Running head: CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

Child Artist Interview and Reflection

Katie A. Leingang
University of Missouri

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

For this report, you will be analyzing the drawing of the child you interviewed, my
teacher explained. After hearing those words I thought I was doomed! Sure, I completed the
interview assignment, but how was I supposed to type a four to seven page paper on one quick
drawing? Could that much be learned through the experience? Well, I can definitely say I was
taken aback by how much knowledge can be attained through one drawing, which leads me to
the purpose of this essay. Sure this is about the childs drawing and stage of development but
this is also about all the children in the future who will benefit from the knowledge I share with
them and new found ability to integrate art into all subject matter. All people deserve to receive
an education that builds upon their strengths, challenges them to reflect and think critically and
allows them to express their understanding. All of this can be accomplished through art. So
without further delay, we will jump back in time to the unusually warm Saturday in February
when I conducted my first official child artist interview.
The clock struck ten-thirty on this 70 degree Saturday in February and as I stepped out of
my old maroon Mazda, my Campus Minister ran out of her home smiling as she greeted me. In
the corner of my eye, I saw the curtains in the family room shift as a nervous kindergartener
peered out at me. He is really nervous about this, she warned me as I stepped into their home.
I introduced myself to the kindergartener and explained that I am friends with his mom and that I
am studying to be a teacher. I told him that for one of my classes I need to draw with a student
and that I was here to draw with him. My explanation was returned with a blank stare. He
slowly made his way to the kitchen table to begin drawing and his mom asked him to tell me
about his marker set. This was no ordinary set of 10 Crayola markers. They were situated in a
case that held them upright and were in a position that rose upward and reminded me of a
wedding cake. He informed me that he received it as a birthday present and then decided that he

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

did not want his mom in the room watching him draw. She left and I sat there for a few seconds
trying to figure out how to make her son feel more comfortable.
Before I knew it, the kindergartener had grabbed a blue marker and was busy drawing.
He drew a circle, the head, with two smaller circles inside of it, the eyes, and then added a smile
to the face. It was at this point that I was finally able to let him know that I was required to have
him draw either a self-portrait, picture of his family or a tree. He continued drawing without a
word, adding legs and arms to the head.

Then he drew a tree which had five roots, a trunk which extended upwards from the
center root and a top which leaves were drawn around a circle. Rather abruptly the student
looked up and saw the plastic baby he found in this years Kings Cake. He started telling me
about it and I eagerly listened. Conversation about anything comfortable to the kid was a step in
the right direction. When he finished his story he looked back at his paper for a while. I then
decided to ask a question that focused on the students choice of media because I had read
Developing Verbal and Visual Literacy through Experiences in the Visual Arts by Margaret H.

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

Johnson which suggested the question, What were you thinking about when you drew circles
with the blue marker?(Johnson, 77). So I tried to form a similar question and asked him I
noticed you drew everything in blue. Why did you choose to draw everything in blue? His face
fell and before I could stop him he grabbed a green marker scribbled green on the leaves and
then scribbled brown on the tree trunk and roots. When I say he scribbled, I mean scribbled. He
did not worry about tracing what had been blue with a different color he simply marked over the
surface with a color so that some of his previous work was almost hidden. It is harder to make
out the original number of roots on the tree now.

OH NOOOO!!! I thought to myself, I scared him and caused him to think he had to be more
realistic. I quickly tried to assure him that it was perfectly fine blue. Unfortunately, the damage
had been done.
After waiting a while to see if he was going to draw more I decided to ask him another
question. Is there anything else in your picture that I do not see? I inquired. Again, what I
thought was a decent enough question ended up altering his piece. He quickly drew grass with a

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

green marker and the sky with a light blue color. After a few minutes, I went ahead and asked
him, Can you tell me about your drawing? He pointed to the person and said, That is me
looking at a tree and this is the sky and grass.

Finally, I decided to follow an idea I read about in Developing Verbal and Visual
Literacy through Experiences in the Visual Arts by Margaret H. Johnson which was to ask if the
student would like to write an artistic statement for the painting or tell me and I would record it
(Johnson, 76). I asked him if he wanted to talk through my pretend microphone and tell me more
about his drawing but he thought that was too weird. I asked if there was anything else I should
know about the drawing and he simply replied, no so I did not end up gaining more insight but
I thanked him very much for his help and his mom walked back into the room.
As I made my way to the door, his mom showed me another self-portrait he had created.
I was stunned by it! It appeared way more sophisticated than the one he had created for me! It
was created with the use of many different mediums, construction paper, markers, and paint.
Unlike the drawing he had briefly constructed for me, this self-portrait showed that he has hair, a

