Artists scribble, too / I umetnici žvrljaju

Cy Twombly, Untitled 1970

One of my favourite artists ever is Cy Twombly. And what do you think he does? He scribbles! His whole art is based on scribbling!

Jedan od mojih omiljenih umetnika je američki slikar Saj Tvombli (Cy Twombly). I šta mislite da on radi? On žvrlja! Celokupna njegova umetnost zasnovana je na žvrljanju!

Cy Twombly, Academy 1955

Cy Twombly, Untitled 1955

Cy Twombly, Sunset 1957

Another artist that I love is Jean Dubuffet. Through his art he shows much appreciation for scribbles!

Drugi umetnik kojeg mnogo volim je Žan Dibife (Jean Dubuffet), koji kroz svoju umetnost, takođe pokazuje koliko ceni žvrljanje.

                     Jean Dubuffet, Activation XLVII, 1985

There are so many other artsits that made their own art based on children art: Paul Klee, Juan Miro, Jean Michel Basquiat, Karel Appel, etc. They all thought that the expression of a child is much more sincere and authentic than the one of adults. Picasso said it took him four years to paint like Raphael, but all his life to paint like a child.

Postoji još mnogo umetnika koji su radili svoju umetnost pod uticajem dečje umetnosti: Pol Kle (Paul Klee), Huan Miro (Juan Miro), Žan-Mišel Baskia (Jean Michel Basquiat), Karel Apel (Karel Appel), itd. Svi su oni smatrali da je dečji izraz iskreniji i autentičniji od izraza odraslih. Pikaso je rekao da mu je bilo potrebno četiri godine da nauči da slika kao Rafael, ali ceo život da nauči da slika kao dete.

Karel Appel, 1959

So why is children's art so undervalued? Why do parents first (among others) undervalue the art of their own children? And why is it that they want to rush them and force to draw realistic drawings, sometimes even prohibiting them to scribble? 

Any ideas why?

Dakle, zašto je onda dečja umetnost toliko potcenjena? Zašto roditelji prvi potcenjuju umetnost svoje dece? I zašto imaju potrebu da ih požuruju i teraju da crtaju realistično, ponekada im čak braneći da žvrljaju? 

Imate li ideju zašto?

How to encourage scribbling? / Kako podsticati žvrljanje?

Very often, first scribbling starts as a child pounds the pencil on the paper. The sound that the child hears as doing this, encourages him to continue pounding. Since the pencil leaves a visual trace on the paper, the kid notes cause and effect.

I love playing 'visual games' with my kids. These are little invented games that result in something visual (such as here and here).They are so designed to direct the child to the process or action, not the product.

We can encourage children to scribble with questions  relating to sound, movement of the pencil, it's direction: How loud can your pencil make a sound? What kind of sounds can it make? How fast (high) can it jump? Can the pencil crawl? Is it possible to spin it? Can it pop on to the top of paper? Can it come down?

Even though toddlers and very young kids, actually don't need encouraging scribbling, since it is so natural to them, this is a very nice way to just play with them. Even older kids will enjoy this game.

Vrlo često, prva žvrljanja počinju tako što dete udara olovkom po papiru. Zvuk koji dete čuje, ohrabruje ga da nastavi sa udaranjem. Pošto olovka ostavlja i vidljiv trag na papiru, dete vizuelno uočava uzrok i posledicu.

Volim da se igram "likovnih igara" sa svojom decom. To su male izmišljene igre koje imaju za posledicu nešto vizuelno (kao npr. ovde i ovde). Tako su smišljene da usmere dete na proces ili akciju, a ne na proizvod.

Npr. pitanjima koja se odnose na zvuk, kretanje, pravac, možemo podsticati dete da žvrlja: Koliko glasno može da se čuje tvoja olovka? Koliko brzo (visoko) može da skače? Može li da puzi? Može li da se vrti? Može li da se popone do vrha papira? A da se spusti?

Iako veoma maloj  deci, zapravo ne treba podsticaj da bi žvrljala, jer to rade spontano i prirodno, ovo je lep način da se poigramo sa njima. Čak će i malo starija deca uživati u ovoj igri.

'Only on paper' / 'Samo po papiru'

I teach Baby Z to draw "only on paper" (for now). I prefer using this affirmative sentence instead of negative sentences like "we don't draw on the table or the wall".  A lot of repetition is necessary in order for  a toddler to accept and understand this. Every time the point of her pencil slips off the paper to the table, I gently move it back to the paper and say: "We draw only on paper."

