To computer or not to computer

How do we respond to this debate? Simple really – YUVA Studio sees the computer as a medium that is gaining in popularity of use with children. While it doesn’t replace getting your fingers dipped in paint, or modeling plaster or cutting and gluing tinsel, it offers compelling ways of creative expression. Clean-up is also easier though that should hardly be the primary motivator!

Hands-on media is important in developing technique and augmenting motor skills. As a creative medium, computers are better suited to enrich cognitive skills, which are important means of expanding imagination and concentration.

Above all, when children are freed of the challenge of drawing perfect lines or coloring neatly within them, they can experiment with other aspects of their art – composition, color relationships, proportion and the play of positive and negative space, expressing their thoughts. By gradually accessing and experimenting with given shapes, and making a series of choices to unfold ideas, the young learn to evolve a visual language.

Having selected the digital medium, YUVA Studio is committed to taking digital drawing “beyond the paint bucket”. A lot of web-based tools for children are entertainment oriented. Our focus is to promote active thinking and to fuel imagination in children, and to explore the rich possibilities of the digital medium while doing so.

For instance, YUVA Artists can see drawings created by others in Ideabooks and the online Gallery; Artists’ drawings are available as part of the merchandise store as greeting cards and t-shirts; they can participate in contests and have their art displayed in the YUVA gallery – Through YUVA they can share their creations and become part of an online community of YUVA Artists.