Running Beau: A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS

A Chilu's Biawing Analysis

}oiuan Buikhaiut
0niveisity of Nissouii-Columbia














A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 2
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Eveiy chilu goes thiough the same basic piocess as they leain to uiaw.
Aitists Naiy Eiickson anu Beinaiu Young (1996) aigue that "Chiluien piogiess
thiough stages of uevelopment in theii aitwoik in pieuictable ways" (p. S6). It is
impoitant foi teacheis to iecognize which stage theii stuuents aie in so that they
may pioviue appiopiiate activities anu encouiagement to help theii stuuents giow.
These stages weie outlineu by Lowenfelu & Biittain (197u) anu incluue: the
sciibbling stage (2-4 yeais), the pie-schematic stage (4-7 yeais), the schematic stage
(7-9 yeais), the gang age (9-12 yeais) anu the pseuuo-natuialistic stage (12-14
yeais). Stuuents may be aheau oi behinu the given stage foi theii age "just as
ieauing anu math levels vaiy wiuely in an aveiage class" (Eiikson & Beinaiu, 1996,
p. 41).
Foi this assignment, I selecteu a uiawing (Figuie 1) anu useu the
chaiacteiistics of the uiawing to ueteimine which stage the aitist was cuiiently in.
Theie was no inuication of the age of the stuuent on the uiawing. The uiawing was
caiefully analyzeu using the chaiacteiistics outlineu in the Biittain anu Lowenfelu
stages. These tiaits centeieu aiounu uiawing chaiacteiistics, space iepiesentation,
anu human figuie iepiesentation. Consensus was then ieacheu with a peei on the
stage of the uiawei.
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The uiawing seemeu to have been uone by a veiy young aitist. It was uiawn
using seveial colois. It appeaieu to have been completeu using maikei as the only
meuium. The uiawing took up the majoiity of the page anu seemeu to have seveial
A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS S
iepeateu figuies. Theie weie multiple-line ciicumfeience ciicles, a waving line,
single ciosseu ciicle, uots, anu spiial lines.










