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Allison Romei 4240 Research Paper Analysis of a Students Artwork A child may begin to draw freely, not really caring how or what the picture will turn out to be. But when an educator gets their hands on the finished work, a lot can be discovered about the drawing. You can look at a drawing and evaluate their artistic development through their work. I was given a piece of artwork and asked to classify the stage of development I think the artist is in just by looking at the picture they drew. My picture was a portrait of a girl. All facial features were there as well as a neck and the top of her body. Now that I had my picture, it was time to investigate the parts of the picture. Viktor Lowenfeld and W.L. Brittain created different stages of artistic development. I believe my picture ends during one stage and begins in another stage. I believe my picture starts in the Schematic Stage. Seven to nine year olds usually fall into this category. According to the Schematic Stage, the drawing is a bold, direct, flat representation (Lowenfeld 476). The body is usually made up of geometric shapes and exaggeration is used to show experience (Lowenfeld 476). The girl in my picture is bold and is a flat representation. Her face and body, combined, fills up almost the entire page. She exaggerates the face more than the body. As mentioned in an article, Wilson states children, too, exaggerate those objects, persons, and actions in their drawings that are most important. To the artist, the face of the girl was the most important part of the picture. The hair is outlined, making the hair stand out more on the paper. Her hair is an interesting shape making it geometric, along with the nose being a triangular shape. Her eyes are circles with nice long lashes and the smile is large showing the happiness the girl has.

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I also feel that this drawing could be part of the nest stage called the Gang Stage. Nice to twelve year olds usually fall into this stage. I feel as though the artist was aware of the details that needed to be added to the picture. Less exaggeration of body parts and body parts retain their meaning when separated are some more characteristics of this stage that I see in the drawing (Lowenfeld 477). The body is smaller than the face in the picture, showing greater emphasis on the facial features than the body. Also, if you cut the picture in half at the neck, you could have one picture of the face and one picture of the body still. Each body part could retain their meaning and shape if detached. This student drew a picture in which all items are related (Board of Education 4). Everything in the picture has a purpose and all aspects of the picture are linked together and related. I feel like some aspects of this drawing fall in the Schematic Stage and some aspects went beyond and would be part of the Gang Stage. If I were to see this picture drawn in my classroom, I would tell that student to continue on drawing and practicing new techniques. I would suggest to keep adding in more and more detail to the drawing. I would only say positive reviews of the picture so that the student will gain confidence in their drawing ability. When the elementary school teacher understands art concepts and ideas, the student will benefit. Knowing the stages of artistic development can help the teacher, which in turn, would help the student. What is important to understand that I have learned throughout this process is that even though an age group corresponds to a certain artistic stage, doesnt mean that all kids in that age group have to be in that certain stage. Erickson and Young found when comparing artwork made by students that the drawings ranged across the full spectrum of traditional Lowenfeldian stages (Young 41). Just because a child is twelve years old does not mean that child has to be in the pseudo-naturalistic stage. Childrens development in art is going to vary.

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As a teacher we must understand this. We cannot pressure our students into trying to get them to be in the correct stage for their age. Each student is going to have their own artistic ability and as the teacher you have to look at their artwork individually. If teachers ignore this, students may feel pressure to produce amazing artwork that is far above their actual ability. Once the teacher understands the different stages, the teacher then can help the students reach the next developmental stage in a creative way and not in a pressuring way. If the student feels comfortable in the way they draw, then the pieces they create will have meaning and feeling to them. All in all, knowing the different developmental stages in art can have benefits for both the teacher and the student. When the teacher realizes that not every student is going to be at the same stage, the teacher will have to make sure to analyze their work according to their ability and not to the stage they are supposed to be in. Once the teacher knows about the stages, then the student will benefit and feel comfortable and confident in their drawing.

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References Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesnt) know. School Arts, 96(2), 40-42. Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York, NY: Macmillan, Co., 22-25, 474-479.
Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1974). Beginning stages of visual young children. In Art Experience, Development of Visual Perception, 1-4. expression of

Wilson, M. & Wilson, B. (1982) Teaching Children to Draw. Engle Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall 3947.