A Childs Drawing Research Analysis

1












Melanie Anderson
A Childs Drawing Research Analysis
University of Missouri- Columbia

























A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


2







A Childs Drawing Analysis

There is much to be learned from a childs drawing. Whether it consists of
scribbles that seem to have no meaning, rhyme, or reason, or a portrait drawn to scale
with intricate shading, each drawing gives a unique perspective into the childs
development. There are six stages of development in students drawings: (1) The
scribbling stage, the beginning of self-expression; (2) The Preschematic stage, the first
representational attempt; (3) The Schematic Stage, when there is achievement of a form
concept; (4) Gang Age, which is the dawning of realism; (5) The Psuedo-Naturalistc
stage, the age of reasoning; (6) Adolescent Art, which is the period of decision. I was
given a young childs drawing of what appears to be a doctor. Based on the
characteristics of the drawing, I would place the child in the Preschematic stage.
Description and Analysis

A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


3
The drawing that I received seemed to have been drawn by a child in the
Preschematic stage. The Preschematic Stage is the first conscious creation of
form(Donley), and the first representational attempt is [usually] a person (Donley). In
my drawing, the child chose to draw a person, and the person is looking at the viewer
[and] smiling (Lowenfeld p. 47). The person in the drawing has two circles colored in
for eyes, one circle colored in for a nose, and a smiling face. There are no details added to
the face, such as eyebrows or facial hair, just a simple smiling face. The child did include
hair on the persons head. The child gave the person short hair by scribbling dark lines. It
is common for children in this stage to leave out parts of the body. In my drawing, there
is an absence of a neck to attach the head to the body, and an absence of a torso or a
waist. The person consists of two circles, the head slightly smaller than the body, with 2
lines for legs and 2 lines for legs. In the Preschematic stage, children have a gradual
inclusion of arms (Lowenfeld p. 47). In my drawing, the arms are coming straight out of
the body; they are even partially drawn into the body.
It is common for children in the Preschematic stage to use geometric shapes to
represent items or people. Children in this stage also tend to draw items that are not
proportional and fill up the space. In my drawing, the child took up the whole paper with
their drawing of the person, and the proportions of the body compared with the legs and
arms are much bigger. The legs and arms are small scribbled lines while the body
consists of a plump round circle. It is interesting, however, that feet and shoes are
included in the drawing. While the shoes are made from half circles, which is still a
geometric shape, this shows maturity and thought. The child thought enough about the
drawing to give the person shoes. In this stage, children have their first attempts at
A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


4
representing something within their drawing. In my drawing, the child is representing
what appears to be a doctor. The child attempted to draw a stethoscope from the persons
ears hanging down to the middle of the persons body. The doctor is something that is
recognizable to children so it would make sense that a child in the Preschematic stage
would draw a doctor. It is something familiar to them.
Given this information, there are a few suggestions I would give this child artist. I
would push them to add more detail to their picture. I would ask the child what else do
people have in real life that they could add to their picture. Ears, a neck, hands? I would
ask them this to get them picturing a person in their head so that they can visualize what
they are missing in their picture. I would also encourage them to add background detail.
Where is the doctor? If the doctor is in the office, what kinds of things are at the doctors
office that they could add? I believe that encouraging artists in the Preschematic stage to
add plenty of detail is going to be the most beneficial for them. It will get them thinking
about how to make their pictures have more depth.
Understanding where the students are in their development is vital to teaching.
The experience of learning the different stages and analyzing childrens pictures can be
extremely helpful for future teaching. Before children know how to write, they can
represent their feelings, emotions, and thoughts through drawing. Understanding where
they are in their drawing can help you to recognize where they are in their thoughts as
well. With my drawing, I was able to conclude that while my child artist had the basic
idea of drawing a human, however, they were lacking in detail. This is helpful as a
teacher because I realize that their needs to be an intentional discussion about what detail
can be added until they add the detail on their own. This will be beneficial with students
A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


5
when they do begin writing because they will already add detail to their stories because
that is what they did whenever they would draw their writings instead of writing them.
Conclusion
Recognizing the developmental stage children are in can give teachers an insight
into the students maturity and thought process. This can help for teachers to better help
their students by supporting them with the necessary tools and in a way that will allow
them to grow.
















A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


6






References

Donley, S. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York:
Macmillan.











A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


7






Writing Center:
Online Writery response
REPLYREPLY ALLFORWARD
mark as unread

writingcenter@missouri.edu
Tue 2/25/2014 2:42 PM
To:
Anderson, Melanie L. (MU-Student);

Greetings Melanie,
My name is Bill, and I'm a writing tutor. I've read your paper and hope that I can
help. Overall, your paper is clear and well-organized, but I did make a few
comments below in gold highlight. Good luck with the paper, and let us know if we
can be of further help.


