Why Children's Drawings Matter
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- čas přidán 10. 07. 2024
- Children can’t draw very well in the technical sense - but their art has important value for us nevertheless.
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"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."
- Pablo Picasso
+Catalistic Like the theater teacher Keith Johnstone, one of the inventors of modern improvisational theater, said when he heard someone claiming our schools are removing childish phantasy and craziness to soon: Why remove that at all?
A lot of his improvising teachings revolve around redoing eduction.
"It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child" -Picasso
Load of bollocks. Art to me is the ability create something few others can. If what you draw or paint or sculpt can be achieved with minimal effort, by accident, or apathy it is not art. Good music and good film are not those things, anything of value requires effort.
+David C Craftsmanship is not art either. Technical prowess is not art either. Art is hard to define but we can identify it when we see it.
+Christian Guevara I respectfully disagree. Such a viewpoint celebrates mediocrity and has allowed modern art to sustain. By making art completely subjective, you open it up to idiocy and pretence. Opinion must be replaced by theory at some point.
That must have been the most softly spoken "damn" I've ever heard.
(Another view on children's art).
Children are still young and fragile. Showing any sight of disinterest or even disgust/contempt/whatever to their first works of art will only make them feel bad about it and ultimately lead them to either quit drawing or performing or do it but be very cautious and private about it. I think it's great when parents hang their kids drawings up. My parents were super supportive and I think its the reason I still draw and make music to this day.
As a mom I was about to comment this. I do believe part of it is to raise the self confidence of the child.
Rachelle de la Rosa Yeah definitely. Your kid will thank you when they're older. Im glad you're a good mom!
Ugh... I always felt ashamed of my drawings growing up. And I'm sure its because my dad was disinterested in them. I ended up feeling my creativity was a joke, a sideshow attraction at best! I sweeped it under the rug and never looked at it seriously again.
Children are fragile, and perceptive. They notice how adults react, especially their own parents, and take these reactions as profoundly personal.
You're right, but for me it wasn't my family so much as other people and largely my own self that did it. And it was in high school. I still feel really uncomfortable drawing around people. But then again, it's also *what* I am drawing, or are on the previous sketchbook pages that might keep me from bringing it around everywhere like I did as a kid.
CZcamsViewer19 you're right!...I feel guilty about on what I did to my younger brother many years ago..I went so mad and abusive I saw him drew doodles on my school book, he was about to show me his observance of my face while studying in the other corner..it was quite well done and precised that I can say that my brother may be gifted!, but unfortunately..young and impulsive that I was, I grew in an outrage against my brother who got traumatized and never got interested in drawing again..if only I could turn back the time and amend the wrongs that I have commited...
The background noise sometimes is too high to hear the narrator.
Your videos are put together so well, I love the editing and creativity
I love the honesty of children's art.
"Small children don't give a damn"
Put that on a shirt.
+Legit Videos So does Deadpool.
+David Sebastian Don't you mean 'neither does Deadpool'?
van gogh once said every child is an artist. the challenge is to stay an artist rather than become one
Um no he didn't
+Deva Putra Wardiman Yeah, there is somebody in the comment section who claims the exact thing was said by Picasso, so...
+Vilém Obrátil oh yeah i know alot of misquoted artists. my bad then
Another great video. A true depiction of reality (as seen in adult painting) affords little for the imagination, whereas I find that children's work captures that balance of the familiar and unfamiliar that we look for.
This really changed my perspective on kids' art. Thanks!
I was in art classes from the time I was 8 to 12. I was taught to look at things objectively, in relation to each other, about perspective and about shading and changes in value and our grades were based on how well we executed those things. It's made my drawing style a lot more stringent and less free than others. My art teachers in college had to have me draw more childlike and without looking at the paper. It was hard to get back to that free space but once I learned how to loosen up again, my drawing became so much more individual and natural.
When i was a child i did care about how my drawings looked like compare to the actual object, and it still came out just as bad as the ones showed on the video.
+jason dads Ditto. And mine haven't improved much.
When I was little, until I was about 8 or 9, I always drew the sky at the top and the sun in the corner, because that's how it was. Then I looked at how the sky actually is and then my sky looked more like the sky. I did try to be realistic, and I've gotten better at that.
minimooster I also frew the sun in the corner of the page. That was because when i drew it in the center, it left me with no space to draw anything else
When I was still in late elementary, early middle school I could "copy" professionally drawn cartoons/comic character better than I can now... o___O
what an amazing and beautiful reflection. children's drawings are a reminder of our ability to be free and fragile.
thanks School of Life.
