Running head: A CHILD S DRAWING 1. A Child s Drawing. Alexandra D. Davis. University of Missouri

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1 Running head: A CHILD S DRAWING 1 A Child s Drawing Alexandra D. Davis University of Missouri

2 A CHILD S DRAWING 2 A Child s Drawing In this paper, a child s drawing will be analyzed and placed into a stage of schematic development. These stages are vital to understanding a child s views of their environment. Just as levels vary in other subjects, such as reading and mathematics, the same applies to art (Erickson & Young, 1996, p. 41). Meeting the student where they are by analyzing their artwork can help teachers discover how the child is expressing their environment and feelings. This can help the teacher understand the child. Not only that, but according to Luehrman and Unrath (2006), analyzing children s drawings and studying schematic development can help teachers with choosing age-appropriate teaching strategies (p. 6). Method The researcher selected a drawing by a child (Figure 1), whose age and gender are unknown to the researcher, to analyze. This presents qualitative findings because of the nature of the subject. Using the stages defined by Brittain and Lowenfeld (1970), the researcher studied each piece of the drawing to place it in a specific stage of artistic development. The stages of schematic development are the Scribbling Stage (ages two to four), the Preschematic Stage (ages four to seven), the Schematic Stage (ages seven to nine), the Gang Age (ages nine to twelve), the Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage (ages twelve to fourteen), and Adolescent Art (ages fourteen to seventeen) (p ). As a child progresses from stage to stage, they develop in their expression of their environment, representation of human figures, and representation of space. Findings The analyzed drawing (see Figure 1) is of a person standing next to a house, which is next to a tree. The images move upward through the photo from left to right. The person is shorter than the house, which is shorter than the tree. The person has an oval body, with sticklike arms and legs jutting out to the left and right. The person s face has three dots, two for the

3 A CHILD S DRAWING 3 eyes and one for the nose, and is smiling towards the viewer. The person has hair that is as long as the head is tall. The house is made of two geometric shapes. A square makes the base and a triangle makes the roof. The square is decorated with a square doorway that is colored darker than the house. The triangle is decorated with circles and loops. These circles and loops are defined as scribbles 14 (multiple loop line), 19 (single, crossed circle) and 20 (imperfect circle) of the twenty basic scribbles (Kellogg, 1970, p. 15). The tree is made of two shapes, a tall and skinny rectangle and a cloud-like shape. The rectangle represents the trunk and is shaded darkly. The cloud like shade represents the leaves and is slightly lighter than the trunk. Above the cloudlike leaves are scribbles of a circular motion. This particular scribble is scribble 14 (multiple loop line) of the twenty basic scribbles (Kellogg, 1970, p. 15). Figure 1. Child s Drawing

4 A CHILD S DRAWING 4 The piece has been analyzed and placed in the late Preschematic / early Schematic Stage. The drawing exemplifies the following characteristics from the Preschematic Stage: (1) the shapes for objects in the picture are geometric and lose their meaning if removed from the whole, (2) the person is looking at the viewer, smiling, and (3) there is distortion and omission of parts from the person represented (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970, p. 475). The first characteristic was observed because the drawing contains very basic geometric shapes; the tree is a rectangle, the house is a triangle and square, and the person is a circle. If taken away from the picture, the individual shapes would hold no real meaning as what they were a part of. The second characteristic was observed by the person s facial expression. The person represented is looking towards the viewer with a smile on their face. The third characteristic was determined by the shape and position of the body and appendages. The body is ovular with the legs and arms drawn on in a horizontal motion, which is not representative of how a person s anatomy is formed. The legs should be placed vertically. This drawing also represents the Schematic Stage. The following schematic characteristics are shown: (1) there is an establishment of a base line on the drawing, (2) there is no or little overlapping of objects and (3) the drawing reflects the child s knowledge of their environment (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1970, p. 476). The first is determined from the position of the objects. Each object sits on one edge of the paper, meaning there is a bottom and a top to the picture. The second characteristic is seen from the discrete placement of the objects on the paper. The house does not touch the tree or the person. The third characteristic is shown from the nature of the objects drawn. The conclusion is that the child is drawing their home because it is what they know. Their home and that specific tree are what is present in their environment.

5 A CHILD S DRAWING 5 Conclusion Self-expression is a vital part of handling one s thoughts, ideas, and feelings. According to Johnson (2008), verbal literacy is familiar to educators, while visual literacy is not as commonly acknowledged (p. 74). Without being able to understand or interpret a child s visual expression, the teacher runs the risk of neglecting what might be the only way that the child can communicate effectively. However, if a teacher consider[s] verbal and visual literacy as complements in young children s art experiences children being to think artistically (Johnson, 2008, p ). Producing an artistic thinker is especially important in the world today. According to Pink (2006), we are entering the Conceptual Age, which means we re moving to a society based more on how people think creatively (p ). Visual literacy is an important skill to develop in student s to prepare them for the creatively-driven Conceptual Age. By analyzing children s artwork and schematic development theory, teachers prepare themselves to teach a classroom that integrates both visual and verbal literacy.

6 A CHILD S DRAWING 6 References Brittain, W.L., & Lowenfeld, V. (1970) Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY: MacMillan Co. Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesn t) know. School Arts, 96(2), Johnson, M. H. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts. Young Children, 63(1), Kellogg, R. (1970). Analyzing children s art. Palo Alto, CA: National. Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of children s artistic development meaningful for pre-service teachers. Art Education, 59(3), Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Riverhead Books.