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.