Do a video on " Why we hate responsibility?" I need some answers and opinions. It's not school work or that kind of stuff, i just want a bit of philosophy while i'll be modeling the back plating for my compressor and the wheel or will be writing my diploma.
That does sound like it could be a school of life video
Is it normal that I've cried with this video and I felt like a children again at the same time? I don't have children. But this was such a nice feeling. I feel like this is the true base of art. It's so hard for me to explain how I felt seeing all these children drawings.
Yes! This is the spirit of art!
But I distinctly remember, as a small kid, hating these deformed drawings that my classmates would produce. I've always strived for accuracy, even when I was very small indeed.
+André Queiroz i remember my friend carrying a ruler to kindergarten so he could color in with it. ever since he has been an IT geek and now, he's really passionate and educated when it comes to technology, newest cars, gadgets etc. maybe you're like that as well?
+Grell Sutcliff Perhaps... But still, my point is: we exist! I adhere to John Ruskin's ideas when it comes to children's art, in the sense that parents should only praise drawings that took genuine effort, regardless of fidelity. It just feels like a better message for the child, while the point of view presented in the video seems to only benefit grownups with issues.
oh yes i agree. i remember at the age of 3 drawing a messy blob and my mum saying how amazing it is. i know parents should be encouraging but this drawing engaged no effort whatsoever and i was like "wtf mum that's terrible".
effort should be praised, no matter how visually pleasing the outcome is.
André Queiroz true, true.
SAME
Almost 1 000 000 remarkable branches now extend out from the School Of Life tree. Congratulations in advance SOL for hitting such a milestone!
Why are British accents the model for intelligent sounding people? When will the hierarchy and elitism with British accents end? Every informative channel or documentary HAS to have British accents to give the aesthetic of prosperity and intellect and it's actually really annoying.
get rekt
+Shady Tyrell because the Queen's English accent enunciates words the most clearly and properly
+Shady Tyrell Try ASAPScience, The narrated Ted talks or Crashcourse on youtube- these are just the few that pop up first in my head. I get what you mean but this type of English accent enunciates very well, which tends to make it easier for both native english speakers and a lot of people with english as a second language to understand :)
+The School of Life Don't be sorry mate, it is not you're fault.
+Shady Tyrell that is just an assumption with absolutely no basis, truth or sustainability. I think that is more a reflection of your own insecurities rather than the school of life's conspiracy theory you put forward.
Thank you for the arabic captions
Drawing lives matter.
+SAMURAI JACK Persecuted white people? Is that an oxymoron?
+SAMURAI JACK Hahaha.
I thought you were going to talk about Picasso
I love the school of life, they put so much thought and knowledge into every single video.. unique and amazingly clever.
This reminds me of when I helped to lead the local Beavers group. I used to love hearing the kids talk about their drawings.
My art was never on the fridge and I'm pretty sure my mom threw away the art I gave her
Jk, she has a whole damn giant bucket of drawings from when I was smol and up til now liekkk 10/10
I still have my little sisters drawings because I think the drawings they made say something about their own personalities. They are twins and its amazing that they drew so much different things, while they grew up together so close. And its nice to see how the drawings are chancing by time. How the face becomes more detailed. I will keep the drawings forever :)
But it isn't too late for us. We still have something from that child inside and there are many ways we can reconnect with our creativity, naivety and playfulness, . Here are some thoughts about where to start:
1. I think we should fist learn to be really "compassionate" with ourselves, understanding why we ended up this way. It wasn't our fault after all. For most of us it began in school. There is an excellent and extremely funny TED Talk about this by Ken Robinson. It's called " Do schools kill creativity" . Here is the most beautiful story from that speech:
"I heard a great story recently -- I love telling it -- of a little girl who was in a drawing lesson. She was six, and she was at the back, drawing, and the teacher said this girl hardly ever paid attention, and in this drawing lesson, she did. The teacher was fascinated. She went over to her, and she said, "What are you drawing?" And the girl said, "I'm drawing a picture of God." And the teacher said, "But nobody knows what God looks like." And the girl said, "They will, in a minute."
2. It would be so nice to have just a little bit of that girl's courage and confidence. Brene Brown's great book " Daring Greatly" is very helpful for that.
