Dear reader, the graduate thesis you are about to read concerns the changing world and the art existing in it. The only constant in this rapidly moving world is children's drawings – untroubled, free and with the beauty of expression intact. A long time ago, before we became aware of ourselves and everything around us, we all possessed the ability for such drawing. The purity of expression and the intact creativity, arising primarily from the subconscious, faded away as we grew up. No matter how hard we try, we can never bring it back in all its greatness.
In my thesis, I explore child drawing and its development. Drawing develops in stages, depending on a child's age. These stages are characterised by specific visual art expression that is unique to every period. I also focus on people who were particularly fond of children's drawings, namely modernist artists. They sought to apply child art expression, with some of them trying to revive it. By presenting specific artists and movements I point out the significance of child art for the evolution of modern art.
The very beginning of the thesis touches on my other great love – illustration. It is illustration that sparks children's imagination and is their first contact with the fine arts. Like any other visual artwork, illustration represents an artist's narrative. If we separate it from the written word and only retain the visual sensation, we can behold pictures and drawings capable of narrating their own stories through aesthetically designed images. Illustration is also the basis for my educational and practical work. In the latter, I combine children's drawings and illustration.
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