Running Beau: A Chilu's Biawing Analysis Reseaich Papei 1

A Childs Drawing Analysis Research Paper

STUDENT
University of Missouri, Columbia














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A Childs Drawing Analysis Research Paper
Art is very important for young children. It is a way that they can express
themselves even when they cannot speak. It allows them to put their emotions and
feelings down, or create something with their emotions. According to Eisner (2009), We
tend to think that in order to know you have to be able to say (p. 6). This emphasizes
how important art is for young children. They all have something to say whether they can
speak it verbally or not. By learning how to analyze childrens pictures, a deeper
understanding of their thoughts can be gained by us as their teachers. This can help us
learn not only more about the child, but also how to better teach them. By understanding
how the child feels, we become more responsive to their needs as a student.
As a class we each received a drawing to analyze and compare with a partner. We
decided together what stage we thought each of our student artists were in and then
discussed why. Getting a second opinion and feedback on the drawings really added to
my analysis. It helps to hear what other people think compared to my own thoughts. The
confirmation helps me to feel more definite that my analysis is correct. My partner and I
both had the same analysis on my drawing. If we had disagreed, I might not have been so
confident in the evidence that I put into my paper. This would have made my paper less
persuasive, and informational. The drawing that I received for analysis looks like an
animal of some type. There is no name on the picture or indication of how old the student
is, besides the drawing itself.
Description and Analysis
The analysis of a childs drawing has helped me to understand some of the stages
of childrens artwork better. The drawing that I was assigned to (see figure 1, below)
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looks like it was drawn only with a regular pencil. I see no other medium used on the
picture. This seems a little strange to me considering that many kids love colorful things
and usually enjoy creating colorful pictures. However, this picture appears to me that the
student envisioned the drawing before putting it down on paper. It is a very simple
drawing and it uses only a few different shapes. What stands out to me, though, about this
picture is that only the face is labeled with food names including marshmallow, M&Ms,
and icing. It almost looks like a platypus head with a dinosaurs body. The marshmallow
looks like a platypus bill, and the bumps running down the spine look similar to a
dinosaurs back judging from pictures that I have seen before. Maybe it is actually animal
shaped food, instead of just an animal. There is also no background for the picture. The
drawing is just surrounded by plain white paper and empty space. According to Wilson
and Wilson (1982), Childrens drawings were ruled by unconscious innate laws of
form (pg. 56). So, I may never know the true meaning of the drawing without asking
the child.
This drawing had a few characteristics from different stages. However, most of its
characteristics fell into the preschematic stage. To paraphrase Lowenfeld and Brittain
(1970), this stage is determined by such things as shapes losing meaning when removed
from the whole, objects floating around the page, and a flexible symbol (p. 48). This
drawing shows the object almost floating on the page since he or she did not draw a
ground level, or any kind of background. If the shapes that make up this picture were
separated from the main animal picture, then they would only be shapes, and nothing
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Figure 1. An example of a childs drawing.
more. This is something that distinguishes the picture from the other stages. A few things
described in Lowenfeld and Brittains chart threw me off on what to categorize this
picture in. First, since there was only one object, I could not tell if any other objects were
related, if the objects were determined subjectively, and I could not compare any objects
to the main focus point in the picture. However, since most of the descriptions in the
chart fit the drawing, I assume that he or she is between four and seven years old and is at
the first representational attempts stage in their drawing.
The child who drew this picture is most likely in the symbol making stage.
According to Luehrman and Unrath (2006):
Early Symbol Making Stage (typically ages 4-7), during which children begin to
develop their own personal vocabulary of graphic symbols as they discover the
power their symbols have to represent and communicate. As their vocabulary or
symbols grows, so does the process of differentiating them into categories and
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subcategories of symbols that will best serve their communication purposes. (p.
73)
The child who drew this picture used symbols such as writing to show what certain things
in his or her picture were. The whole drawing could even be a symbol for something
more meaningful to the child. Maybe this picture represents the childs creativity, or that
they really want a pet. It could also represent a person who they see as being scary. It is
important that I try to reach into their pictures and find a deeper meaning. Pictures can
show the childs personality. For instance if this picture did indeed depict an intimidating
person, then maybe the child is drawing about issues that he or she is having at home. I
could take this picture back to the child and ask what they drew, and why they drew this
particular image. Digging deep into what the true meaning of their picture is beneficial to
me as his or her teacher in learning more about the child and their interests. Pictures can
sometimes be deceiving, though. A child may draw multiple pictures of them standing
with their family looking sad. This could just mean that they got in trouble for
misbehaving and are upset with their parents, not necessarily that they get abused. So, it
is important to analyze their art and ask them questions about it before overanalyzing
their artwork.
Conclusion
As previously mentioned, I believe that art is a very important part of every
classroom. It allows children to express themselves in a way that is natural to them. It can
also be used as interdisciplinary work, which is very helpful to students. According to the
Kennedy Center (2002), An interdisciplinary focus promotes learning by providing
students with opportunities to solve problems and make meaningful connections within
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the arts and across disciplines (g. 10). I believe that this is an opportunity that is very
important for me to offer to my students. I think that too many children hold in their
feelings and emotions because they do not know how to productively portray them. So,
providing a variety of art project opportunities in my classroom can really help them to
express themselves and relax. Art is very important to young children, and can be used to
help teachers better understand their students and their needs.
However, without the knowledge about the stages, or other ideas that help to
analyze childrens work, it does not do the teacher any good. Being uninformed about the
stages can cause teachers to overlook potential problems in a childs life, or strengths and
interests. Some students may be ignored at home and use art to try to get the attention that
they desire. So, if we as teachers do not reach out to those children and acknowledge their
struggles, we cannot expect to be able to reach them in any other subject area either.
This experience of analyzing a childs artwork has given me many ideas for my
future classroom. I think that having my students each draw a picture of anything on the
first day of school would give me a lot of insight and help me to get a small glimpse of
who they are. I might even have them illustrate stories that they write in my class, which
would integrate the two subjects. I will also continuously analyze and ask questions about
any art that my students create throughout the year. This will help me to see if they are
having any problems, and learn more about them in general. Art can do so much if it is
used in the correct way.



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References
Consortium of National Arts Education Associations. (2002). Authentic Connections:
Interdisciplinary Work in the Arts. Retrieved from
http://www.kennedy_center.org/education/ceta/arts_integration_definition.pdf
Eisner, E. (2009). What Education Can Learn From the Arts. Art Education, 62(2), 22-25.
Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and Mental Growth. New York:
Macmillan.
Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making Theories of Childrens Artistic
Development Meaningful for Pre-Service Teachers. Art Education. 59(3), 6-12.
Wilson, M., & Wilson, B. (1982). Teaching Children to Draw. Eaglewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice-Hall.