Could that just be because no children are left “uncontaminated” by human society long enough to figure it out on their own?
My gosh! You’ve just perfectly explained something that’s been bugging me most of my adult life. I suck at drawing. Can’t do it. Nothing ever comes out. But I’m a damned good technical illustrator. I can draw objects in the abstract, interface them with other objects, and “build” things with pen, pencil, computer, whatever. If I play with the visual controls enough (on a computer) I can get something approximating art, but it’s purely trial and error. I certainly can’t do that on paper.
The thing is, I’m getting kind of interested in photography. Maybe learning to see will give me a chance to try drawing again.
I think it may also have to do with the preponderance of stylized representational art out there. I remember as a tiny kid, drawing people who had round balls for noses because the old school WB and Disney cartoons that I watched all the time had people with squashy noses instead of more ‘realistic’ noses.
Minnie Mouse’s a lot easier to draw ‘right’ than a horse, a city, or the Mona Lisa.
**iamthewalrus ** – So, in other words, feral children? I know they generally had horrible problems with language acquisition when trying to get reintroduced, so representational art might be beyond them as well…?
I’m sure other people will come along with much more knowledge than I have, but even amongst adults, things like perspective are relatively “new” to art. I don’t know where or how the leaps of logic occurred to get things to look “real” on paper, but even for learned artists, it wasn’t an easy or obvious thing. Symbols are easy to use, but getting something to look “real” involves tricking the eye into thinking that something that isn’t there is there.
I recall at an early age being annoyed at other kids’ drawings because they always drew cars with four wheels.
Gregor? Is that you?
At nine my step daughter drew flowers that resembled those in my water garden, but later denied the images were intended to represent particular plants.
As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, pick up Drawing From the Right Side of the Brain. The entire premise of the book is based on learning to draw what you see and, yes, as simple as that sounds, it was the key for me to unlock any sort of drawing ability I have. I’m not a great draftsman, but I thought I had absolutely no skill whatsoever in drawing, until I picked up this book and learned how to see. Within a month, I had actually sketched a couple portraits that, by golly, actually looked like the people the were supposed to represent.
I don’t practice my drawing (my artform is photography) and still suck ass at drawing from memory, but I’m able to produce a reasonable sketch given a reference thanks to this book.
I remember when I was a kid, I questioned why the sun was always drawn as a circle with beams coming out of it every direction. The sun was just a circle, so why the beams? But if I didn’t put the beams there, it looked like the moon.
Occasionally, I was capable of drawing very well. Usually, I never ended up with what I intended to draw in the first place. I can’t draw anything now.
I admire those who can draw. I’ve always assumed it was a natural abilitity rather than a learned one. I asked a friend of mine recently if I could be taught to “see” differently. I’d love to do water colors but the whole concept of light and shadow is a mystery to me. I understand it intellectually, but not to put it on paper. This thread is inspiring.