Before I was a mom I thought, that one day, I would let my own kids draw where ever they wanted - in order not to inhibit them! Ahem. Now I see that this was an unrealistic concept. How would I, then, explain to them that it is ok to draw on the walls in our house, but that it's not ok to draw on the walls in grandma's house, aunt's house, friends, or any other place? And how would I, then, explain to a kid (toddler), that it is ok to draw on the walls, but that it's not ok to draw on furniture, clothes, floors and carpets, shoes...?

Now I think that it is totally ok to explain a kid (toddler) that there are places ment for drawing, and other places that are not. What is important here is to make it clear - drawing (scribbling) is ok, but some places are not ment for it!

When drawings (scribbles) appear at 'undesired' places, it's ok to involve the kid in the cleaning process, without making a big deal out of it, and showing that cleaning is a normal part of creating (a mess!), and also making it clear that the scribbling is ok, but the place for it was not!

Za sada učim bebu Z  da crta "samo po papiru".  Više volim da koristim afirmativne rečenice - šta sme da radi, nego zabrane tipa "ne crta se po stolu ili ne crta se po zidu".

Potrebno je puno ponavljanja da bi dete ovo usvojilo. Svaki put kada vrh njenog flomastera ili olovke sklizne sa papira na sto, vratim ga na papir i kažem: "samo po papiru". 

Dok nisam postala mama mislila sam da ću - jednoga dana - svojoj deci dozvoljavati da crtaju gde god žele - da ih, kao, ne bih sputavala. Međutim, sada vidim da to nije realno. Kako bih onda objasnila detetu da se sme crtati po zidu naše kuće, ali ne i kod bake, ne kod tetke, ne u vrtiću, ne na drugim mestima. I kako bih objasnila detetu da se sme cratati po zidu, ali ne i po nameštaju, odeći, podu, cipelama...?

Sada mislim da je sasvim u redu objasniti detetu da je na nekim mestima u redu crtati, a na nekim drugim mestima - ne.  Važno je samo da, tom prilikom, ne pošaljemo detetu poruku da žvrljanje nije u redu ili da ga povezujemo sa negativnim osećanjima - ljutnjom, omalovažavanjem (o ovome je već bilo reči ovde), već da budemo precizni: žvrljanje je ok, ali neka mesta nisu za žvrljanje.

Kada se i desi da dete crta na "nedozvoljenim" mestima, ne treba ga grditi. Dobro bi bilo uključiti ga u proces čišćenja,  bez pridavanja prevelikog značaja tome i prikazujući čišćenje kao normalan i sastavni deo stvaranja, pri tom vodeći računa da detetu bude jasno da je njegovo crtanje (žvrljanje) ok, ali da nije odabrao dobro mesto za to. Odmah zatim, možemo mu ponuditi papir i ponoviti da se crta "samo po papiru."

More scribbling / Još žvrljanja

Sweet Baby Z loves doing everything she sees that her older brother is doing. Since he draws so often, she started drawing as well very early.

Slatka Beba Z voli da radi sve što i njen stariji brat. Pošto on često crta i ona je vrlo rano počela da ga oponaša u tome.  

She has her own drawing notebook, which I dedicated to her so I could keep all her early drawings in one place. But, she draws on other papers as well.

Ona ima svoju svesku, koju sam joj namenila kako bih mogla da sačuvam na jednom mestu njene prve crteže. Međutim, često crtamo i na običnim  papirima.

She mostly uses these Stabilo Woody 3 in 1 pencils which are excellent for toddlers because they are large enough (she can't harm herself and they are easy to hold), they are non-toxic (which is importatnt since they usualy end up in her mouth), and they can be used in three different ways: as pencils, pastels or aquarelle paint if mixed with water.

Najčešće koristimo ove Stabilo Woody 3 u 1 olovke koje su odlične za rani uzrast, jer su debele (dete ne može da se povredi i lako ih drži u ruci), nisu otrovne (što je važno, jer često završavaju u ustima), i mogu se koristiti na tri različita načina: kao olovke, pasteli ili akvarel boje (razlivaju se u dodiru sa vodom). U Beogradu se mogu naći u knjižari Papir Color.

But, since her brother V likes drawing mostly with markers and has them in literarly every room in the house, baby Z also draws with them. That's the reason why I always look to buy washable markers, because even though I teach her to draw only "on paper", I often find little scribbles in the most unusual places in the house (the soap conpartment of the dishwasher for example), which is so so sweet and always make me smile.

Međutim, pošto V najviše voli da crta flomasterima i ima ih u svakoj prostoriji u kući i beba Z rado crta s njima. Zato vodim računa da uvek kupim flomastere koji se skidaju i peru sa vodom, jer bez obzira što je učim da se crta "samo po papiru", vrlo često naiđem na male žvrlje na najneobičnijim mestima po kući (npr. u odeljku za deterdžent-tabletu u mašini za pranje sudova), što mi redovno izmami osmeh na lice.

