Artistic ADOLESCENCE

Are you stuck in creative adolescence?

We all will have gone through the 5 stages of artistic development by the time we are 15,
according to professor Victor Lowenfeld. It is the same all over the world, it's part of the
human condition.

1. From the age (stage 1) of 6 months to 2 years old we like the feeling of dragging a
mark-making thing/ substance like crayon, sauce, poo over a surface - such as the
wall, our cot, paper, our faces, our siblings, our toys, anything we can get our little
fingers on.

2. The last recognised natural phase of artistic / pictorial development is in (stage 5)
our awkward adolescence’ where we can be proficient doing what academics call pseudo realism. Artistic Adolescence occurs between 10 to 16 years of age.

3. We naturally develop Artistic ability up until that phase of our lives then it completely STOPS.


4. Our whole lives ( at 10 to 16 years) we’ve got better and better at drawing without
trying, so why doesn’t that continue? That is disappointing for everyone.


5. Most people give art away in their teens when they realise their progress has
stalled.


6. It is said that artists don’t mature creatively until they are at least 30 years of age.
Don’t get stuck in artistic Adolescence!
​
ARTISTIC MATURITY: How do you achieve it?

To get better at drawing, you need to accumulate skills. You need to proactively LEARN.

People learn in different ways:

(A) by watching others. If you were/are exposed to a relative who painted or cartooned you inadvertently gain knowledge you didn’t know you had;

(B) by reading instructions; and

(C) by trial and error. Hit and miss.

This can be frustrating to any one at any age.
To achieve artistic maturity, think about this: If you were starting to learn the piano, you wouldn't begin by attempting to play a piano concerto.

You would be playing scales.

Doing boring exercises. You'd get some notes wrong. You’d be learning, not just randomly hitting keys and hoping it sounded okay. You’d be guided by some resource - teacher and/or written instructions.


Later you might want to compose your own piano concerto. Something original,
never been done before. There will be MANY false starts and changes. That is
exactly the same with every painting you start. You are doing it for the first time each
new work you begin.

Scary but exciting.

~ Suzi