By Isabel Fattal

A parent might place his daughters tadpole drawing on the fridge out of a love for his child rather than for the funkylooking image， but for many people， that tadpole art is actually quite exquisite.2 In fact， adult abstract artists were often inspired by childrens drawing. Observers have found similar patterns in modern abstract art and kids drawing； one example is the “X-ray”drawing， or a drawing in which the “inside” of a person is made visible（like a baby shown inside a womans stomach）. For the museum-goers out there who tend to point to a piece of modern art and say， “My kid could have made that！”， its worth remembering that often， thats actually just what the artist had in mind.3

Lucky accident or artistic prodigy， acknowledging that young kids arent as intent on producing a realistic rendering helps demonstrate what the drawing experience means to them.4 For many kids， drawing is exhilarating5 not because of the final product it leads to， but because they can live completely in the world of their drawing for a few minutes. Adults may find it hard to relate to this sort of full-body， fleeting experience.6 But the opportunities for self-expression that drawing provide have important， even therapeutic7， value for kids.

Even simple scribbles are meaningful. Now its been shown that when children are scribbling， theyre representing through action， not through pictures. Liane Alves， a prekindergarten8 teacher， recalled a student who presented her with a drawing featuring a single straight line across the page. Alves assumed the child hadnt given too much thought to the drawing until he proceeded to explain that the line was one of the mattresses from “The Princess and the Pea，”9 one of the fairy tales they read in class.

Maureen Ingram， whos a preschool teacher at the same school， said her students often tell different stories about a given piece of art depending on the day， perhaps because they werent sure what they intended to draw when they started the picture.“We as adults will often say， ‘Im going to draw a horse， and we set out... and get frustrated when we cant do it，” Ingram said. “They seem to take a much more sane approach， where they just draw， and then they realize， ‘it is a horse.”

Ultimately， what may be most revealing10 about kids art isnt the art itself but what they say during the drawing process. Theyre often telling stories that offer a much clearer window into their world than does the final product. Asking them what their drawing is “supposed to be” wouldnt yield as many answers， either； some have even argued that kids might be naming their work because theyre used to the ritual of their teachers asking them to describe their drawing and then writing a short title on the piece of paper.11 Studies suggest that kids will create an elaborate narrative while drawing， but when telling adults about their work theyll simply name the items or characters in the image.

And what about those odd or scary-looking drawings？ Does that mean kids are telling themselves stories that are odd or scary？

Its hard to say， but its rarely a good idea to over-interpret it. Ellen Winner， a psychology professor at Boston College， pointed to parents who worry when their kid draws a child the same size as the adults， wondering whether shes suffering from， say， a feeling of impotence12—a desire to feel as powerful as older people. But the likely reason is that the child hasnt yet learned how to differentiate13 size in his or her representation； the easiest solution is to just make all the figures the same size.

Whats most important to remember is that “childrens art has its own logic，”Winner said. “Children are not being crazy.”

1. scribble： 亂涂亂畫。

2. 一個家長可能會把他女兒的蝌蚪畫貼在冰箱上，這是出于對孩子的愛，而不是因為畫本身有多獨特。但是對于很多人來說，這幅畫確實是一件相當棒的藝術(shù)品。tadpole： 蝌蚪；funky：獨特的；exquisite： 精美的。

3. 對于那些經(jīng)常去博物館參觀，并且總愛指著一幅現(xiàn)代藝術(shù)作品說“我家孩子也會這樣畫”的人來說，我們需要記住的是，創(chuàng)作這幅作品的藝術(shù)家心里其實也是這么想的。goer： 常去……的人。

4. 無論是巧合還是藝術(shù)上的奇跡，承認孩子們并非要描畫現(xiàn)實的翻版可以幫助我們了解繪畫對于他們來說到底意味著什么。prodigy： 奇跡；rendering：翻譯，表現(xiàn)，realistic rendering是“對于現(xiàn)實的翻譯或再呈現(xiàn)”，這里指孩子的畫加入了很多想象成分，并不是基于真實的描繪。

5. exhilarating： 令人愉快的。

6. relate to： 了解，有共鳴；fleeting： 短暫的，轉(zhuǎn)瞬即逝的。

7. therapeutic： 治療的，有療效的。

8. prekindergarten： 進幼兒園前的。

9. mattress： 床墊；“The Princess and the Pea”： 《豌豆公主》，出自安徒生童話。

10. revealing： 有啟迪作用的，揭示秘密的。

11. yield： 產(chǎn)生；ritual：慣例。

12. impotence： 虛弱，無力。

13. differentiate： 區(qū)分，辨別。