Melanie Anderson
A Childs Drawing Research Analysis
University of Missouri- Columbia

A Childs Drawing Analysis

There is much to be learned from a childs drawing. Whether it consists of
scribbles that seem to have no meaning, rhyme, or reason, or a portrait drawn to
scale with intricate shading, each drawing gives a unique perspective into the childs
development. There are six stages of development in students drawings. The
scribbling stage, which is the beginning of self-expression, the Preschematic stage,
which is the first representational attempt, the Schematic Stage is when there is
achievement of a form concept. There is also the Gang Age, which is the dawning of
realism, the Psuedo-Naturalistc stage, which is the age of reasoning, and finally,
Adolescent Art, which is the period of decision. I was given a young childs drawing
A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


8
of what appears to be a doctor. Based on the characteristics of the drawing, I would
place the child in the Preschematic stage.
A good way to handle long lists of complex items is to use a colon to
introduce the list, semi-colons to separate items, and numbers to order the list.
Example:
Several children visited Wonka's chocolate factory: (1) Veruca Salt, a greedy
little girl spoiled by her parents; (2) Agustus Gloop, a gluttonous boy from Germany;
and (3) Violet Beauregarde, who chewed gum relentlessly.
Description and Analysis

The drawing that I received seemed to have been drawn by a child in the
Preschematic stage. The Preschematic Stage is the first conscious creation of
form(Donley), and the first representational attempt is [usually] a person
(Donley). In my drawing, the child chose to draw a person, and the person is
looking at the viewer [and] smiling (Lowenfeld p. 47). The person in the drawing
has two circles colored in for eyes, one circle colored in for a nose, and a smiling
face. There are no details added to the face, such as eyebrows or facial hair, just a
simple smiling face. The child did include hair on the persons head. The child gave
the person short hair by scribbling dark lines. It is common for children in this stage
to leave out parts of the body. In my drawing, there is an absence of a neck to
attach the head to the body, and an absence of a torso or a waist. The person
consists of two circles, the head slightly smaller than the body, with 2 lines for legs
and 2 lines for legs. In the Preschematic stage, children have a gradual inclusion of
arms (Lowenfeld p. 47). In my drawing, the arms are coming straight out of the
body; they are even partially drawn into the body. It is common for children in the
Preschematic stage to use geometric shapes to represent items or people. This last
sentence seems to belong in the next paragraph.
Children in this stage also tend to draw items that are not proportional and
fill up the space. In my drawing, the child took up the whole paper with their
drawing of the person, and the proportions of the body compared with the legs and
arms are way much? bigger. The legs and arms are small scribbled lines while the
body consists of a plump round circle. It is interesting, however, that feet and shoes
are included in the drawing. While the shoes are made from half circles, which is still
a geometric shape, this shows maturity and thought. The child thought enough
about the drawing to give the person shoes. In this stage, children have their first
attempts at representing something within their drawing. In my drawing, the child is
A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


9
representing what appears to be a doctor. The child attempted to draw a
stethoscope from the persons ears hanging down to the middle of the persons
body. The doctor is something that is recognizable to children so it would make
sense that a child in the Preschematic stage would draw a doctor. It is something
familiar to them.
Taking this information and moving forward Given this information, there
are a few suggestions I would give this child artist. I would push them to add more
detail to their picture. I would ask the child what else do people have in real life that
they could add to their picture. Ears, a neck, hands? I would ask them this to get
them picturing a person in their head so that they can visualize what they are
missing in their picture. I would also encourage them to add background detail.
Where is the doctor? If the doctor is in the office, what kinds of things are at the
doctors office that they could add? I believe that encouraging artists in the
Preschematic stage to add plenty of detail is going to be the most beneficial for
them. It will get them thinking about how to make their pictures have more
depth. This might be a good spot for a paragraph break. Understanding where the
students are in their development is vital to teaching. The experience of learning the
different stages and analyzing childrens pictures can be extremely helpful for future
teaching. Before children know how to write, they can represent their feelings,
emotions, and thoughts through drawing. Understanding where they are in their
drawing can help you to recognize where they are in their thoughts as well. With my
drawing, I was able to conclude that while my child artist had the basic idea of
drawing a human, however, they were lacking in detail. This is helpful as a teacher
because I realize that their needs to be an intentional discussion about what detail
can be added until they add the detail on their own. This will be beneficial with
students when they do begin writing because they will already add detail to their
stories because that is what they did whenever they would draw their writings
instead of writing them.
Conclusion
Recognizing the developmental stage children are in can give teachers an
insight into the students maturity and thought process. This can help for teachers to
better help their students by supporting them with the necessary tools and in a way
that will allow them to grow.













A Childs Drawing Research Analysis


10









References

Donley, S. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan.