Factors influencing the graphic development of a talented young artist

Wang Yani: Stylistic development of a Chinese painting prodigy

“…Study of Yani's paintings does suggest that she changes some of the ways that she captures volume and spatial relations among pictorial forms. While it is possible to observe changes in Yani's depiction of volume and spatial relations, the meaning of these kinds of changes is less clear than it would be for Western child artists, like Eytan (Golomb, 1992) or Eric (Zimmerman, 1992). There is no way of knowing whether Yani would have demonstrated prodigious abilities for three-dimensional rendering had she painted in the Western style.…”

“…Yani's work is solidly grounded in Eastern artistic traditions, and may appear flat and even relatively simple in form and articulation to the Western eye. Artistic talent is often measured in the West in terms of skillful representation of depth and volume (these are some of the problems that other young artists, like Eytan and Eric, addressed in their development [Golomb, 1992;Zimmerman, 1992]). Yani is true to the goal of traditional Chinese painting in seeking to produce forms which capture the essence of the object in a pure and harmonious manner.…”

Introduction

“…Mace (1997) and Kirschenbaum and Reis (1997) cover middle adulthood, and Lindauer, Orwoll, and Kelly (1997) describe the views of aging artists. Many earlier CRJ articles focused on art and development, including the work of Parker (1991), Golomb (1992), Goldsmith (1992), Korzenik (1992), and Zimmerman (1992). Lindauer (1992Lindauer ( ,1993 reported on art, the old age style, and "the span of creativity" among eminent artists.…”