Running head: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 1

Qualitative Research Paper

Megan Flint
University of Missouri




QUALITATIVE RESEARCH 2

Introduction
The purpose of this investigation was to look deeply into a childs piece of art and
examine characteristics of that drawing for evidence of the childs development. Childrens art
provides many opportunities to interpret a child and to help him or her become a better artist and
a student. We as teachers want to provide students with as much opportunity as we can and art
education can be a resource for those opportunities. Artwork depicts hidden qualities about a
child from just the basic symbols and shapes in the piece.
Method
During this investigation, a young childs art was observed for the purpose of furthering
my art education knowledge. This piece of art was received during art studio and then was
observed through taking notes and looking at the piece for information. Some characteristics I
specifically looked at were how the child drew the objects and the arrangement of the objects
drawn. I concentrated on how the arrangement helped to explain what stage or principles the
student fell under. The notes taken about this art piece were taken from articles presented in the
University of Missouri Publishing Packet for LTC 4240 Art for Children. The age of this child is
unknown but based on research and readings from experts in the field, the piece of art seems to
reflect between a five to seven year olds piece of art.







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Findings
The drawing presents many characteristics of a young childrens art. The pictures
arrangement of the objects is very unorganized and the objects the child drew are scattered
across the page. However, the setting seems to be a recognizable setting to the child and reflects
their lifestyle. The drawing has representations of a house, people and animals that could reflect
the childs personal life or how life is perceived from their point of view. The drawing shows an
animal (possibly a dog), two people, one person including the child and a house with some other
objects that are unidentifiable. By the way the picture is drawn and organized, the picture seems
to have come from a younger child.
One characteristic that is backed up by evidence from readings is what Artistic
Development Stage the child is in based on the piece of art as a whole. Brittain and Lowenfeld
(1970) presented different stages with corresponding ages to certain drawing aspects. Although,
the childs drawing fell between two stages, he or she demonstrated more characteristics from
the Preshcematic Stage. One example states, art becomes communication with the self
(Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, 475). Looking at the drawing, the student drew objects that reflect
his or her personal life or a life they are familiar with. There is a house present and people. The
size of the people helps explains the ages of them. One looks like an adult figure and the other
seems to resemble a child or maybe the child that drew the picture. Another important aspect of
the drawing that Brittain and Lowenfeld described in the Preshematic Stage, is about the space of
the piece. According to these authors, the objects seem to float around the page (p.475). The
house in the drawing is not aligned with the horizon of the page and instead the house is floating
at the top of the page near the sky. The people are above each other rather than next to each
other.
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Childrens art is unique because of the way pictures drawn. The different figures and
shapes tell much about the child. For example, the drawings of the people, animals and the house
are very simplistic and elementary which could indicate this child is very young from my
perspective. After reading Wilson and Wilson, the child displays ability that falls under multiple
principles. One principle shown in this piece is the simplicity principle. The child draws his or
her own version of the object he or she is trying to create. the child to depict an object in as
simple and undifferentiated a way as conforms to the childs expectations for the depiction of the
object (Wilson & Wilson, 1982, 41). For this child artist, the people are perceived as stick
figures and the animals are drawn with familiar shapes like circles and human heads. The child
sees people with arms, legs, hair and eyes and that is all what the child drew here because that is
all he or she sees. Until this child sees detail in humans and animals, the child will stay in the
simplicity stage. The other principle represented in this piece is the conservation and multiple-
application principle. This principle explains that students will apply the same shapes to
different objects such as animals and humans. A human head will appear on animal bodies
because they are only familiar with human heads and human head characteristics (Wilson &
Wilson, 1982).
Finally, another important quality of this piece was the simplicity of the scribbles. This
artist portrayed simple scribbles for many of the objects in the piece. Most of the objects were
based on the single crossed circle (Kellogg, 1970). The peoples head, animal head, and the
pond or pool looking objects all have the single crossed circle. Its important to watch the
progression of where the student starts with their basic scribbles and where the scribbles end up
as they understand more concepts of art.

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Conclusion
Carefully inspecting this piece of art has led me to many conclusions about student
development in the arts. Students grow through the stages developmentally and these stages are
not determined by age (Luehrman & Unrath, 2006). If we categorize students based on their age,
we will limit them from growing as artist. The stages are good references to see where the
children fall on the spectrum of artistic ability. However, these stages and principles from the
readings are not concrete rather they are guidelines. This child is very young based on my
findings and has a lot of room for growth. Encouraging these students to look outside the box
and push their limits with art can help students become better artists.
This paper has allowed me to obtain more useful knowledge about how to assist children
with their art education. Some ways I can help this student continue their development would be
to call them artists no matter his or her ability. I was never inspired by art because I lacked
artistic ability. If students demonstrate artist characteristics react by calling them artists so they
are inspired (Johnson, 2008). This will encourage students to grow and develop which is a main
role as the teacher in the classroom. Another way to help this childs development would be to
ask he or she divergent questions to determine where the piece is going and how they can
improve on the piece (Johnson, 2008). This student could add some materials to the picture to
make it more detailed without having to change the whole picture and to build on the stages and
principles the child is already at. These are only some of the many strategies to help students
grow as artists and some strategies that would help this selected artist. Art education is an
ongoing process that continues as the student acquires more knowledge.


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References
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
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. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-
Hall.