Viewing Guide for 'They Still Draw Pictures'
This may be used as a pre-trip preparation for the exhibit or reproduced for use as during-trip focus
sheets. The pictures referred to are on the ALBA website for the purposes of pre-trip work.
During the voyage, Bellus. Artist, Rafaela Javier Rodriguez.
In this picture the horizontal lines which are repeated suggest the texture of the wooden railway cars
which transport the children to safety. The radiating lines above the doorway create depth. What else
did the artist do to make some of the children appear closer to the front of the train? Was the train
crowded? Use details from the picture to justify your opinion. How many different activities are going
on in the railway car?
Esco (Stamp) Colonia lar Colectiva, Burriana. Artist, Rafael Barber, age 10.
This artist used a variety of lines to depict the experience of war. The force and intensity of this child's
memories of aerial bombardment are conveyed by the repetition of closely spaced planes identified by
the linear swastika symbol. The strong horizontal lines of the planes atop the diagonal bodies create a
grid, which traps the village below. Where has the artist used broken lines? What do the broken lines
represent? The village is framed by mountains. Describe the line chosen to show this natural structure. If
you could divide the picture frame into thirds, what fraction of the space is taken up by the
warplanes?...the mountains?...the buildings? How has the artist used size to show the relative strength of
each of these objects? The lines of the houses are drawn freehand in contrast to the straightly ruled lines
of the planes. Why do you think the artist made that choice?
An aerial attack
The horizon line divides this picture in half. What is going on above the horizon, in the background?
Describe the figures below the horizon, in the foreground. Where are most of the objects concentrated?
Are both halves of the picture equally full? How does the composition convey the devastation of the
landscape? Although the planes are drawn as small objects in the upper right hand corner of the page,
they have a great impact on the people and other living things in the scene. The artist has used diagonal
lines almost parallel to the horizon. Describe the figures and objects that are bending to the left as they
flee the planes. Find one figure in the picture who is facing in the opposite direction of the plans and all
the other people. Her scarf forms a triangle in the bottom left corner of the page. Find the verticals and
triangles in this figure. Contrast the lines and shapes of this woman with the other figures in the picture.
How are these formal elements used to show her opposition? The artist has drawn her close up, so that
we may see her facial expressions. The other figures are rendered as gesture drawings, which convey
their emotional state through their stance and actions. Look closely at the woman's face and fist clenched
in resistance: describe her feelings at this point. What do you think she is saying? Find an object the
artist has set apart by leaving empty space around it. How else has the artist drawn attention to this
object? How have the bombs affected the area around this object?
GESTURE DRAWINGS are quickly drawn figures, which show an action and often convey a mood as
well. Find other pictures in the exhibit, which contain gesture drawings. Jot them down in the space
below. Tell how the movement and post of each figure helps to explain what is happening in the scene.
OVERLAPPING is used in Rafaela Javier Rodriguez's picture of the railway car. The object or person
in front partly covers the object behind it to suggest depth. Some children are partially obscured
(covered up) by the wooden seatbacks. Sometimes, only a head or an arm is seen behind another child
on the train. Find other examples of overlapping in the exhibit. Describe them below.
You will find other artistic terms highlighted throughout the page above. How many do you see? Can
