PRACTICE 2

Graphic gesture

MarBaeras
JoanaBastarda
AinaCadafalch
NriaCardona
HelenaGinesta
MercSoler
Group71SeminarA

Drawing is arepresentationofsomethingrelatedtoreality,itcanbe anobjectoranemotion.

The possibility for the children of manifesting through the drawing creates an own space in
which they have control over theirreality.Sourceofcommunicative,expressiveandcreative
valuesaremeansfortheintegraldevelopmentofthechild.

The desire of being valued, the recognition of his/her effort will make the child feel
understood and accepted. We have to take into account that the mental, emotional and
physical state of the child influence in the drawing. The drawing imperfections are not
mistakes,theyexpressawayofrepresentingthereality.

Here we can observe that some of thedrawingsthatwehaverecollectedareorganizedinto

the stages of the childhood drawing (stage 2 and 3). Although we have missed drawings
from the realistic stage (artistic drawing) and from the motor or scribbling stage ( 12 years
old),wehavehighlightedthemaincharacteristicsofthem.

MOTORORSCRIBBLINGSTAGE
(12yearsold)

This stage is characterised by action as the main representation. They also work the hand
and forearms motor skills as well as the control and coordination of their movements. The
symbolicfunctionstartstotakepartoftheirprocessofdrawinginadditiontotheaction.
Thereare3mainstagesofthedevelopmentoftheirscribbling:

1. Homolateral lines (16 months): all the arm is in movement, straight segments from
onedirectiontoanother.
2. Horizontal or Oblique Sweepings (20 months): back and forth symmetrical
movements,linesthatstartfromonepointandreturntothesameone.
3. Circular lines (positives or negatives): more flexible lines instead of the sweepings,
combinationofaproximalanddistalorigin.

The children receive the help of the adult to dominate the instruments. There are two main
difficultiesinthisstage:kinestheticcontrol(rotationandshiftingdirection)andanticipation(of
thegraphicact).

REPRESENTATIVESTAGE
Subjectiverealism(24yearsold)

Conceptualrealism(57yearsold)

In the representative stage (27 years old)wecanappreciatethatchildrenhaveanintention

of representing, they do not think that much on their gesture and instead, they get more
concerned about the result of the drawing. Also, they have a better eyehand coordination,
thereisaguidanceonthetrace.

In this period the flexor muscle of the thumb enters into action so children can do more
figures and have a better control of what they want to trace. Related to this, we can clearly
see it on the drawings 3 and 4 as the kids have drawn faces using closed circles or in the
drawing number 7 with the sun. Also, in the picture number 2 we see that the kid is ableto
combine several lines and there is also the double rotation, there are lines which with
positive and negative inclination, continuous movements making spirals In general, we
canseethatchildrendisposeofagreatercontroloftheamplitudeandthecurvature.

We can see an homogeneity on the drawings as wecanrecognizeforinstance,scribblesin

practically all of them (drawings 1, 2, 3, 7). Kids use scribbles as a way of expression and
theyassumethatthroughthemprovokeareactioninadults.

Children know what they are drawing (they cannamedit)althoughthatthroughadultseyes

we might not see it that clear because probably their representationis notsimilartothereal
object. Nevertheless, we can say that the activity of drawing turns to be a communication
andarepresentationinstrument.

But, within the same stage we can see a clear distinctionontwosubgroups.TheSubjective

realism(24yearsold)andtheConceptualrealism(57yearsold).

If we analyse the drawing of the Subjective realism we see that affection predominates so
kids draw what is significant for them. Forexample,therepresentationofafamilysmember
(drawing 3). Children recognize the object initselementsbutnotinitsstructure,wecansee
it in thedrawing4ofaperson,andindrawing5ofadinosaur(theresanexaggerationofthe
size: a big head and a short tail and as we can observe, there are no juxtaposed elements
but the space is not delimited.). So, there is a figurative form. The common characteristics
that we can see in all these drawings are the use of only one or two coloursandthatmake
simpleandschematicforms.

