Week 2 of art class: Resisting perfection by mark making & collage

"Karai Nallathu" - This is one tagline that's etched in my memory from my childhood. It means "Mess is good" and it is from an advertisement that streamed around 15 years ago.

I believe the same applies to art - messy art is great art. An artist needs not just the right techniques and materials. They mainly need

• the courage to make a mess,

• the curiosity to try something new and

• the creative confidence to express oneself

In week 2 of Kutty Kutty Stories, this was our intention - for children to express themselves freely using mark-making and collage.

Children scribbled, doodled and splashed paint on different types of paper like newspapers. The children having always been artists had already made a vision of what they want to make on the paper they had at hand.

They showed some hesitation though initially as they wondered

• which material to choose - sketchpens or paints?

• which paper to paint on - colored sheets or one sided paper?

• which color to paint with - blue, yellow or orange?

• what type of marks to make - straight lines, wavy lines or cute doodles?

We waited along with the children silently as they imagined ways to bring their vision to life. And then suddenly, the class was overflowing with ideas.

Randomness of art came to life as paints were splashed on paper and marks were made by the children. They expressed themselves freely with colors, marks and every material possible.

We then observed children thinking on their feet- "What do I make now out of these paper?" They rushed to cut, tear and stick the collage papers to bring their artistic vision to life.

Collage is a technique that has always been popular with art enthusiasts. It defies conventions and norms and that is what we witnessed in class - there is no one way of doing art. We saw the children boldly experimenting and taking risks with art.

And boy, how wonderfully the boys' creative risks paid off? In just half an hour, we could see them make boats, animals and landscapes.

What I heard in a jingle 15 years ago made sense to me - karai nalladhu :)

This blog is penned by Chandhni S, one of the team members of Kutty Kutty Stories.