On drawing

I've been fascinated for a long time now on how drawing is one of the first abstract things children learn to do. And more than learning it, they almost all seem to love it! And the majority of them are very confident about their skills. But at some point in our early life, most of us lose that confidence and we disregard drawing and visual art as something that only certain “skilled” people, artists, are allowed to do. Why is that?

When children first start drawing, they actually just put squiggles on a page, and when prompted by adults to say what these represent they often have no idea. It’s like the amazing thing to them is that they held a pen/pencil/crayon/whatever, then brought it into contact on a piece of paper, and it left a mark for which they are wholly responsible. It seems that at that age it doesn't matter what you've drawn, but simply that you have created something. Eventually, they are moulded into the concept that these scribblings are not enough, that drawing must be representational. And, fair enough, it is said that these are some of the most unique characteristics about human beings, that we document things visually. So children eventually learn to draw people, animals, and scenes from their lives and their inner world. And they enjoy it. I often ask children to draw pictures for me, and up to a certain age they always tackle the task enthusiastically. But if you ask an adult, one who doesn’t define their job or their hobby as visual art, they all say “I can’t”. Yet what I think they really mean to say is “I can’t draw things so that they look how they are, therefore I refuse to try”. And I struggle to understand why. Why not even try?

Is it teachers that erode children’s sense of feeling equipped to draw? Is it their peers? Is it a general disillusionment in that the world will respect our unique view and representation of the world, because they will judge us? Why do we stop drawing? Why do we become convinced that we are not good at it and so we shouldn't? These are the kinds of questions that I think about.

Pablo Picasso, the artist, is someone I have always admired for reasons other than his visual artwork. See, Picasso was the son of an artist who taught him from very young the techniques of visual art: perspective, light and dark, etc. And he learnt these very well, so much that visual art became something he eventually was able to make a living out of. Now, the majority of us know Picasso as that guy who made those “weird” paintings, those cubist paintings that only vaguely looked like real-life objects – and, yes, that was on purpose. But Picasso himself said that by the time he was 4 years old he could draw representationally, draw like that renaissance painter’s Raphael very impressive and life-like paintings. And he wasn't exaggerating! Yet what I like most of all that he said is this: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”. It makes me feel like I am not the only one troubled by questions like this :)

I still draw. Just don't see why not :)