Date of Award

5-2006

Access Control

Open Access

Degree Name

Creative Studies, M.S.

Department

International Center for Studies in Creativity

Department Home page

http://creativity.buffalostate.edu/

Abstract

This project assumes that in the development of many children between the ages of five and eleven, a link exists between three observable phenomena: (1) the collapse of their ability to learn on their own; (2) the collapse of their creative abilities; and (3) the collapse of their willingness and ability to draw. Our society holds artists up as exemplars of creativity, and many adults seem to accept the following logical progression: (a) artists are creative; (b) artists can draw; (c) I can’t draw; (d) therefore, I’m no artist; and therefore, (e) I’m not very creative. However, as quadriplegics can produce high-level drawings, there is no physical reason why most adults can’t learn to draw; the real barrier is perceptual. This project hypothesizes that teaching drawing to adults—specifically to those who believe they can’t draw—will generate measurable gains in their creativity consciousness, and may have other benefits as well. This project contains: my proposed drawing course lesson plan; my Seven Principles of Observational DrawingTM; my Create, Critique, and CorrectTM process; my DrawSmartTM observational drawing process; and a Likert-scale questionnaire I generated, to survey learners’ attitudes about drawing, creativity and art. The drawing course proposed will pay substantial attention to overcoming the perceptual barriers of these adults, using techniques such as (a) meta-cognition, (b) visualization and Emotional Intelligence, (c) portfolio review, (d) traditional drawing techniques, and (e) extensive practice will also be incorporated.

Download

Share

COinS