On the other hand, in the Conceptual realism it is intensified the figurative (more realist
tendency). The perception is influenced by cognition, draws more what knows than what
sees. We canseethisindrawing5ofadinosaurandin6ofapirate. Thedrawingnumber6
is from a 6yearold boy who loves action stories especially about pirates. The drawing
means to represent himself as a pirate with red and blue beard because he loves football
club Barcelona. Moreover, the drawings of this period are greater detailed compared to the
subjectiverealism(alltheelementsofthedrawing6ofthepirateasanexample).
All the paintings of this group tend to have more colours, for instance the drawing 6, has
yellow, blue, orange, etc. And the forms are not so schematic and such straight lines as in
theSubjectiverealism,therearealsosomecurves.

COMMUNICATIVESTAGE
(from8yearsold)

In this stage children are able to understand two dimensions in the graphicplastic images:
the objective dimension (analytic intention based on observation) and the subjective
dimension(representativeintention).

As a relevanttrait,weareable toobservethattheyrecognizeanddifferentiatebetweenfloor
and sky because they paint the floor (drawing 9 where the squirrel is, probably, grass) or
they trace a line (drawing8).Theresadelimitedspatialrepresentationbythefloorline. Also,
we can appreciate that the drawing 8 is three dimensional because as we canobserve,the
arms of the dinosaur are drawn with perspectives and also its feet. They also have in
common the representation of a figure, a dinosaur and a squirrel, although the perspective
thattheyusearedifferent,lateral(drawing8)andfrontal(drawing9).

Regarding the manifestation of ideas and stimulation of feelings and emotions we can
appreciate that inthedrawingnumber9thesquirrelisdrawnwithabig smile,sothroughthe
kidscreationissearchedthewaytoexpressfeelings,inthiscasejoy.However,ifwelookto
thepicture8,wedontseeanyexpressionanditismoresimilartothereality.

The use of the colours is also an important difference, in the draw 8 its very useful to
distinguish some parts ofthedinosaur,likethearms,eyes,andtheback.Thisisshowing an
effort to work the details. In contrast, the draw 9 only uses one colour, including the word
squirrel. Ifwetakealookattheproportionsweareableto seethatthedraw9has achieved
better proportions and there is also closer to the reality in terms of size and position of the
animal.

REALISTSTAGE
(artisticdrawing)

In this stage there is a clear dominance of graphicplastic techniques, they also have the
ability to distinguish and appreciate shape configuration, proportions, volume and
perspective.From15yearsoldtheyalsoshowappreciationofcreativeexpressionandarts.
In this stage, we can foment the divergent thinking, the visual memory, the expressive
sensibilityandthepersonalandcriticalevaluationfortheirownworks.

Contrastyourobservationandanalyseusingthetheory
Drawing is a transposition or representation of something related to reality, it can be an
object or an emotion. Is the first sentence that we want to take into account during all the
analysis because through the drawings we can observe the feelings and realities of these
children. In the draw they control they own reality without limits, and they became able to
communicate,expressanddevelop.

There are different stages: the first one is motor stage that is from 1 to 2 years old, the
second is representative stage which is divided in subjective realism (24 years old) and
conceptual realism(57yearsold), thethirdisthecommunicativestagewhichisalsodivided
in analytical intentionbasedonobservationandrepresentativeintention,thelaststageisthe
realistonewherethedrawisconsideredanartisticdrawing.

In the first and the second separations of my practise, children are in the representative
stage, so children want to draw all that kind of things that they can see in their daily
environment. However, they also use a lot their imagination and creativity. Related to the
theory between two years old and four they has a subjective realism, where the size is
exaggerated (as we can see in the fourth draw) and they draw with all the fondness for
someone. For example, the third draw that has names, the draw is for the people that
appeartheirname.

