EARLY ARTISTS DRAWINGS ANALYSIS RESEARCH PAPER 1

Early Artists Drawings Analysis Research Paper

Audrey Pearson
Orange Block
LTC 4240: Art for Children
Michelle Livek

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Intro
When art is placed in an elementary setting it allows students to express themselves
freely by allowing them to say what cannot be said using words. It is very important as the
teacher to understand that art is important to incorporate into the classroom setting because it
allows students to be themselves. In order to guide my students through this creative process, I
need to understand how they each use art in order to express themselves. The main purpose of
my investigation is to analyze a students artwork to understand the way they mark to show
meaning. Twenty Basic Scribbles are the building blocks of art, and they are important because
they permit a detailed and comprehensive description of the work of young children (Kellogg,
pg. 40). Each mark that is drawn is made and placed in the particular place for a reason. I want to
understand their thought process when they are making their artwork. As teachers, it is are job to
help our students become individuals that are smart, caring, and confident, and I believe that
incorporating art into the classroom will allow them to become individuals with these
characteristics. To make education today better, teachers need to focus on the importance of art
and print making in the classroom, which will help to understand the thoughts of each student.
After gaining an understanding of each students development, this will allow you to create
individualized lesson plans and activities that are centered on each students individual
development. Art should be integrated into todays curriculum because it is a process of learning.
Art teaches students to be themselves and being who they are is better than focusing on
achieving a particular test score. In todays society, being creative in the workplace is very hard
to come by, and many employers are looking for people who can help bring any creative ideas to
their drawing boards. To help students prepare for the real world, it is very important to allow
them to be creative and to let them have many chances to design and create new things. During

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my investigation, I got the opportunity to work closely with a student learning about her
illustration. After completing the activity with her, I studied her illustration and our discussion
about the artwork and realized that each students artwork is unique and that every student will
have a different meaning for the marks they make.
Method
The first step of my investigation was finding a student that was in fifth grade or younger
to draw a picture of their family, a self-portrait or a tree. When thinking about what student I
would choose to have draw for me, I always envisioned a very young student. This was not the
case for me. I am currently student teaching at Rock Bridge Elementary School in a fifth grade
classroom. Having a very close cousin that is in fifth grade, I know that fifth grade students are
reward driven. This being the case, I went in front of my class and told them the first student that
raised their hand to help me with a project will get two starbursts of any color of their choosing.
After doing this almost every student in the class raised their hands as fast as they could. After
thinking long and hard about who I wanted to help me complete the assignment, I finally picked
a student named Daija Lee Watson. Dajia Lee was the kind of student that did everything that
she was assigned the first time that she was told. She always is very well behaved and polite and
is always one of the few students that tell me Hello when I first walked in the door. After
realizing all of this, I knew I chose the right student to help me complete my investigation. The
day we completed the illustration was a very busy day for my class. It was a Monday afternoon
and I arrived just as the students were about to head to recess and lunch. After being in the class
for about a month now, I know that the end of the day is the busiest part of their day. Knowing
this I decided to ask to complete the illustration during lunchtime. This was not a problem for her
because she was a fast eater and was completely finished with her lunch by the time I got

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everything out and settled to help her complete her drawing. Even though I brought markers,
crayons, colored pencils, and printer paper, she decided to only use notebook paper and a pencil
to complete her drawing. After asking her why she only used these materials, she stated that
these are the only materials that she enjoys using to draw. I told her that for my assignment I
needed to have a student draw either an illustration of their family, of a tree or a self-portrait.
Dajia Lee first decided that she was going to draw a tree because she felt that this was the easiest
thing to draw and would take up the least amount of time. After attempting to draw a tree
multiple times she got very aggravated with the trunk of the tree and thought that the second
easiest thing to draw was a self-portrait. When she started drawing herself, she first drew the
outline of the head. When drawing the head she only drew a u-shaped line and not a complete
oval. I asked her why she drew the head this way and she told me that she never thought of
drawing a complete oval and this is the way she was taught. After completing the head, she drew
the face that included the eyes, freckles and a smile. She drew the eyes larger than I would
expect them to be according to the size of the head. She told me that she drew them that
particular way because this is how they looked in all of the shows and books that she read. She
continued to tell me that she drew the freckles because she has always wanted them and a smile
because for the most part she is always happy. After telling me this, I asked her why she did not
draw a nose and she immediately replied I hate my nose! It is two big and I wish I didnt have a
nose! She then went on drawing the hair and the body. She drew the hair big and bold. Once
again I asked her why she drew it that way and she told me that this is what her hair looked like
after she got new weave in it. She was very enthusiastic when describing the days she gets her
hair done by her aunt and she stated that it is one of her favorite things to do because she looks
different each time that she has it done. After talking about her hair for around five minutes, I

