Running head: ANALYZING A CHILDS DRAWING

Analyzing a Childs Drawing

Rachel Cole
University of Missouri

ANALYZING A CHILDS DRAWING

Analyzing a Childs Drawing

As a child develops, they progress through many stages in their cognitive and physical
abilities. One demonstration of this is in their ability to draw and create art. As a future educator,
this knowledge is essential for choosing age-appropriate teaching strategies and content for the
units and lessons constructed by teachers both in and out of art class (Luehrman & Unrath,
2006).
In this investigation, our class has analyzed childrens artwork to determine what stage of
development they are in, as well as to compare the different factors that reveal to us what stage
the student is in. In class, we examined a sample piece of art from an unknown student, and
using our given knowledge of phases of artistic development, we determined where the students
progression level was at in terms of their drawings. We were then instructed to have a student in
our field draw either a self-portrait, a picture of them and their family, or an outdoor scene.
Using this drawing, we were to analyze the students drawing ability and determine their
development level. The drawing I analyzed was an outdoor scene featuring a girl standing in the
grass, with the sun shining and a flower growing next to her. I found it interesting that when
asked to draw an outdoor scene, she mostly wanted to focus on the girl in the drawing. However,
as Judith Burton (1980) mentions in Developing Minds, it is crucial to allow students to create
their own interpretations of what is important in their world (p. 60). As we progress, the
drawing will be discussed at greater length, but my hypothesis is that this student is somewhere
between the schematic stage (approximately seven - nine years-old) and gang age (around nine
twelve years-old), which is accurate for her age.

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Method

The student I analyzed is a fourth grade female. I asked her if she would like to go to the
hall with me to draw a picture, and after telling her the possible scenes, she chose an outdoor
scene. During her drawing, we made casual conversation about school and her interests. As she
went, I asked questions about why she made certain artistic decisions, and I encouraged her
skills. This student appears to be one of the more advanced artists in my host classroom. After
she finished the drawing, she told me I could keep it because she draws things like this all the
time. The drawing has been included below.

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Findings

My student chose to draw the person as an anime-style character because she thinks they
are cute. The person was not meant to represent anybody in particular, nor were the clothes
specific ones she owns. She simply chose all of her colors because she likes them. The sky is
colored blue, however, it does not touch the ground the way the actual sky reaches the horizon.
When asked about this, she said she thought it may be confusing and look like her person is
under water. Holistically, the drawing appears more advanced than the schematic stage.
However, when looking at individual components, it appears to fall under this category, which
does encompass her age group. According to Brittain and Lowenfeld (1970), the artists in this
stage establish a base line on which objects are placed and often a sky line, with the space
between representing the air (p. 476). Although there isnt necessarily a line for the sky, the
artist did leave space between the sky and ground. Furthermore, the body is made up mostly of
geometric shapes, is largely exaggerated, and is a flat representation rather than multidimensional perception (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970). Though some details may fall into more
than one category, this could be because the student is in between stages of development, in the
middle of the schematic stage and gang age. Most development occurs in an orderly fashion,
not because children are preprogrammed, nor as a sense of consequence of maturation alone. It
is because some fairly fundamental learning is acquired at each stage, learning which in its
richness and extent is necessary in order for new stages to be built onto it (Burton, 1980, p. 10).
Conclusion
This research concludes that not all children must fit into one category when it comes to
stages of development. As children progress, they build on prior knowledge, which leads
children to often have qualities that fit into more than one stage. Because of this, I have

ANALYZING A CHILDS DRAWING

concluded that my student is between the schematic stage and gang age. It is important to
understand this as any teacher, because art is so intertwined with all content areas. Even with art
set aside, developmental stages occur at different rates for every child, and not every student may
be in the same place as their peers. Understanding this is key since we, as educators, are the ones
who will be molding these young minds and helping them progress through these stages of
development. By encouraging children in all stages to expand their knowledge and grow, we are
helping these students as they develop socially, physically, and cognitively. This experience has
guided me to encourage artistic growth in my future classroom because it can affect all content
areas, as well as a childs creativity and ability to think outside the box.

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References

Brittain, W.L. & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY:
MacMillan Co.
Burton, J. (1980). Beginnings of artistic language. Developing Minds, 80(1), 6-12.
Burton, J. (1980). The first visual symbols. Developing Minds, 80(2), 60-64.
Luehrman, M. & Unrath, K. (2006, May). Making Theories of Childrens Artistic Development
Meaningful for Preservice Teachers. Art Education, pp. 6-12.