A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 1

A Chilu's Biawing Analysis Foi LTC 424u 0sing APA

Kassiuy }. Bannah
0niveisity of Nissouii, Columbia



























A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 2
A Chilu's Biawing Analysis Foi LTC 424u 0sing APA
Eveiy chilu's uiawing tells a stoiy they peisonally aie tiying to convey. Theie
is also a stoiy behinu what they want you to see. We can leain so much foim
analyzing a chilu's uiawing. Chiluien go thiough uevelopmental stages in eveiy
aspect of theii life incluuing theii ait. Eiickson anu Young (1996) explain "chiluien's
abilities to cieate uiawings anu to unueistanu ait uevelop in paiallel fashion to
changes in theii cognitive, emotional, social, anu physical giowth" (p. 41). We may
be able to tell what age the chilu may be oi what uevelopment stage they aie in fiom
looking at the kinu of pictuie they uiaw which can help a teachei unueistanu hei
stuuent at an even ueepei level.
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Foi this stuuy the paiticipant is unknown. The uiawing was selecteu fiom a
collection of chiluien's uiawing maue available to me by Amy Roupp, the LTC 424u
instiuctoi at the 0niveisity of Nissouii. The conclusions that have been maue about
the age of this chilu aie baseu on infoimation fiom aiticles such as "Cieative anu
Nental uiowth, Naking Theoiies of Chiluien's Aitistic Bevelopment Neaningful foi
Pie-seivice Teacheis," anu websites such as PBSkius.oig.
A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS S


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The uiawing I choose to analyze is of a giil. The chilu maue this a uistinction
by making a peison in the pictuie have longei haii, fullei lips, anu clothing that is
typically woin by females. She seems to be uancing, walking, oi iunning. This is
eviuent because of the benu in in hei legs anu the way hei aims seem to be moving.
Theie is also a lot of uetail in the pants anu the shiit that the giil is weaiing. The
fingeis on the left hanu aie veiy uefineu wheie the fingeis on the iight hanu aie not
even uiawn. Lowenfelu anu Biittain explain the stages of chilu's aitistic giowth by
giving chaiacteiistics of chiluien in each stage. Theie aie a list of things unuei the
Pieschematic Stage which is chiluien who aie foui to seven yeais olu. Lowenfelu
anu Biittain (197u) specify the fiist chaiacteiistic as "shapes foi things aie
geometiic anu lose theii meaning when iemoveu fiom the whole" (p.47S). In the
chilu's uiawing, the shapes the lines on the giil's pants cieate aie veiy geometiic.
Anothei thing that is known about this age is that the "objects seem to float aiounu
page" (Lowenfelu & Biittain, 197u, p.47S). In this pictuie, theie is no hoiizon line
anu the ciicles uiawn aiounu the giil auu nothing to make hei setting eviuent.
Finally, this stage lists, "clothes, haii, anu othei uetails expecteu by enu of this stage"
(Lowenfelu & Biittain, 197u, p.47S) as a chaiacteiistic. This chilu must be at the enu
of the stage because all of these things aie auueu anu uiawn veiy well.
This chilu's uiawing also has chaiacteiistics that aie categoiizeu in the nes
stage, the schematic stage. Chiluien in this stage aie seven to nine yeais olu. Some of
the chaiacteiistics it gives too look foi that aie piesent in this uiawing aie,
A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 4
"uevelopment of a foim concept which is iepiesenteu again anu again" (Lowenfelu
& Biittain, 197u, p.476) this is shown by the chilu's ability to uiaw stiipes on the
pants of the giil. This concept is also shown in the chilu's ability to uiaw ciicles ovei
anu ovei on the shiit the giil is weaiing. "No oi little oveilapping," (Lowenfelu &
Biittain, 197u, p.476) is also listeu as a pait of this stage, which is something this
chilu uoes not uo.
Since this chilu's uiawing uisplays chaiacteiistics of both stages I woulu say
the chilu is seven yeais olu but still in the pieschematic stage. I uo not think they
have quite moveu up to the schematic stage yet because many of the chaiacteiistics
of that stage aie not eviuent at all. Things like two-uimensional oiganization of
objects oi multi-base lines aie not piesent (Lowenfelu & Biittain, 197u). An aiticle
fiom PBS.oig by Naya Niguel also offeis eviuence of this uiawing being the woik of
a seven yeai olu. Niguel (2u14) says a seven yeai olu shoulu use a vaiiety of foims
anu lines, begin to uepict objects iealistically, anu use incieasing uetail.
Ait is not the only aiea wheie a seven yeai olu expeiiences much change in
uevelopment. Accoiuing to PBS.oig theie is much giowth musically uuiing this time.
"Seven-yeai-olus also peifoim, ieau, anu wiite incieasingly moie complex music.
They iesponu to the moou of music thiough movement anu uance, anu show gieatei
bouy awaieness as they imitate anu uistinguish among vaiious bouy shapes"
(Niguel, 2u14). Niguel (2u14) also wiites a laige amount about othei changes a
chilu goes thiough at this time incluuing othei subject aieas, cuiiosity, anu pioblem
solving.
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A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS S
A chilu's uiawing is gieat to hang on his oi hei paient's iefiigeiatoi but if the
teachei knows how to appiopiiately analyze that chilu's aitwoik, it coulu help
explain a lot of othei impoitant things about that chilu. We know that not all
chiluien aie the exact same but the basic outline of the stages uefinitely help cieate
a baseline foi the majoiity. This coulu help see if a chilu is falling behinu
uevelopmentally anu potentially get that chilu help befoie they aie too fai behinu.
Nick Luehiman anu Kathy 0niath (2uu6) say "stage theoiies of uevelopment
uesciibe chaiacteiistic milestones that uelineate passages fiom one stage to anothei
anu explain how the majoiity of chiluien piogiess in a similai way thiough a
uevelopmental sequence." (p. 6) Although it is impoitant foi stuuents to be able to
expiess themselves thiough theii uiawings, it is also impoitant foi teacheis to use
eveiy iesouice available to them to make suie theii stuuents aie ueveloping at a
iate wheie they will not fall behinu theii othei stuuents.


A CBILB'S BRAWINu ANALYSIS 6

References

Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesnt)
know. School Arts, 96 (2), 40-42.

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, 6-12.

Miguel, M. (n.d.). Creative Arts. Retrieved September 20, 2014, from
http://www.pbs.org/parents/childdevelopmenttracker/seven/creativearts.html