However, (and that's a big however) it was horrible. It started with step-by-step instructions on how to draw a picture. Such as, "draw a line across the bottom of your paper that is 4 fingers wide", as the teacher goes around and corrects all the students that drew it wrong. "No Emily, your line is too long. You need to erase it and draw it again. We need it to be perfect."
And then, to my horror, when this pain-staking, creativity smashing, drawing process was finally over, they had to color their drawings in a specific order with specific colors in a specific style. The flowers could only be warm colors...which I guess makes sense, because there are certainly no cool colored flowers in the world.... So, one little boy started coloring his flower blue, and then got a disapproving sigh from the teacher as his marker was taken away to be replaced with the appropriate color.
The teacher explained the proper coloring technique is to "outline the shape, and then fill it in with horizontal straight lines, back and forth, back and forth." None of this "scribbling" nonsense! This was particularly irritating to me, because I have a vivid memory of one of my elementary classmates telling me that I was coloring wrong. She said, "you can't go in all different directions, it's too messy." I've loved art from a young age, and I remember feeling bad that I was doing it wrong.
Anyway, you get the idea. The pictures, in the end, looked great of course. They were all very well drawn, very precise, colored perfectly. The parents were impressed when they came to get their children. The kids also learned a little art history, and some art terms...it wasn't all bad. My frustration is in how expression and creativity were non-existent, even discouraged. You can't make a flower blue, duh!
The absolute best thing about children is their imaginations! Their creativity! Their wonderful perspectives! Children's artwork is truly amazing. Maybe I'm just annoyed because I'm more of an abstract artist. There is definitely something to be said about having a skill, but anyone can develop it, and you have the rest of your life to do so. I say, let that wild imagination loose while it's still there! Next thing you know you'll be all grown up, sitting in your office, staring at the flower painting on your wall...wishing they were more inspiring than red and orange...like, perhaps, blue?
"I was probably born with the ability to draw, but that does not
make you an artist." James Rosenquist
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see." Edward Degas
"No great artist ever sees things as they really
are. If he did he would cease to be an artist." Oscar Wilde
"If I create from the heart, nearly everything
works. If from the head, almost nothing." Marc Chagall
"A work of art is a world in itself reflecting
senses and emotions of the artist's world."
Hans Hofmann
"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art. Emotion is the starting point, the beginning and the end. Craftsmanship and technoque are in the middle." Paul Czezanne
"Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grown up." Pablo Picasso
My little artist. He said he was painting a snake, haha.
No comments:
Post a Comment