coloring is…

What does it mean to draw or color? What happens when a child (or a grown child) faces a page with a crayon in hand? What’s really going on? Well, the beauty of looking at (children’s) drawings, and I mean really looking, is that some things we know, but many we don’t, and won’t. This is its mystery, intricately entwined with the spirit of the child and the time spent interacting with the paper. It’s mysterious not because it’s unknowable, but because it’s private. We know that all children begin the drawing journey as scribblers, playing with the motion of the crayon, the feeling on the paper, the excitement and wonder of knowing very quickly that they’ve left a mark. What we don’t know precisely is almost everything that happens after that.

The Fotoplay page above was made by three year old Christopher. This was a first drawing (ever) for him. Look what he did. Right away, exploring the eyes. Marking them. Making contact with them, making connections… Coloring is taking inventory…

And this is the next Fotoplay page that Christopher made. His teacher Peggy described it to me as the first he’s ever made with such clear narrative intention. He spoke about a man with his outstretched arm and his connection to the parrot. But what about the lime green, dark ochre, and rusty orange shapes? And why the black coloring on top of the black and white parrot? Coloring allows us to be the director of a show…

This Fotoplay coloring page was completed by Eliot, age 6. Look how she traveled deep into the page, and the possibilities of the page, by first beginning to add color, and then adding her own flowers, leaves, and her own little insects. Coloring is deep, personal storytelling.

This Fotoplay mirror page (still a work in progress I was told) is one of two mirror pages in the book. This one was created by 7 year old Ella, who told me that the brown form at the bottom of the left side was another butterfly. Look at the careful placement of color. The one red oval. The passage in the center with two shades of green, purple, and orange. Note that there are two shades of blue. And note the geometry of the sun, how it relates to the geometry in the butterfly. Will she decide to move into the right side of the page at all? Will she add color to it? Real decisions are made when coloring. It’s not about cute. (Though things created might be.) It’s serious. Coloring is designing.

This last page was made by five year old Derek. There are a few pages in my Fotoplay book like this one, that present something on one side of the page, which is reduced to a graphic shape that’s flipped/inverted and placed on the other side. Look what Derek did. Look at what he noticed. Not only did he explore the details inside of the dog’s face, but he outlined the whole form (with real conviction) and then he selectively added color. Look at the eyes. Look how he noticed the difference in their size and shape and direction. Coloring is a serious, dynamic endeavor.