not know what to draw and need a stimulus for starting the process, this “kit” can be a useful support, providing a starting point easier than a large white sheet.
The setting and the way of presenting materials is an important aspect that can affect the creative process as well. How are the various colour shades presented? Are they all visible? In the case of a group, how do members have access to them? Also the container itself can influence the perception of the content. From which container would you prefer to take a marker (between the ones above) and why? You can find more about this topic in the post “Container and Contained” by Nona Orbach.
I noticed that sometimes, in groups where the markers are placed in jars in the centre of the table, the colours are not carefully chosen and the markers are not put back, scattering all over the table. By offering the markers in the centre of the table, on a long folded strip of thick paper (about gr 200), these inconveniences disappear by themselves. The paper strips are also very easy to fold or carry. If the markers are displayed on a shelf or used by one person at a time, shorter strips can be available for placing the chosen colours.
As Nona Orbach e Lilach Galkin wrote in “The Spirit of Matter”, The main characteristic of markers is that it is possible to achieve a nice result without much effort. They offer clean, aesthetic work, and are suitable for ornamental and decorative purposes. There is repetition in the workflow by opening and closing the marker and filling surfaces with short contiguous lines. This is significant for people who are intrigued and organized by ritual and rhythm. There is not much need for hesitation when working with markers; they afford pleasure from an easily created aesthetic outcome.
Finally, I would add that a marker’s sign can not be erased: this can be a bit frightening for some adults or older children that want to get a “nice” work. But after a while, letting go of these expectations can be very liberating and releasing, precisely because there is no way to adjust what you did, so just let it go!
Now I hope you are looking forward to take a marker and start your exploration… Enjoy!
This post is part of the project Grammar of Drawingby Suzanne Axelsson, Nona Orbach and Roberta Pucci. It has been translated in four languages:
L’inverno in natura è un tempo di riposo e silenzio. La terra sembra immobile, inerte. Ma a diverse profondità, i semi hanno già al loro interno il nutrimento necessario, assorbono acqua e si preparano per germogliare. Non hanno fretta, aspettano il momento giusto, in primavera. Vorrei invitarvi a celebrare questo ciclo di continua rinascita con un laboratorio creativo.
Per prima cosa, rivestite interamente la superficie di uno o più tavoli con un foglio di carta (ancora meglio un cartoncino da 200 grammi) e fissatelo in modo che resti ben fermo. Quindi disegnate sul foglio dei punti colorati sparsi a caso. Infine, sistemate alcuni materiali artistici su un altro tavolo o un’altra superficie di appoggio (pennarelli, matite colorate, pastelli a olio o a cera, acquerelli, eccetera, a vostro piacimento).
Può partecipare un numero variabile di persone di tutte le età, ma è possibile anche fare un’esperienza più intima e contemplativa in solitudine. Naturalmente, i tavoli a disposizione dovranno essere proporzionati al numero dei partecipanti.
Ogni punto colorato rappresenta un seme che, dopo aver riposato tutto l’inverno, è finalmente pronto a fiorire e ad espandersi in una forma di qualsiasi tipo, non necessariamente nella forma realistica di un fiore. Il colore può finalmente liberare la sua energia e fluire, occupando uno spazio. Ogni partecipante può muoversi intorno al tavolo e scegliere i semi colorati da far germogliare.
Come nasce e si sviluppa nello spazio un seme di colore? Provate ad ascoltarlo, ad osservarlo un momento senza fretta… Quale sarà la sua strategia di espansione? Attraverso dei punti, delle linee, delle superfici? Come e dove si sta per muovere? Quali forme origina?
Lo sviluppo di un elemento vegetale dipende sia dal seme che dal tipo di terreno e di clima in cui si trova. Allo stesso modo, i segni e le forme saranno influenzati sia dagli strumenti artistici usati per disegnare che dal tipo di superficie del supporto. Ad esempio, un pastello traccerà diversi tipi di segno su una carta liscia, ruvida o bagnata. Inoltre, anche il “clima” del gruppo influenzerà in modo indiretto il processo creativo e, di conseguenza, il prodotto artistico.
Nel caso di un gruppo, probabilmente nasceranno forme molto diverse tra loro, che mano a mano tenderanno ad occupare lo spazio del foglio e ad avvicinarsi, mentre gli spazi vuoti diminuiranno. Come reagiranno le varie forme incontrandosi? Quanto spazio vuoto è necessario tra loro e in che modo si modifica via via l’equilibrio complessivo della composizione?