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

neck, blue eyes, a red mouth, a nose, eye brows, a chin, a hat, a body and detailed clothing.
Also, this portrait was created at school and the influence of the teacher is always questionable in
such situations. However, the child attends an expressive arts school and my LTC 4240 art
professor commented that she knows his teachers and how great they are. The most notable
similarity was the color choice. Again, blue is the highly dominant color in the self-portrait. The
background contains a few different shades of blue, his hat is mostly blue, his eyes are blue, and
his clothes are blue too.
At this point in the day, the kindergartener was feeling much more comfortable with me.
He was getting all excited and running around the house grabbing all the art work he had created.
He showed me an ocean creature he created, as well as a pinch pot. Then he started bringing out
his toys, too, and putting on shows for me. I enjoyed getting to know this kindergartener more.
Through this experience I found that I learned a great deal about both the student I was
working with and myself. The student, according to the drawing he drew for me, is in the
Preschematic Stage. According to the article, Creative and Mental Growth by Brittain and
Lowenfeld, people in this stage usually draw humans so that: they are smiling and looking at the
viewer; include arms which usually are attached to the head as well as include fingers, toes, and
a body; leave out and/or distort body parts; and by the end of this stage draw people with details
such as hair and clothes (Brittain, Lowenfeld, 475). All of this applies to the drawing he drew
for me. In his drawing, he is smiling, facing the viewer, has arms and legs but no substantial
body, leaves out many crucial body parts, and distorts other body parts. Also in this article, it
discusses space representation. Objects in a Preschematic Stage drawing often float, are
distorted to fit the paper size and are distorted in proportion to other objects (Brittain, Lowenfeld,
475). In the kindergarteners drawing, I notice that he is floating. He is drawn about an inch

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

above the grass, and he is only about an inch-and-a-half tall in the drawing. The tree however, is
barely touching the grass and the sky.
After reading the article Making Theories of Childrens Artistic Development
Meaningful for Preservice Teachers by Mick Luehrman and Kathy Unrath I have come to
believe this student is in Kerlavagcs stage of Early Symbol Making. This stage is for people
who, develop their own personal vocabulary of graphic symbols as they discover the power
their symbols have to represent and communicate (Luehrman & Unrath 8). I believe this
student is in this stage because he recognizes that one large circle with two smaller circles inside
of it lined up horizontal to eachother with an upward curving line under the two smaller circles
communicates to others a smiling face. He also understands that a vertical line with multiple
smaller lines attaching to the base of the vertical line and some form of scribbles on the top of
the main vertical line communicates a tree. He utilizes what he knows to communicate with the
viewer the tone of his work, which I believe is happiness since he drew himself smiling.
Finally, I looked at a handout which was developed by the Study Group for Art in Early
Childhood, Maryland Institute College of Art. It gave visual and written examples of drawing
development from one being the beginner level to five being the advanced level (The Study
Group 25-26). The handout lined up well with what the other two sources were saying
developmentally in terms of drawing people floating, details, control, and structure. In all these
categories the student either matched up to level one or two. However, what surprised me was
that the student was much more advanced when it came to drawing the tree. In the categories of
structure and floating the student matched up around a level four. For detail and control, the
student matched up around level twos.

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

A few other aspects of the drawing which I have noted are: the use of only the top half of
paper, the sky is only depicted as being high up not all around, the grass doesnt extend back to
show depth, and he is drawn so small. I believe all of these aspects evolve with practice. With
this said though, some artists may decide to still depict a drawing in these ways to get across a
point. Perhaps they are going after a youthful look or just want to emphasize a certain aspect of
the piece.
In conclusion, I have gained numerous insights through one drawing. Although this
student was at a Preschematic Stage and Kerlavagcs stage of Early Symbol Making I have had
the opportunity to explore, through the readings and handout, many different stages of artistic
development. I am now equipped with knowledge regarding the general ability of artists in a
certain age range so that I will be able to appropriately devise projects to stretch the critical
thinking of students, but not to an extent where they feel too over their heads. One thing I would
recommend all education majors consider is the variability of these stages. I was able to
experience some variability in artistic stages through the handout which was developed by the
Study Group for Art in Early Childhood, Maryland Institute College of Art. I came to understand
that the tree drawn by the kindergartener was more sophisticated than the person he drew. The
same child is at different stages in his artistic development. Imagine that! This goes to show that
these stages are not permanent and never to underestimate a child because he/she is not yet in a
certain stage. Overall, an understanding in art and art integration is vital because students can
use art to build upon their strengths, reflect and think critically and express their understanding
of material and, in the situation of this kindergartener, an understanding of self.

CHILD ARTIST INTERVIEW AND REFLECTION

Works Cited
Brittain, W.L. & V. Lowenfeld. (1970) Creative and Mental Growth. New York, N.Y.
MacMillan Co. pgs 474-479.
Johnson, M.H. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual
arts. Young Children, 63(1), 74-79.
Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of childrens artistic development
meaningful for pre-service teachers. Art Education, 59(3), 6-12.
(2004). The Study Group for Art in Early Childhood. SchoolArts. Maryland Institute College of
Art. pgs 25-26.