3. There is a wonderful book by Stephen Fry called: "The Ode less traveled: Unlocking the Poet Within" There he teaches you how to write poetry! Why not? You don't have to show your poems to anybody, but it is so much fun. He is an excellent teacher and at the end of every chapter you get very clear instructions about what you should try. It really works and it is so much fun:-)
4. Not being obsessed with perfectionism helps a lot too. Here is a great quote by Rebecca Solnit:
" So many of us believe in perfection, which ruins everything else, because perfect is not only the enemy of the good; it's also the enemy of the realistic, the possible and the fun".
5. There is a very valuable book by Rollo May, called " The Courage to Create". Here I copied the information:
What if imagination and art are not, as many of us might think, the frosting on life but the fountainhead of human experience? What if our logic and science derive from art forms, rather than the other way around? In this trenchant volume, Rollo May helps all of us find those creative impulses that, once liberated, offer new possibilities for achievement. A renowned therapist and inspiring guide, Dr. May draws on his experience to show how we can break out of old patterns in our lives. His insightful book offers us a way through our fears into a fully realized self.
6. Another very good book I have read is called" Creative spirit". It is by Daniel Goleman, Paul Kaufmann and Michael Ray.
7. One very good way to reconnect with yourself and find joy in life again is to ask yourself: what did you enjoy the most as a child? In her wonderful book "Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear" Elisabeth Gilbert tells us the story of a friend of hers who began figure skating as an adult because that was what she loved the most back then. And she felt " alive" again!
8. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book Flow is also very helpful and interesting.
9. Friends from Brasil: I would like to remind you of that wonderful song Aquarela by Toquinho!
+Lua Veli Thank you as usual for great insights and a wide list of extra reading. I agree, it's not too late!
+John Fleming
Hello John! Thanks a lot for reading all this:-) Have a nice evening!
Wow u worked hard to make this long huh well congrats cuz I didn't read it xD
I thought the sound effects were way too loud in this video :/
Love these late night uploads. Listen to them before I sleep.
Work takes so much of my time I barely have the time to draw. At least quick sketches and writing down ideas keep me going. Never let anything kill your imagination.
There is a children's song by Australian children's entertainer Justine Clarke with a song about this exact topic called 'Painting a Picture' from her second album 'Songs to Make You Smile' (2008). I urge you to look this up and listen to the lyrics and it describes what is indeed fun about painting as picture as a child.
Very artful and creative . Love this alot ! 😊🎨❤
A child's freedom of thought is one of the most beautiful things in this world.
My kid's drawings are garbage.
+DIY drivel LOLOLOLOL
+DIY drivel I hope your intentions were to be funny only.
+DIY drivel They always are - utter trash hahahaa! it's just a bit of silly fun for them - that's the beauty of it. It represents their naive undisciplined play, something that most of us would benefit from if we had more of it in our lives.
Seems like you don't really care for your child
This video is so relaxing to watch
I drew mermaids being catched by people and they were abused by human beings when I'm 4
Shit its dark
Like always, thoughtful and playful graphics, would be awesome if you could document the creative process of making your videos, .. and thank you to everyone involved with School of Life ..
What a great time to upload a new video. I love watching this channel before I go to sleep :)
LV /4:33am
Exceptional animation, superb,
reminds me of a bible verse, 'And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.' Mathew 18:3
excellent topic, and excellent well done video!
yeah its nice to appreciate childrens work because to them its appreciating them
Love this one!!!
Beautiful.
This was beautiful. :D
1:59 Very Egyptian style of fish. Similar examples are on the Narmer Palette and in the boat departure scene for the Punt narrative in Hatshepsut’s Temple at Deir el-Bahri. But are children’s drawings really inaccurate? Although playfulness is there and you can’t always tell in detail what’s represented, the drawings follow the same conventions adults use (with some allowance for bending the path of a river if it approaches the edge of the paper). Most adults do find it impossible to copy the techniques of children; motor maturity causes substantial changes in the way one holds a crayon.
the sound editing is amazing oh my god
This is so sweet 😊
There used to be a video about hotels but I can't seem to find it anymore?
Mindgasm.
Children drawings are powerfull because they represent whats in their head.
awesome video and great content
The knuckling down I've had to start doing for A-level is what distilled my love for philosophy and not giving a damn. Whereas I can feel my personality being conformed by society i have my philosophical outlet where I can let my mind roam free and delve into the inner workings of conscience. If you feel any desire like that explained in this video then I urge you to look into philosophy
Haha I've recognized French letters :) Nice Video, very informative. Greetings from France !
thanks a lot for this video ^^
could you make one about surrealism or about Salvador Dali ?
In Roger Scrutons "Why Beauty Matters", he believes that the art of children is inherently beautiful and good because it encapsulates the world around them to the BEST of their capacity.