Alla fine del processo creativo, il foglio si sarà trasformato in un giardino fiorito. L’opera si potrà considerare conclusa quando tutti i partecipanti saranno soddisfatti del risultato, percependo un’armonia complessiva nella composizione.
Soprattutto, è importante non avere fretta. Non si può costringere un filo d’erba a crescere.
Questo articolo fa parte del progettoGrammar of Drawingdi Suzanne Axelsson, Nona Orbach e Roberta Pucci, ed è stato tradotto in 4 lingue:
During winter, seeds have all the nourishment they need in their protective casing: all they need to do is waiting and slowly absorbing water so they are ready to sprout in spring.
I would like to invite you to celebrate this life circle with a creative activity. It can also represent a kind of collective work for celebrating the rebirth and the new beginning that follows each end.
First, let’s prepare what is needed. Cover the entire surface of one or more tables with a large sheet of paper (200 gr would be the best) and fix it so that it will not move. Then, draw randomly scattered coloured dots on the sheet. Finally, display some artistic materials on another table or support (markers, coloured pencils, oil or wax crayons, watercolours, etc.).
A variable number of people of all ages can participate, but it is also possible to have an individual experience, more intimate and contemplative. Of course, the available tables will be proportional to the number of the participants.
Each coloured dot represents a seed that, after resting for the whole winter, is now ready to bloom and expand into whatever shape you imagine – not necessarily the realistic shape of a flower.
Everyone can move freely around the table, choosing a seed at a time and making the colour finally release its energy and flow, occupying a space.
How can the chosen colour-seed you chose grow up and develop? Try to “listen” to it, to leisurely observe it for a moment…
What is its expansion strategy? Through points, lines, areas, shapes? How is it going to move and to connect to the other seeds?
The development of any plant element depends on both the seed, the soil and the climate of where it is located. Similarly, signs and shapes will be influenced by both the artistic tools used for drawing and the type of paper that covers the table (and the social climate of the participants). For example, on a smooth paper markers will trace a kind of line differently than on a rough or wet paper.
Very different shapes will probably emerge and will gradually occupy the space of the sheet, getting closer to each other. How do they react?
Finally, the whole sheet will turn into a large flower garden. The work can be considered completed when all participants are satisfied with the result and perceive an overall harmony of the composition.
Above all, do not rush. You cannot force any blade of grass to grow.
This post is part of the project Grammar of Drawingby Suzanne Axelsson, Nona Orbach and Roberta Pucci. It has been translated in four languages:
In early life, the process of drawing naturally unfolds according to consequential phases: it is an organic, archetypal development that just needs a welcoming environment, respectful of individual paces. But what about adults, especially those who stopped drawing since a long time? Is it still possible to restart drawing just for the sake of it, without performance anxiety about the outcome?
Here are some suggestions for all adults who think they are no longer able to draw and need a little help. Would you like to play?
First of all, let’s warm up your hand with a flowing, free movement on the sheet of paper. Draw two small signs of different colors, representing the starting and the arrival point, wherever you want. Then just let your hand go for a walk with a black pen or marker, freely exploring the space of the sheet without interrupting the line, in any direction, at the most comfortable speed and pace. If you no longer know where to go, just slow down, slower and slower… but keep going on.
This activity can be repeated in different ways, for example by changing the travel speed, the drawing tool, the positions of the starting and arrival points. Perhaps a different color will suggest a different pace… And each tool will have its own “walking” qualities. Or you could imagine a line with a certain kind of personality, mood or feeling: happy, sad, angry, curious, bored, scared. How will be its journey?
You can also create more interesting environments to explore, by placing cutouts and small objects hin the sheet of paper. Then explore these paper areas with a line.
Now let’s go through more intricate paths, tracing lines that intersect in many points (preferably using a pen). Interesting shapes are hidden through your random scribbles: look and try to find them… What do you see? Once you have identified some shapes, make them more recognizable, for example filling them with colors or pointing the outline out with a different color or a thicker line.
What about “dressing” your shapes? You can create endless textures combining different signs, points and lines. Then draw your shape on a textured cardboard you like and cut it out. How does it look now?
Each shape can also be transformed by changing its size or proportions, stretching it, crushing it, as if it was of a plastic material that can be deformed as you like. Exploring these variations, you will create a group of shapes that are all a bit different but recognizable as belonging to the same “family”.
At this point, you have various drawing tools for inventing imaginary worlds… Trace your lines, place and move your shapes in the sheet of paper: many stories will come out! Enjoy!