Running Head: A CHILDS DRAWING ANAYLSIS

A Childs Drawing Analysis Caroline Howe University of Missouri- Columbia

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS A Childs Drawing Analysis Art is a necessary part of the classroom and can give teachers a better understanding of

their students. It is a way for students to express themselves and convey emotions. Childrens art can be classified into six different stages: Scribbling stage, Preschematic stage, Schematic stage, Gang Age, Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage, and Adolescent Art (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970, p.474479). It is important for teachers to understand the characteristics of each stage so they can know their students better. By knowing their students, teachers can modify and adapt lesson plans to create a meaningful learning experience. According to Luehrman and Unrath (2006), understanding childrens art development is essential for choosing age-appropriate teaching strategies and content (p. 6). The Lowenfeldian Stages of Art explain the drawing characteristics, space representation, and human figure representation. The stages are a guide to help categorize childrens drawings, but a child can be in two stages at once. For this assignment I chose a childs drawing and analyzed the drawing with a fellow classmate. Together we discussed the aspects of the drawings such as human characteristics and the different shapes used. The drawing I chose falls under two stages, the Preschematic stage and Schematic stage. The drawing does not include any information about the artist, which made it easier to analyze because I could not place the drawing in a stage based off of age and I had to spend more time on analyzing the picture. Description and Analysis The drawing I chose uses different thick markers. The picture of the drawing is not in color, but there are different shades. The child scribbled a sky, added a smiling sun, and drew grass, a girl, and dog. I found it very interesting that the child placed the sun below the sky and made it a smiley face. The little girl in the picture is composed of a triangle for her body, an oval

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS for her face, and lines for the arms and legs. I also found it very interesting that the little girl has circles for her feet. The arms of the little girl are extending out from her body. The dog has four legs, an oval body, and a head with ears. Both the little girl and the dog have eyes, a mouth, and

a nose. According to the Board of Education Baltimore County (1974), The child draws objects of particular interest, adding details only to areas important to himself. These symbols have few details and are used interchangeable for people and animals (p.54). I was also intrigued that the sky is scribbled, but the grass consisted of eleven lines to serve as blades of grass. I dont know if this was intentional or not. The little girl and the dog are also standing directly on top on the grass.

Figure 1: A childs drawing. I have concluded from the drawing that this child is in both the Preschematic stage and the Schematic stage. Lowenfeld and Brittain (1970) state that the Preschematic drawing characteristics include geometric shapes and if removed from the drawing as a whole they would

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS lose their meaning (p.47). The little girls dress is an example of this. If the dress was removed from the picture it would be viewed as a simple triangle not a dress. This is also true for all shapes that are used except for the little girls face and the smiling sun. If these drawings were removed one would still recognize them as faces. The child is also in the Preschematic stage

because the people included in the drawing are looking at the viewer and are smiling. This places the child in the Preschematic stage because the child is not experimenting yet with different facial expressions and having characters interact with each other on the page by looking at one another. In order to help this child add more detail to the picture, the Board of Education Baltimore County (1974) stated to provide experiences such as field trips and visits that furnish vivid impressions for art expression and to provide experiences that will necessitate the use of visual discrimination (p.54). I agree with this because students need to see the work of other artists so they can start to incorporate what they see into their own pieces. To help students achieve this, I will give examples of how my art was inspired by different artists and I will provide a variety of projects for my students to experiment with this. The child is also in the Schematic stage because environmental knowledge is evident due to the placement of the sky and grass. In the drawing all the objects are related and there is little to no overlapping. The little girl, flower, and dog are all above the grass and they do not overlap with the grass. The sun also did not overlap with sky and was located below it. This child also appears to be in the Schematic stage because there is an establishment of a baseline on which objects are placed and the space in between the baselines represent air (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970, p.48). The drawing can also be characterized by the flat representation. There is no shading to the picture and it is very one-dimensional. The main reason why I believe this child is in the schematic stage is because he correctly placed the arms in the picture. I do not think that

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS the child is fully out of the Preschematic stage because the arms do not show volume and do not

contain detail. The arms and legs are just straight lines and if they were taken out of context they would be viewed as lines. Conclusion Critics to art education believe it is not useful in the classroom because it is not on standardized testing, but art integration helps students express themselves, succeed academically, promotes understanding and acceptance of others, and leads to more participation (Flory, 2008). Because of this and the diverse learning styles of students, art is a critical component of the classroom. It is essential for teachers to have artistic opportunities in lessons, but it is just as important for teachers to understand the stages. If teachers choose to ignore their students art and the stages, they are missing out on valuable insights into their students lives and learning. Art is another way for teachers to get to know their students on a deeper level. Teachers need to be able to understand the stages so they can evaluate students work and address each childs needs. Another reason why teachers should integrate art into the classroom is to support and develop childrens creativity. According to Johnson (2008) it is the teachers job to guide childrens aesthetic development (p.79). To do this, teachers need to be comfortable making art and understand the stages. After analyzing a childs artwork and discussing it with my partner, I now see the importance of knowing a child and what their art conveys because it will help me understand the student and alter lesson plans to make learning more meaningful. I will strive to include art in my classroom as much as possible. I will also give students the option to present projects in a more artistic way than by simply writing a paper. I believe it is important to give each student an equal opportunity to present what he or she knows in a way that is best fit for the individual student.

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS When teachers do this, they are developing the whole child and creating meaningful learning experiences in their classroom.

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS References Flory, A. (2008). Exploring the benefits of art in elementary education. 56-62. Retrieved from http://www.csustan.edu/honors/documents/journals/elements/Flory.pdf Johnson, M.H. (2008) Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts. Young Children, 63(1), 74-79. Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1974). Beginning stages of visual

expression of young children. In Art Experience, Development of Visual Perception, 1-4.