Running Head: CHILDS DRAWING RESEARCH PAPER

Analyzing and Researching A Childs Drawing Hannah Sapp University of Missouri, Columbia

CHILDS DRAWING RESEARCH PAPER Analyzing and Researching A Childs Drawing

Art development in children is essential for the child to develop not only in art, but personally too. What is the one thing a child does before he/she is able to write? The child draws or the child scribbles, and then child create personal masterpieces that express his/her feelings. Each childs artistic skills develop at different paces, and no development paths are the same. It is essential for educators to see and know that each child is different. Classrooms should be a place where students practice art, just as he/she would math and reading. Art has its own literacy that should be taught to students. They should be able to identify certain techniques, or organize their own artwork to correctly portray what they are trying to express. They should be able to observe art, and have an opinion on what they think the artist is trying to show through the piece. Seeing the importance of art is something that children should learn to observe. That missing art literacy is something that hurts the art programs in schools. The decision makers for these programs may not have the knowledge of the program and dont know the importance of art programs. Wilson and Wilson (1982) stated On the contrary, we believe that this hands-off attitude on the part of adults and the resulting reluctance to become involved in any way with the childs developmental processes is itself detrimental (p.40). It is important for adults to be active and support the arts. They will need to have that importance taught to them. Erickson and Young (1996) stated We need to develop simple explanations of our goals and achievements, and we need to take every opportunity to share these with colleagues, administrators, and parents (p. 40). The ones making the rules and the cuts to the program may not know how much of an impact that art has on the development of all levels of cognition. Analyzing artwork is something I have never done before. There is so much that you can learn from childrens

CHILDS DRAWING RESEARCH PAPER

drawings. I have randomly selected a drawing to analyze. An elementary student did the drawing. There are six stages of art development according to Brittain and Lowenfeld (1970). They are scribbling, preschematic, schematic, gang art, pseudo-naturalistic, and adolescent art. The stage of scribbling is the beginning of a childs art development. This is where they are still getting the hang of using a writing or drawing utensil. The preschematic stage is where the shapes start to take form. There is no scale to the objects on the page. The artist just fits what they need in the space they got. The schematic stage is the refining of the preschematic stage. The shapes are more uniformed, and the children start to scale the objects they draw. The gang stage has the students more aware of the details. This is the stage where they start to get more self-conscious of their drawing. Pseudo-naturalistic stage shows the details as more important. The setting of the drawings starts to show the important details. Lastly the adolescent art stage, the artists have mastered many different materials. This stage the art is more independent without as much direction. All the stages are important for the development of children. Some people may never develop to the last stage, or acquire those skills. Analysis The student that created this is in the schematic stage, according to the stages represented in Lowenfeld and Brittain (1970). The student is most likely seven or nine years old. They have the achievement of form concept, which means they can draw characteristics. This artist drew the subject with eyes and a nose and a
Figure 1. Schematic stage drawing.

CHILDS DRAWING RESEARCH PAPER

mouth. He/she has the subject clothed, with shoes and shoelaces. The artist also drew five fingers, trying to show as much detail as they could. The student developed their own technique to make arms and hands. That technique is shown by the similarities that the arms have, which is that the student drew the arms separately, then added the hands after. The student used the same technique with the legs and shoes too. This student had enough control of their fine motor skills to be able to neatly write the date on the artwork. The student drew details to enhance the piece more than a student in the preschematic stage would. This students schematic stage still has more skills to master before they would move onto the gang art stage. Conclusion To analyze childrens art it is important to look at all the details of the picture. The artist put each mark on the paper for a reason that made sense to them. It is important to keep art programs in schools and allow the children to develop through that media. Eisner (2002) stated The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of feeling (p. 3). I think it is so important that each student has a way to express and release what he or she is feeling. While art my not be every students release, they should have the chance to explore and experience creating art. Informing the administrators of the importance of art development will be vital in saving art programs for the students that need art to express themselves.

CHILDS DRAWING RESEARCH PAPER References:

Brittain, W. L., & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan. Eisner, E. W. (2002). The arts and the creation of mind. New Haven: Yale University. Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe

doesnt) know. School Arts, 96(2), 40-42.

Wilson, M., & Wilson, B. (1982). Teaching children to draw. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.