‘Everything you can imagine is real.’ – Pablo Picasso
A pink elephant whose best friend is a redfish. Together they love looking at rainbows and having lick lollies. Sounds absurd, right? That is because we have conditioned ourselves to believe that things have to be exactly the same in our drawings or paintings, as they are in real life.
Ask a child if a pink elephant and a redfish can be friends and the answer will probably be ‘Yes’ because their imagination knows no limits. There is no incorrect answer or the pressure to adhere to normalcy, a child’s imagination comes alive and finds itself thriving with art.
Drawing, painting, sketching, doodling, working with clay are amongst the many aspects of art which are highly beneficial to children of all ages. From developing fine motor skills to enhancing coordination and making choices art holds a vital role in the life’s of children as well as adults. Making art lets the child explore their creativity, challenge boundaries and beliefs, and promotes a sense of well being and a happy feeling.
Artwork by children gives an insight into their minds and feelings. A child who is in a happy frame of mind will generally use bright colours and the drawing will have mostly clear shapes and visuals. However on the other hand if a child has something going on in his or her mind which is bothersome or difficult to express it might come out in the form of a drawing or painting which has predominantly dark colours used and the colouring or drawing itself will be more like a repetition of unclear lines and scribbles.
Making colour and material choices are another very important facet to art. Should I use blue or red or colour the sky pink? I strongly believe that there are no mistakes in art. For example, if a person can’t draw a straight line that doesn’t mean that he or she cannot do art. It is after all the perfect platform to express one’s feelings, ideas, emotions and discover oneself.
So the next time you find yourself feeling blue or stressed just take a paper and pencil and doodle and see how much lighter you feel. Or better still pull out that box of colours from your child’s drawer and the two of you can create your own masterpiece.
I began my article with a quote by Pablo Picasso and also end on that ‘Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.’ Happy creating!
Mansi Zaveri
Janani S Koushik
Vaishnavi Venkatraman
Charulatha C