In this stage,theystarttoeyethatwas followthehandprogressivelyguidesthetrace.Itcan

guide a line to a precedent one, is able to do a closed shape for four points and they can
close a circle. We can observe all that traits in the drawings, because they do not scribble
withoutmeaningandtheyareinterestedintheresult.
The next age (between 5 and 7 years old) is alsointherepresentativestage.Nevertheless,
children start aconceptualrealismthat ischaracterizedforbeingmorerealists.Forinstance,
6

the 4 draw is of a child of 4 years old, although as we have already said the size of the
schematic human is exaggerated is more realist that the third draw, because thechildrenis
older. Compared with others, there is no juxtaposition because he only draws a thinginthe
paper, whereas in the first and the second one, is very difficult to know exactly what this
child wanted to express. In the draw of this stage, there is less juxtaposition because she
separatesthedifferentelementsofthedrawalthoughthereareseveral.

In conclusion, the figurative intention is more realist, the child draws more whatknowsthan
what sees (for example, she cannot see a rocket but she imagines it), it has more details.
However, Paula does not represent the movement of the rocket maybe because she only
has5yearsold.

The strange think is that the separation offloorandskyitisalittledifferentbecausethesun

is in the part of the bottom of thepaper.However,wehaveunderstandthatifisarocketthe
rocket is upper the sun, so the rocket is like in the sky compared with the sun, for that
reason Paula has done the division of floor and sky but different as if the draw was in a
Earth image. Moreover, Paula draws more details and paints inside the draw. Therefore,
theimageisnotsuchaschematiconeasinthestagebefore.

Finally, the draws 8 and 9 arefromthe representativeintentionstage.Becausetheywantto

present a realist squirrel and for do not permitconfusionssheputtedwhatitwasinthetop
of the draw. Is more similar to an artistic image because is an objective representation.
Moreover,theyareabletousestheperspectiveand thedifferentiationbetweenskyandfloor
isclearlydoneandshedrawsinanaffectiveway(shedrawswhatshelikes).

In conclusion, children go from the scribble to theideographicrepresentation. Graduallyitis

possibletoidentifythecontentoftheshapesandfigures.

Suggest educational aspects related to the evolution of the graphic gesture

anddrawingactivitiesattheschool
The people development direction is to be independent and coordinate. There is a
psychomotor progressatschoolagebasedonlateraldominance,theincreasingofmuscular
tonicity, having more body equilibrium and being abletoorganizethespace.Thatlastpoint,
can be observed in the drawings because as more older is the child, more organized isthe
space in their drawings. Also, as they become more older,theystarttouseperspectiveand
transparency and they know how to difference sky and the floor. Moreover, theydonotuse
thejuxtapositionandtheyaremoresimilartoanartisticdraw.

Is important to stimulate children to draw because is a psychomotor technique for their

development. In addition, it is important to take into account the mental, emotional and
physicalstateofthechildbecauseitinfluencesinthedrawing.

Related to the drawing activities at the school, we can observe that they caninfluencetheir
ability to draw, because asoldertheyare,moreabilitythey have.Andthatisbecauseoftwo
reasons: the psychomotor development and the arts and crafts subject, which teaches to
draw a little bit. However, it is importanttoknowthatwhatmattersisnotthedrawingbutthe
creative process that makes people think and be critical withthemselves.Alsoisrelevantto
not correct the child production (just techniques) because in that waytheyareable tolearn,
improveanddeveloptheircreativitypart.

In conclusion, our suggestion to the children, to be able to evolve through educational

aspects on the graphic gesture is that step by step children should learn how to controlthe
lines that they are doing due to the control of their thumb, sothatitwouldbeeasiertodraw
what they imagine. They also should write more, and that makes easier the part of
controlling a pencil. Furthermore, they should know some proportions which would make
them be able to create a drawing with correct proportions,andalsosometechniquesinarts
andcrafts.
Therefore, it is necessary, to take into account that if we want to develop at maximum the
creativity ofchildrenwecannotinterpretthechildproduction,becauseitiswhattheybelieve,
wearenotabletojudge.