Design Psychology

Child Art, is there such a thing?  For many, imagining the inexperience of a child and the expertise of an artist could seem a contradiction. Child Art was not discovered as a type of art for centuries.. The word itself is just  four decades old.

We can speak of “Child Art” under two conditions. We must first of all agree that art has nothing to do with skill, exactitude, or even a faithful repletion and copy of nature.  It is at its best talent, a technical skill,  and is creative, unique.  

Secondly, perhaps the more important condition is that we regard the child simply as a future adult, denying him his own personality and the right to exercise a logic of his own which from the point of view of the child is truer than ours, and therefore from the very nature of things different from that of the adult Then it becomes possible to speak of child art. 

Interestingly, there have been many established adult artists, who have tried to adopt the innocent spontaneity of the child. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on the original idea of a child as an artist and the seven stages of the same.

A child paints in seven stages. A child starts learning to do art since the moment he/she can start using a pencil, let us explore the reason for having our  walls filled with their imagination.

First Stage - Scribbling and Smearing

 Here the child starts drawing with whatever comes in their hand. This stage remains when the child is two years to four years old. 

Second stage- Rhythm and spirit of hand

Once they are 4 years old they enter the second stage which is rhythm and spirit of hand, during this time the child starts moving his/ her hand in a specific manner which becomes the rhythm of their hand thus they also try to reflect it on their drawing. They gain knowledge of rhythm.

Third stage- Abstract symbolic stage

This usually happens when the child is six years old. In this stage the child starts drawing with abstract symbolism which shows the overflow of vitality.

Fourth stage- Introduction of types

When the child becomes eight years old he/she enters the fourth stage which is known as Introduction of types. By now the child develops knowledge about the forms or types and he/she starts drawing limited types of forms.

Fifth stage- Introduction of characteristics

Fifth stage is where the child draws with a perception and develops their drawing skills, during this time the child is around 10 years old.

Sixth stage- Difference between colors, forms and shape

Then the child gets older and understands the difference between color, form and shape. Here they build their color sense and gain knowledge about a variety of forms and shapes in art.

Seventh stage- Pure unity in forming and shaping

The last stage which is the seventh stage is known as pure unity in forming and shaping, so by now the child is around 14 years old and has their skill set ready to create their masterpieces. In this stage the child learns about the unity of shapes and sense of the size of the drawing.

Help your child learn Art with these seven stages as every child is an artist, they just need the right guidance and your kind support!