Creativity and the Visual Arts

1. Diane M. Wilcox, Ph.D. Creativity and the Visual Arts

2. Children and Artistic Ability • The arts are essential to a child’s intellectual development • Drawing and painting can be taught to any child

3. Visual/Spatial Intelligence • All children have the ability to express themselves visually, but there is great variability in this ability • Howard Gardner says that all people have some degree of “visual/spatial intelligence”

4. Multiple Intelligence Theory (MI) • Linguistic • Logical - Mathematical • Visual-spatial • Kinesthetic • Musical • Naturalist • Interpersonal • Intrapersonal According to Howard Gardner, humans possess eight intelligences:

5. MI Theory, cont. • There is no “artistic” intelligence • The Visual Arts use visual/spatial, kinesthetic, and intrapersonal intelligences

6. MI Theory, cont. • Visual/Spatial Intelligence – the ability to perceive the visual world accurately and to use mental imagery to perform transformations.

7. MI Theory, cont. • Kinesthetic Intelligence – the ability to use one's body in differentiated ways for both expressive and goal-directed activities.

8. MI Theory, cont. • Intrapersonal Intelligence – the ability to self-appraise, self monitor, self correct, set goals, and manage one’s emotions.

9. Children and Artistic Development • Children go through different developmental stages in visual expression • Although all children go through these stages, there is some variability as to when they go through them http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

10. Scribbling Stage Disorganized scribbles • 2 years old http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

11. Pre-schematic/Symbols Children try to draw a person 3 years old 4 years old http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

12. Schematic/Landscape • The child uses a “schema” to portray what he/she understands about the world • 6 years old

13. The Gang Stage: Complexity/Realism • Children are concerned with trying to draw how things really look • They compare their work to others 8 yearsold 10 yearsold

14. Pseudo-Naturalistic/Crisis Period • Children strive to create “adult-like” images • 12 years old

15. Artists that Inspire Children

16. Diego Rivera Famous Mexican Muralist Was a child (12 years old) when he painted this

17. Rivera – painted at Age 18

18. Jacob Lawrence A famous African American painter known for his narrative paintings

19. Georgia O’Keefe Famous female artist Known for her sumptuous flower paintings

20. Pablo Picasso Born in Spain Displayed exceptional talent as a child Started the cubist movement with Georges Braque

21. Color Theory Primary Colors

22. Activity: Make a Color Wheel After this activity, you will be able to: • Make a color wheel containing 3 primary and 3 secondary colors

23. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Blue, Red, and Yellow are the primary colors

24. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Blue and red make purple

25. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Yellow and red make orange

26. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Blue and yellow make green

27. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Primary and Secondary Colors

28. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Add white to make tints

29. Activity: Make a Color Wheel Add black to make shades

30. Activity: Make a Color Wheel • Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel • Blue – Orange • Red – Green • Yellow – Purple • When complementary colors are mixed, they make gray

31. Activity: Crayon Resist After this activity, you will be able to: • Use paint and crayon resist to create a self portrait

32. Activity: Stencils After this activity, you will be able to: • Use stencils and paint to create a landscape

33. Questions?

34. References: • Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century by Howard Gardner • http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html