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asked her to tell me why she drew the body the way she did. She drew the body very skinny and
it was not proportionate to the head. She told me that she is not as skinny as she would like to be
and that she drew the self-portrait the way she did because this is what she wants to look like. I
explained to her that she is beautiful the way she is and that she should not be ashamed by the
way she looks. After discussing this with Dajia Lee, I now understand who she is and why she
acts the way she does. She told me at the very end of our talk that she is the only African
American girl in her class and she just wants to be like all the other girls in her class, skinny and
white.
Findings
During my time with Dajia Lee I learned many new things about her that you would not
learn after only speaking to her once. When talking to Dajia Lee about her drawing, I noticed
that she might be struggling with her body image. Dajia Lee is a smart and kind young girl and
you would never know that she is having difficulty with her body image. She is very selfconscious about the way she looks, and just wants to be like all of the other girls in her class.
Dajia Lee is the only African American female in her class and I feel that this may be one of the
main reasons for her body image problems. Fifth grade is around the time where students bodies
are changing and this is definitely what Dajia Lee is experiencing. I feel that after talking to
Dajia Lee about her struggles, she feels more comfortable with her body. She told me that she
just does not like how her body is changing, and I immediately answered that I had the same
problem as her when I was her age and that eventually everyone will go through the same things
that she is going through now. After talking to Dajia Lee, I sat down and took a critical look at
her illustration.

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According to Brittains mark making stages, I came to the conclusion that Dajia Lee is at
the Gang Age: The Dawning Realism stage (Brittain, pg. 477). This stage is for children between
nine and twelve. Dajia Lees illustration displayed two of the key aspects of this stage, which
include drawing characteristics and human figure representation. Within these two parts Dajia
Lee displayed great awareness to detail. For example when drawing the hair on her portrait, she
paid close attention to each strand of hair that she and made sure that it was in the right place.
When looking deeper into the human figure representation aspect, she made each body part
retain meaning. Overall, I feel that Dajia Lee fit right into the stage that she is supposed to be in
according to her age. Even though each student in put into different stages according to their art,
stage theory concepts should not be rigidly interpreted, but rather flexibly referenced as a
general guide for teachers (Luehrman & Unrath, pg. 68). She is a very talented artist and I now
have learned through my investigation that each mark she makes has meaning.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have found that many students pour their hearts and souls into their
artwork. They use their artwork to tell their deepest thoughts so they do not have to say them in
words. After completing my investigation, I have learned that it is very important to integrate art
into the elementary setting because this gives the students a chance to talk about their artwork,
build vocabulary, deepen perceptions, reflect on the effects of media, process and images, and
communicate the ideas and meanings they discover (Johnson, pg. 79). It is important to take into
consideration when working on art with young students that they will share many things about
their thoughts and feelings about many different topics. When this happens you need to make
sure that you have an open mind and be supportive of their thoughts and feelings. Including and
incorporating art into the core curriculum allows the students to gain a better understanding of

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the topic while also allowing them to enjoy learning about the topic. Overall integrating art into
the curriculum will allow your students to have a thoughtful and memorable learning experience.

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References
Brittain, W.L. & Lowenfeld. (1970) Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY. MacMillan
Co. pgs 474-479.
Johnson, Margaret H. "Developing Verbal and Visual Literacy through Experiences in the Visual
Arts." Young Children (2008): 74-79. Abstract. Mizzou Publishing (2015): 65-70. Print.
Kellogg, R. Analyzing Childrens Art. Palo Alto, CA: National Press. Pgs. 15, 19, 25, 78, 85,
109 and 122.
Luehrman, Mick, and Kathy Unrath. "Making Theories of Children's Artistic Development
Meaningful for Preservice Teachers." Art Education (2006): 66-72. Abstract. Mizzou
Publishing (2015): 71-77. Print.

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