Here is a drawing by my daughter, Ava, 4 and a half-years old. She drew this on Sunday after politely asking to borrow her mother's brand-new blue Sharpie pen. I sat there watching her draw in typical Ava fashion: quiet intensity. When Ava draws, she's serious about it.
Here, she tells me that this is Ava, and she's sad because it's windy (see the clouds with the swirly lines coming from them) and it's rainy (just right of the windy clouds) and that the sun is trying to come out. Ava's hair is being blown about, too (she usually draws her hair swirls going down), along with a tear underneath each eye. (The dark circles on either side of her face are her rosie cheeks. Cute, huh?) The squiggles all around the scene are Ava's way of depicting words and writing, like a book. And being the budding artist, she's even signed this piece of work, in the upper-left hand corner.
What I thought was interesting with this drawing was that at one point she placed a dot so carefully between the eye and rosie cheek, practically in the middle of the face. With such meticulousness, I thought that surely this dot meant something. Why else would she be so delicate in her placement of this little dot? So I asked her, "What is that, Ava?"
She replied, "That's just a dot."
I love that. Sometimes a dot is just a dot.
Yep... Sometimes a dot IS just a dot. It's brilliant! It's, it's, it's almost da da-esque! Seriously, she appears to be showing a creative bent there Ward. Better watch out! She's going to demand to go to SCAD before you know it!!! Luckily, SCAD is supposed to be opening an Atlanta campus sometime soon so at least you'll be able to keep an eye on her!
ReplyDeleteholy smokes, this child is brilliant. BRILLIANT. a regular budding picasso! okay, okay. I confess- mrs. ward-o-matic here, proud mother of said child artist. I hate to go on and on but I have to say how much fun it has been to watch her paint and draw and witness different themes emerge as she experiments on a daily basis. she inspires me. even before I had children, I loved doing art projects with my dance students- I was always amazed by what they would come up with. as adults, we are often so product-oriented- we forget how much fun it is just to create without the pressure of what the final outcome will look like. when was the last time anyone just got lost in the process? it's a delicious, delicious thing.
ReplyDeleteI want to tell you how fortunate Ava is to have a preschool teacher who is so nurturing of creative/artist-type persdonalities :). Mandy actually left before I could show this to her but I will when she gets home!
ReplyDeleteYes, James--I do want Mandy to know how thankful we are to have her as Ava's first teacher. She's been so supportive and very patient with our little girl. Mandy put together a page for Ava's class notebook with recent drawings that she did and did her own analysis of Ava's work. It was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWard, now you can get Ava a gig at Six Flags doing caricatures this summer! Seriously, that's a mighty charming drawing. It takes a big man to step aside and be eclipsed by his child's talent. You, sir, are that man.
ReplyDeleteNice work - I am a packrat when it comes to my girls' art (I have three girls under six). I save what is savable, and take pictures of everything... and we've even hung some of my kindergartener's work up in her room! It really encourages her, and as long as she is having fun, I plan on continuing the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteMost children are able to draw but usually not given the opportunity. Archie, our son, was given coloured pencils, pens and unlimited paper from a very early age as his doting parents are both artists and naturally like to encourage anybody to take up drawing as a force for good and for seeing and understanding the world in which we live. Its a sad fact that in most artschools now they don't teach drawing from the model or still life anymore and concentrate on theory and art history etc. No wonder we are turning out graduates whose only sketchbook is the computer screen and the video camera.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to second what Michael has just said. I recently took a figure drawing course here in town so that I could sharpen the chops a bit. I was surprised at how hard it was--and I think I draw pretty well. There really is no substitute for placing graphite or charcoal to paper and rendering what you see.
ReplyDeleteLove that post! "Just a dot". Awesome. Since we're so often zoomed in 500% staring at individual pixels... it's just good to hear. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJosh Book
http://www.JoshBook.com
Sometimes a Dot is Just a Dot, but sometimes...it's Not...
ReplyDeleteClick here for a post that will inspire artistic minds like Ava's:
http://kelleybell.blogspot.com/2004/12/boredom-buster.html
I love the drawing, especially the sky and Ava's mouth. I'm facinated by the chin. I remember as a kid trying to draw hair going down behind someone's shoulders and not being able...I could see it, I just couldn't grow it.
ReplyDeleteCherish her and encourage her to draw everywhere. She probably has a wicked sense of humour.
I love Ava's drawing! I like her dot thin it give th drawing character. Tell Ava I like her dot and I wish her luck on her journey through art. Happy Trails!
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