Now I know why my boss hangs my drawings in his office...
As a child I was obsessed with getting a drawing right, cars in particular. I used to erase and redraw so often that the paper would eventually tear or wear through on parts of the page. Still ended up as a mediocre adult, despite this, however I do get angry at how shit modern art is and any art I perceive in lacking effort.
better volume control please, narrator was too quiet
I love how he said "But kids don't give a damn"
this made me emotional and i dont know why
I love them! :)
great video
THIS WAS SO CUTE
....I love to put my drawings on the fridge, im 12 and my parents adore it.....and I enjoy drawing alot
we are the true artists
I disagree with this one. art is in many cases such as in some Chinese and Tibetan art very abstract and counters the rigid and precise paintings of more traditional European art. so art by children is abstract but so to are many adults work so the tittle should be ---Why abstract drawings matter------ i love the stuff you usually do and keep it up.
Yeah, I instantly thought about mandalas when you said this.
I think this also covers the reason why adult coloring books have become to be such a great thing-- it's another way to get back to a more creative, easygoing, childlike side of us that we've lost, or been forced to let go of.
It's good for the teacher too, when the kids are quietly into their drawing and coloring.
i used to draw alot of death a suicide drawing like my parents diying and the devil i dint even remember until my dad found a out notebook i used to draw in when i was young we where both shoked but i still remembered and explained alot of how my life looks i then burned the book -true story
This actually kind of explains modern art :D
May I just say the sound efx are a little bit too loud... but great subject!
I remember trying really hard to make something look realisticly as a child.
Jou think all children draw stick figures because they like them so much or because they are so easy?
You think they all like 2 dimensional stuff or they just cant draw 3d?
Personally I love the aesthetic of childrens drawings and as an artist myself, I partake in that "technique" very often- which translates into highly imaginative pieces that are a tinge darker and more complex.
I think we keep those drawing to make our children that their work is not garbage and just because of their love. if I want to revise my childhood I will draw too.
Children's art is extremely important. do you remember all the times you made up shit just to have fun? when you grow up, people pay less attention to you, so it's important to try and remind yourself that you're unique.
Cool
wtf!! awesome video
I'm not even a small child and i still don't give a damn...
Dear School of Life,
I love your support of art, even children's art, but I was wondering if you could do a video in justification of new, contemporary art. The exploration of ideas that occur in materials and the creation of new, beautiful designs are aspects of contemporary art that the School of Life might be a proponent of. And how the support of arts is one ideal for society to strive for, one video and individual at a time.
What does drorings mean though?
I feel like this about DIY punk music (which you can find on my channel)
ard 1:00 How come you assume that everyone has difficulties 'adapting' to 'precision technologies' and has to 'control' oneself? For me it feels quite liberating that my peers display a high standard of professionalism.
I sometimes ask myself that,but has there ever been someone who educated his children according to Voltaire's Emilio?
The first time i heard "don't give a DAMN"
Thought of the psychoanalytical analysis
I used to draw Jack -the-Ripper style murder scenes as a kid...does this still apply to me?
I can't hear you over the sfx
2:14♥️
Be simple and minimalist like children drawings .
I feel like people don't erect children's artwork because they like it, but because they are fond of the child who made it.
When my dad or my friends say I'm childish... -_-
I don't care! I just have the ability to have fun! It ain't my fault you lost it!
You'll grow up one day. Then you'll understand.
+Geekminer I'm 16.
Well, boring people use 'immature' to describe people who can have fun.
+Jean Luo I agree. :)
+Badass Testosterone I really like how C.S.Lewis put it:
_“Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.”_
Audio needs to be mastered better
As a non native speaker, I like the intrusive r.
My drawings from when I was a child is the stuff of nightmares, I was particularly interested in the French revolution and the guillotine. :-D
my mom threw all my drawings away
Trevor Blake Im Sorry! I hope you can Find Someone who appreciates whatever is it that you like to do in your adulthood
Drawrings.
DRAWRINGS
INTRUSRIVE RRRRRRR
+Pakanahymni
O ( ) 0 o
Did I draw enough rings for you?
it really doesn't matter what school of life says I still believe it
finaly a video that drawing matters.
Me: my parents didnt like my 13 hours digital drawing. And told me to study math instead of drawing useless things, they still didnt know that im bout to be a good digital artist soon. :[
why children drawings mater and not mine !! ? :( i'm still just a child inside even if im 21 years old doesn't matter !!