This week the blogs Daddy Types and Stork Bites Man featured a couple of interesting coloring books, The Torture Device Coloring Book and The Lousy Animals and Friends Coloring Book . And it got me thinking about the coloring book conundrum. Are coloring books the nemesis of creativity that authors, like Susan Striker suggests? Many parents cringe at the images that perpetuate stereotypes. Coloring books play a vital part in an endless, daily stream of advertising that bombard children. So they are bad, right?
When I was teaching, coloring books and coloring sheets were just short of forbidden in my classroom. Sheets of blank paper for the young minds to explore in anyway they saw fit (occasionally with large quantities of white glue and nothing else) were piled high in corners of the room. Nevertheless, children would present me with a coloring sheet of some Disney character like they were offering me their soul. I would wince and graciously accept the work.
Free First Saturdays at the Walker have taught me that when you're designing projects for 450 kids in a five-hour period, "templates" are inevitable. And now I am beginning to wonder if coloring books could be seen as a form of appropriation. If Sherrie Levine can create a bronze cast of a urinal and have it considered appropriation, should kids be allowed to appropriate Cookie Monster? Perhaps I was wrong to underestimate the value of a meticulously traced and gently colored Cinderella. After all, Cinderella was wearing a neon-green dress not the classic blue, so she made an artistic decision to alter it. Coloring books might be a way to talk about contemporary art with kids.
As for the advertising and stereotypes issues, maybe the solution to those issues is just to offer kids cooler coloring books. What do think?
Have your kids create coloring books for others to color in!
An online coloring book that they can print out and work on, or play with on the computer:
http://loveuall.net/
Comment by MeganK — 3/6/2008 @ 12:51 pm
thanx a lot! check out the pictures on our website, the book is not only fun for kids.
xs_from zurich switzerland! nataly & linda
Comment by MINI-TOYS — 3/6/2008 @ 4:35 pm
Doodles and Scribbles, both subtitled A Really Giant Coloring and Doodling Book and both by Taro Gomi are two more creative alternatives to the typical coloring books. Taro Gomi just released Squiggles and Doodle All Year! Visit chroniclebooks.com/doodles.
Comment by Ashley — 3/13/2008 @ 4:27 pm
I have been struggling with the idea of coloring books and “product art” versus the more “artistically correct” “process art.” I used to work in a preschool setting where process was the rule, but always had a lingering feeling that it was not fair to judge and rule out the time trodden types or art projects that we used to do as kids. I remember as a kid,the pride of following directions and seeing the final result of a completd project.
While this may not be considered expressive art, I now believe it does have merit as skill building. You need skills and experience with media to be able to use the media to produce expressive art.
I studied painting briefly in China. In my classes, I was required to copy art. Copying the masters is seen a the path to developing the skills and control of the media which will eventually allow mastery and self expression. How do children attain mastery today when we don’t allow them to first learn to use their tools? Children also need to have simple steps to follow to match their attention span.
I think the idea of process art for young children is overrated. It does have a place, but it should not be the only acceptable type of art allowed. Child development tells us that children need structure and limits, this should be applied to art education. Let them have a template or a coloring book as part of a broad skill development and art appreciation based art curriculum.
Comment by Andrea Weber — 4/4/2008 @ 9:10 am
Free creativity without restraint ’sounds’ like it would be what we want our kids to experience… but reality - guidelines help children learn to express their creativity within a given environment.
Although I do love Megan’s idea for having kids create coloring books for others to color in… pretty creative and fun.
Comment by Steve - the King of Coloring Books — 4/11/2008 @ 9:37 pm