The first week of LINK is over! Today I spent all day with Room 4 (the 4-year-olds; can you find the pattern?).because it was their day to visit the art room. The teacher gave me tips (he runs a blog, lucky me!) and compared photographing kids to a safari, because you don't want to disturb them, or reinforce their silly behavior when they pose. He also told me to always try and get their hands in the picture. During the time in the art room, I started taking pictures of two girls painting side by side at the easels. As I watched them paint, I noticed that they used the same color scheme as each other. They complimented each other's work periodically and would mimic each other's techniques. The teacher pointed out to me that this was called "social painting." As you can see below, the pieces they produced were very similar, although unique! I found that I can connect this to my own life, which is super interesting. If I see a photographer or art style that I really like, I will try to 'recreate' it and subconciously use their techniques in my own work.
In another fascinating conversation, this teacher told me that it is his philosophy to encourage rather than praise the kids' work. For instance, say a child approaches you and says, "Look at this drawing I did!". Rather than saying, "Wow, that's beautiful! Good job", you should instead remark about observations. You could say, "Wow, those are very different colors," or, "That looks like it was fun to make!". The idea behind this philosophy is that praise from teachers fosters dependence on external rewards and what others think of them. By naming what you see happening instead of judging the art, you can nurture the artist's self-reflection.
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