Running Head: CHILDRENS DRAWING ANALYSIS

Childrens Drawing Analysis Megan Weiner University of Missouri

CHILDRENS DRAWING ANALYSIS For this assignment, I will be analyzing a childs artistic development with a provided drawing. I will be placing the drawing I received into the appropriate stage of artistic development. I will apply what I have learned from readings, class discussions, and the class presentation about childrens art development in this small qualitative research project. By recognizing how the drawing selected illustrates the theories of stage development, I will also explain how this information impacts teachers. I believe the selected piece of artwork is one that was created by a child in the preschematic stage. The preschematic stage is described as a childs first representational attempts with drawing. Characteristics of this stage include objects that seem to float around the page, shapes that are geometric, distortion and omission of parts; with scribbles still apparent (Lowenfeld 475). In this particular drawing, the child seems to have drawn an animal, possibly a cat, towards the middle of page. While one can tell the figure is an animal, with the inclusion of details, there also seems to be extra legs drawn. The distortion of parts is a measure of the preschematic stage, as well as the fill-the-format principle. The extra legs drawn on the animal figure in the picture can be explained through this principle where a child may fill the allotted space with as many parts as needed. The size and shape of the format determine the number and size of appendages (Wilson 43). There also seems to be other somewhat random pictures on the page, such as the $23 towards the top left of the page as well as the multiple horizontal and diagonal line scribbles. I am not sure if the number is supposed to represent something the child saw or heard, or if it is simply just a random addition to the piece of art. Another element in the drawing includes a multitude of scribbles. While these line formations may seem haphazard, there are actually Twenty Basic Scribbles, which are the building blocks of art, and they are

CHILDRENS DRAWING ANALYSIS important because they permit a detailed and comprehensive description of the work of young

children (Kellog 15). The child used multiple zigzag lines to make up the grass the animal is on, as well as the sky. While the grass is made up of many inter lapping and layered zigzag lines, the sky is drawn with fewer, and the lines are drawn in more of a wavy design. The use of zigzag lines in the image may be an attempt at representing the textures apparent in the sky and to signify the variances of grass. Learning the artistic developmental process is not only helpful to art teachers in understanding what characteristics make up a certain stage, but is helpful knowledge for all teachers to understand their students. The educational benefits that come from this understanding include the teachers ability to choose age-appropriate teaching and assessment strategies, and aiding in developing artistic thinking and visual literacy (Luehrman 7). In turn, the student is provided with multiple pathways to improve communication skills, as well as his or her critical thinking. By being informed on the artistic developmental process, a teacher is more understanding of his or her students, which helps create an enhanced knowledge of what to provide for an appropriate education where no child is left behind.

CHILDRENS DRAWING ANALYSIS Works Cited Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesnt) know. School Arts, 96(2), 40-42. Johnson, M. H. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts. Young Children, 63(1), 74-79. Kellogg, R. (1970). Analyzing childrens art. Palo Alto, CA: National, 15, 19, 25, 78, 85, 109, 122 Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York, NY: Macmillan, Co., 22-25, 474-479. Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of childrens artistic development meaningful for pre-service teachers. Art Education, 59(3), 6-12. Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1974). Beginning stages of visual

expression of young children. In Art Experience, Development of Visual Perception, 1-4. Wilson, M., & Wilson, B. (1982). Teaching children to draw. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall, 39-47.