[sphinx]

As to "My kid could paint that" Now that he's seen it he could. (derivative) But would he have the creativity to come up with the abstraction on his own?

The kids do up until about about age six or seven. Then they begin to realize that the scribble-scrabble they've been calling a "dog" or a "horse" doesn't really look like a dog or horse. At that point, they start disciplining themselves and it all falls apart.

My four year old does stuff right now that is worthy of the Metropolitan. Easily the equal of the typical Pollock, and she does it sober. It won't last. She will grow up.

[aruanan]

The kids do up until about about age six or seven. Then they begin to realize that the scribble-scrabble they've been calling a "dog" or a "horse" doesn't really look like a dog or horse. At that point, they start disciplining themselves and it all falls apart

See Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Although I'm not convinced her left brain/right brain distinction has neurological relevance, her techniques do produce the results claimed for them. I think her claim that people tend to draw not what they see but their abstracted concept of what they think they see is valid. For the author, Betty Edwards, the goal is to delink the seeing and drawing from the abstract conceptualization and train oneself to go directly from seeing to drawing. For instance, you don't have to know what a sculpture is to run your hands lightly over its surface. By extension, her method of drawing is to do the same thing but with a pencil being the intermediary.