 

Why is scribbling important? / Zašto je žvrljanje važno?

Scribbling is important for a number of reasons:

1.   It develops fine motor skills (the same as work with play dough). When using chalk or pencil, the child strengthens and develops hand and arm muscles he will later need for holding a spoon, a toothbrush or a pencil he writes with.

2.   It develops coordination between eyes and hand.

3.   It helps development of concentration and dedication: a young child when scribbling usually does that standing or sitting steadily for a while – which is quite difficult for a child at this age.

4.   Scribbling is an independent and intuitive activity.  Nobody teaches a child to scribble, or shows him how to do it, and this helps develop independence. A child’s life is full of restrictions regarding the things he can or cannot do or touch. But when he has paper and a box of pencils, he is free to choose what pencil he will take, what movements he will make and in what way (fast, slow, dotted, linear, circular…) on which part of paper he will draw etc. He also decides when he will stop drawing. This freedom to make decisions and create something without any influence helps develop independence and independent thinking.

5.   It helps emotional calmness and balance. Generally, the fast and energetic movements used in scribbling relax the child, and help him in releasing the tensions and frustrations common at their early age. Children enjoy scribbling and have a lot of fun doing it.

6.   Scribbling lets a child express his feelings and thoughts without any inhibitions. This is very important for releasing both negative and positive emotions in an acceptable manner.

7.   When scribbling, the child practices and masters the use of drawing and, later, writing tools, and he experiments with ways of their use: he studies the pressure necessary to make a visible trace on paper, and the angle at which to hold the pencil for the best control of trace and stroke.

8.   Scribbling precedes drawing and writing. Lines and images are the basis of future recognizable shapes, and later letters. Later on the child will realize that some strokes and signs can represent and “replace” items and ideas from life and environment. This realization is the first step in the process of learning and development of reading and writing.

Žvrljanje je važno iz više razloga:

1. Razvija finu motoriku (kao i rad sa plastelinom). Kada dete koristi kredu ili olovku istovremeno jača i razvija mišiće ruke i onih delova šake koji su mu kasnije potrebni pri upotrebi kašike, četkice za zube kao i za držanje olovke pri pisanju.

2. Razvija koordinaciju oka i ruke.

3. Utiče na razvoj koncentracije i posvećenosti: kada dete samostalno žvrlja ono obično to radi sedeći ili stojeći mirno neko vreme, što je za dete ovog uzrasta prilično teško.

4. Žvrljanje je samostalna i intuitivna aktivnost deteta. Niko ga ne uči da žvrlja niti kako se to radi. Zato ono podstiče samostalnost. Život deteta je prepun zabrana i stvari koje ne sme da radi ili da dira. Kada pred sobom ima papir i kutiju sa olovkama ono slobodno može da bira koju olovku će uzeti, kakve pokrete će napraviti i na koji način (brzo, sporo, tačkasto, linearno, kružno...), na kom delu papira će ih nacrtati, itd. Samo odlučuje i kada će završiti. Ova sloboda da samo donosi odluke i stvara bez uticaja drugih utiče na razvoj samostalnosti i samostalnog mišljenja.

5. Doprinosi emotivnoj smirenosti i ravnoteži. Uglavnom brzi i energični pokreti koje čini prilikom žvrljanja opuštaju dete i pomažu mu da se oslobodi viška napetosti i frustracija sa kojima se dete ovog uzrasta mnogo sreće. Deca uživaju u žvrljanju i u žvrljanju pronalaze zadovoljstvo.

6. Žvrljanje omogućava detetu da izrazi svoja osećanja i misli bez ikakvih inhibicija. Ovo je vrlo važno za oslobađanje i negativnih ali i pozitivnih emocija na prihvatljiv način.

7. Kada žvrlja, dete vežba i savlađuje upotrebu pribora za crtanje, kasnije pisanje i eksperimentiše sa načinima njegove upotrebe: dok žvrlja dete istražuje jačinu pritiska koja je potrebna da bi se ostavio vidljiv trag kao i ugao pod kojim treba držati pisaljku da bi se postigla veća kontrola nad tragom i potezom koje ona ostavlja.

8. Žvrljanje je preteča crtanja i pisanja. Linije i šare su osnova za buduće prepoznatljive oblike, i kasnije slova. Vremenom dete u procesu žvrljanja primećuje da neki potezi i znaci mogu da predstave i "zamene" pojmove iz života i okruženja. Ovo sazanje je prvi korak u procesu učenja i razvoja čitanja i pisanja.