Almost every week day I visit the Wellness Center to walk one mile as my attempt to gain (remain) physically fit, a near impossibility for one my age. But the psychology counts. I like to think I am doing my body some good. Too, it gives me something to (little letter) herald.
During the summer months, the Center has a day “camp” for youngsters, some just starting out on their quest for literacy. This summer the staff members have given some attention to developing their charges’ artistic talents starting with duplicated sheets depicting varied interests such as sports, heroes, geometric patterns, flags and imaginary characters. The “art” element comes in when the crayon welding campers “color” the blank outlines. Freedom of expression is apparently practiced since many of the depictions defy at least one of the important basic principles of coloring I learned in Miss Maggie’s first grade class at Hamer: color within the lines.
Most of the ‘artists’ offer traditional renderings of the assignment, carefully and neatly staying within the printed boundaries. Their efforts would bring praise from most observers since orderliness is an important factor in how most of us judge children’s art. Traditionalists want rules to be followed and those who break from their dictates usually are discounted notwithstanding potential icons such as the Picassos and Jackson Pollock’s. Then there is the little one in the first grade who decides that while others may color as adults might expect, he has other ideas. And the lines to him are just lines but not barriers for coloring.
While exercising, I have plenty of time to observe the “art” posted on the gym walls. Most of it is predictably done with just the right colors in the right places and seemingly done with painstaking effort. I can visualize one particular little one grasping tightly the crayon in his chubby little fingers, perhaps with his tongue sticking out one side of his mouth and with eyes intently focused on his creation. He is not influenced by those around him; he elects not to use the yellow for the flower, the green for the tree, the brown for earth and the blue for the water and sky. He has other ideas – his.
The featured duplicated picture in question is a shoulder high view of a little girl with pigtails wearing a fancy little dress, features that would easily be recorded with the appropriate colors by most of his friends. But this is not the way he “sees” the image so he gives it his special touch.
Instead of using the smooth even strokes with the crayon, he “attacks” the picture with bold heavy splashes of color, creating something exciting instead of the story book version of the same image. I imagine that the coloring technique makes him feel happy, maybe with a little excitement as he quickly completes his assigned task. Instead of using the panoply of available colors, he chooses to use just two creating a “different” version of the image unlike anyone else who has played it safe by following the expected rules.
To the casual observer most likely this creation by ‘Tommy’ an assumed name would be dismissed as something carelessly done, art that lacked the traditional color combinations that showed little determined effort to create an identifiable image. But not according to this observer.
Tommy would win my vote for the first prize hands down. He showed imagination, his work indicated to me a creative joy, something that broke all the rules yet he created an image that caused me to “feel” the creative impulse he must have been experiencing when his masterwork was completed.
Tommy, take a bow. The blue ribbon is yours.
Bill Lee
PO Box 128
Hamer, SC 29547