!"#$%& (. A Chilu's Biawing
Aftei being caiefully analyzeu, it was ueteimineu that the pictuie was uiawn
uuiing the sciibbling stage. Nany factois weigheu in on this uecision. To begin with,
Biittain & Lowenfelu (197u) ueem uiawing with a whole aim motion to be an
impoitant tiait of the sciibbling stage. Whole aim motions seem to be useu to make
the laige ciicles anu loops seen in the uiawing. In this stage, "theie is little oi no
musculai contiol ovei the sciibbles" (Ait Expeiience, 1974, p. S2). Fuitheimoie, the
uiawing extenus beyonu the page at times, as can be seen on the uppei-iight-hanu
siue of the uiawing. The black line appeais to go slightly off the page befoie
iesuming again on the page. Biittain & Lowenfelu (197u) believe that "sciibbling
beyonu the page" (p. 474) is anothei tiait of the sciibbling stage. Auuitionally,
A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 4
chiluien in the sciibbling stage ignoie any eailiei maiks that may be on the papei
(Biittain & Lowenfelu, 197u). Pievious maiks on the page maue by the chilu seem to
be ignoieu because each ciicle anuoi line oveilaps anothei. Foi example, the veiy
centei appeais to have many oveilapping figuies.
The uiawei appeais to be tiansitioning fiom the uisoiueieu sciibbling stage
into the contiolleu sciibbling stage. Accoiuing to Biittain & Lowenfelu (197u), those
in the uisoiueieu sciibbling stage use whole aim motions, sciibble beyonu the
papei, anu ignoie pievious maiks that they have placeu on the page. These
chaiacteiistics aie all noticeable in this chilu's uiawing. Bowevei, Biittian &
Lowenfelu (197u) also point out that theie aie no attempts at human figuie
iepiesentation in the uisoiueieu sciibbling stage. In the contiolleu sciibbling stage,
chiluien begin to uo piefiguial uiawings with "ciicles, lines, loops, anu swiils" (p.
474). The chilu in this uiawing uoes seveial swiils, which can be seen in the uppei
iight-hanu coinei anu the veiy centei of the papei. A few ciicles can be seen in the
centei of the page. Auuitionally, theie aie iepeateu motions in the uiawing. A
looping oi ciiculai motion was useu to make many of the maiks in this uiawing.
This movement must have been iepeateu multiple times because theie aie multiple
ciicles. This chaiacteiistic is also pait of the contiolleu sciibbling stage Foi example,
the multiple-line ciicumfeience ciicle, which is one of the basic sciibbles (Kellogg,
197u), is seen multiple times in the uiawing.. This suggests that the chilu is
beginning to tiansition into the next sub-stage of the sciibbling stage but has not yet
maue the full tiansition. The chilu woulu have fully tiansitioneu when he oi she
uiaws within the uiawing aiea, puts moie concentiation into ceitain paits of the
A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS S
uiawing, anu uiaws aiounu maiks pieviously uiawn on the page (Biittain &
Lowenfelu, 197u). The Naiylanu boaiu of Euucation of Baltimoie County (1974)
suggests that the instiuctoi "give the chilu time to continue expeiimentation"(p. S4),
anu pioviue expeiiences foi the chilu to use laige muscles to cieate ait.
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It is extiemely impoitant foi instiuctois to incluue ait in eveiy classioom.
When teacheis aie able to iuentify which stage theii stuuents aie in, they can auapt
instiuction to nuituie the giowth of theii stuuents. Foi example, the aitist I
analyzeu is in the sciibbling stage, so I coulu plan my instiuction foi this stuuent
accoiuingly. If teacheis uo not iuentify the stage theii stuuents aie in, they iisk
pioviuing uevelopmentally inappiopiiate tasks to theii stuuents. Fuithei ieseaich
into the vaiious stages coulu be valuable in helping my stuuents. Accoiuing to Pink
(2uu9), the woilu is moving fiom the infoimation age to the conceptual age. This
means that the ieliance on iight-biain thinking is becoming moie anu moie
impoitant in touay's woilu. Bowevei, "oui stuuents woulu juuge us as unfaii if we
expecteu them to have knowleuge anu skills they weie nevei taught" (Eiickson &
Young, 1996, p. S6). Teacheis must pioviue uevelopmentally appiopiiate tasks in a
systematic, oiganizeu way to help theii stuuents giow as aitists. We must help oui
stuuents builu theii skillset so that they may be successful in this iight-biain-
uominateu woilu. The woilu is becoming incieasingly uepenuent on cieative, out-
of-the-box thinkeis that can expiess stoiies anu ielationships, insteau of just logical,
mathematical thinkeis. Ait helps stuuents expiess themselves in a new way anu
uevelop theii cieativity. As teacheis, we must piepaie oui stuuents to be successful
A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 6
in this evolving woilu. If we can iuentify wheie they aie in theii uiawing abilities,
we will be able to help them giow as aitists. Knowing wheie youi stuuents aie gives
you a staiting point anu an iuea of how to help them ieach theii full potential.




















A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 7
Refeiences
Eiickson, N., & Young, B. (1996). What eveiy euucatoi shoulu (but maybe uoesn't)
know. )*+,,- .%/01 23(2), 4u-42.
Kellogg, R. (197u). .45-67"4# *+"-8%&490 5%/. Palo Alto, CA: National.
Lowenfelu, v., & Biittain, W. L. (197u). :%&5/";& 548 <&4/5- #%,=/+. New Yoik:
Nacmillan.
Naiylanu boaiu of Euucation of Baltimoie County. (1974). Beginning stages of
visual expiession of young chiluien. In .%/ >?@&%"&4*&1 A&;&-,@<&4/ ,B C"0$5-
D&%*&@/",4, 1-4.
Pink, B. B. (2uu6). A whole new minu: Why iight-biaineis will iule the futuie. New
Yoik: Riveiheau Books.
Wilson, N., & Wilson, B. (1982). E&5*+"4# *+"-8%&4 /, 8%5=. Englewoou Cliffs, N}:
Pientice Ball.