Running head: A CHILDS DRAWING ANAYSIS

A Childs Drawing Analysis

Chris Gniadek
University of Missouri

A Childs Drawing Analysis

As children grow up and learn new things, their artistic abilities grow with them. They
learn new things, new ways to create art, and their artistic ability gets better. Erickson and Young
(1996) state Childrens abilities to create drawings and to understand art develop in a parallel
fashion to changes in their cognitive, emotional, social, and physical growth (p.41). As a
teacher, it is important to understand the way children develop. Children go through different
stages that affect their artistic ability; each stage grows on the last one and the child get better at
art. These stages are called Lowenfeldian, which is named after Viktor Lowenfeldian who was an
art professor at Penn State University. It is important for a teacher to be able to identity what
stage their children are in. Once the teacher identifies the right stage, he or she can give the
children the advice to make their art abilities greater and teach them more things to help them.
This will also help the teacher decide what to do with their children and try new art projects with
them to see if they understand the concept.
The stages that Lowenfeld are called the Lowenfeldian Stages of Art, the stages that are
described by Lowenfeld (1940) are the Scribbling Stage (2-4 years), Preschematic Stage (4-7
years), Schematic Stage (7-9 years), Gang Age (9-12 years), Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage (12-14
years), and Adolescent Art (14-17 years) (p.474-479). Each stage is built off the last stage
before it. According to Erickson and Young (1996), Children progress through the stages of
development in their artwork in predictable ways, with wide variations within an age norm or
stage (p.41). Each stage has its own special characteristics in it but also depends on the childs
age what stage he or she falls in. As a teacher it is also important to pay attention to the childs
sensory motor skills because if they are not fully developed the child could be in a lower stage
that what his or her age recommends them to be in. Sensory motor skills are the most important

mechanism dealing with art and the childs artistic ability. For this paper, I have chosen a childs
artwork (figure 1) from my host school and I will identify which stage I believe this child is in. I
will analyze the childs artwork and describe it by using the Lowenfeldian Stages and what I
have learned in art.
Description and Analysis
The childs art or drawing I choose is a family portrait (Figure 1 below). The child who
drew this piece of art is named John. John is ten years old and he is in fifth grade. This family
portrait represents how John sees and views his family. Johns family consists of his dad, his
mom, and his brother. John drew his family with circular faces, with either two single diagonal
lines that make up their eyes. Also, for eyes he made a single crossed circle, these are some of
the basic characteristics of the twenty basic scribbles of art. Kellogg (1970) states that these
Twenty basic scribbles are important because they permit a detailed and comprehensive
description of the word of young children (p.15). Some examples of the basic scribbles are the

single curved line, single diagonal line, and the single crossed circle.

I believe
Figure 1:
John
Example
is in thedrawing
Schematic
in the
Stage: the achievement a form concept of drawing. The
Schematic Stage
characteristics of the Schematic Stage according to Lowenfeld and Brittain (1970) are drawings
show concept, not percept and that the drawings are bold, direct, and are flat representations
(p.476). Johns drawing does not show perception; it just shows the concept of his family and the
basic characteristics of people. In Johns drawings his characters are a flat representation of what
he believes they look like. As for the human representation of the schematic stage is that the
body is made up of geometric shapes, John drew his family with circle heads and rectangle
shaped bodies. The way John drew the characters arms and legs are exactly what one of the

characteristics of this stage states which is Arms and legs show volume and are usually
correctly placed (Lowenfeld and Brittain, 1970, p.476). Johns characters arms and legs are the
same size and are the correct proportion to their bodies. According to the Board of Education of
Baltimore County (1974) Embellishing symbols; the child draws objects of particular interest,
adding details only to areas of important to himself (p.3). John drew his characters heads that
are proportionate to their bodies but also the heads are bigger to show that the heads are the most
important part of his drawings. The head in his drawing shows the most detailed work and shows
he cares more about the head than the rest of the body.
Conclusion
Knowing that John is in the Schematic Stage can help him development specifically by
helping him understand the stage comes next and what will help him achieve that status. Without
help from the teacher John can reach a wall where he cannot advance his drawings and cannot go
into the next stage. The main thing that teachers need to do to help John enhance his
development is help John learn more about shapes and patterns. This will enhance Johns
development into the next stage because in the next stage it deals with overlapping of objects,
greater awareness of detail, and attempts at showing depth through size of objects (Lowenfeld
and Brittain, 1970, p.477). Knowing John is in the Schematic Stage help the teacher teach
because they can make John do artwork that corresponds with the stage he is in but also relate
topics to his liking to further his development. Also, it will make teaching easier for the teacher
to communicate to John because the teacher can see how John thinks and how he processes the
world and information. Some educational benefits for both the elementary school student and the
teacher are that it will help the classroom grow as a whole. The teacher is there to help the
students grow academically. Even with art the teacher needs to be there to help and understand

what the child has made. As for the child the benefits are that there is always help from the
teacher. The student will learn more and become more creative with art. The teachers need to
guide their students. Some of the consequences of being ignored or not knowing these ideas are
that the child does not want to learn. They may refuse to learn and that will have a negative
effect on the student and the teacher. But also, ignoring them can cause the student to lose
interest in school as a whole. Teachers must have a positive outlook on their students and class.
The more we use technology the less we talk face to face and express how we feel. The same
with art the more we use technology the less we put into real paintings and such. Having these
understandings can enrich how I will design my lessons by having an understanding about my
students art which can help the students learn and achieve more. They will want to learn more
and want participate more.

References

Beginning Stages of Visual Expression of Young Children (pp. 1-4). (1974). Art Experience
Develop Visual Perception.
Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesnt) know.
School Arts, 96 (2), 40-42.
Kellogg, R. (1970). Analyzing childrens art. Palo Alto, CA: National.
Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan.