Creativity can be so Untidy.

Don't get me wrong, there is no problem with helping kids be successful in creating beautiful art. It can be very gratifying - and educational - for a child to make something that looks right, and that is pleasing to the eye.

However, the work my students produce tends to be distinctly untidy. This is because I am intrigued by the individual personality taking shape and letting that personality take hold of the pencil or crayon or pen or chalk. A child who is drawing is getting to know his or herself in a new way. So while the results may be chaotic at times, I can learn a great deal about a personality just by watching.

Then, I find that a child's drawing impulses will yield ideas about what that child would really like to be able to draw. Once a story or a character takes shape, then I can make suggestions for how to express it - what to show or not show, different poses, how to use speech bubbles, and the like.

When I was a kid I used to get a very strong urge to just draw anything. I would grab paper and just start in. I see my own kids get this same urge. I think that it comes from the depths of their developing brains, when something needs expressing. It turns out that in places where pencils and paper are scarce, kids will use sticks in the dirt to do the same thing. And it's not just kids who are considered "talented." All kids need to express themselves.

So, when things are really messy, I know I'm on the right track.