Running head: A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS

Drawing Analysis
Emily Halpin
September 18, 2014














A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS 2
A Childs Drawing Analysis
Art is a very important part of a childs life. Art can be used in their lives in
various ways, but one place art is always present is in the classroom. Many times a
childs artwork often tells a story and they use art as another form of words. As Roger
Schank once said, Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are ideally set
up to understand stories (Pink 2006). Children have a different way of showing their
artistic ability. Their different ways of drawing are categorized in stages by age.
Lowenfeld and Brittain (1970) named the Lowenfeldian Stages of Art as the Scribbling
Stage, Preschematic Stage, Schematic Stage, Gang Age, Pseudo-Naturalistic Stage, and
Adolescent Art (pp. 474-479). These stages range from ages 2-17 respectively. By
looking at a childs drawing it can be categorized into one of these stages. Space
representation is a big thing to look for; did the child stay within one area or use the
entire paper? Are things proportional and are they aware of the environment? Human
figure representation is also another thing that differs with children as they age. They
begin just drawing heads with arms and legs. As they get older they begin to add the body
with some hands and feet, they may even add a face. Pretty soon they will have the whole
body drawn with lots of specific features. Characteristics of the drawings can also be
analyzed such as how elaborate the drawing is, the detail of the figures in the picture, and
the accuracy of the drawing. The older children get, the more they grow with their artistic
abilities. It is very interesting to see what meaning a child gives their art. We may not be
able to see the story they are telling, but deep down there is a story that they meant to
share in each and every picture.

A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS 3
Description and Analysis
I have chosen an artwork that was given to me by a child from my work (Figure
1) and I will analyze it and place it into one of the stages based on my findings in the
artwork. The childs drawing I have chosen looks to be as a family of 4 standing outside
with their family cat flying above them. The members of the family have their arms
above their heads as if they are looking up into the sky at their cat. There is a sun, a blue
sky, and grass to symbolize that they are outside. In the face there are basic facial features
such as the eyes and mouth. The child also added hair even though the length of the hair
may be disproportional to the body. The arms are disproportional to the body as well as
the legs. The family is standing on what seems to be a scribble of green grass. The grass
is made out of a zigzag/waving line scribble, which is one of the 20 basic scribbles
children do (Kellog, 1970, p.40). The cat is made out of many shapes and our reaction to
shapes depends on what context they are put in (Bang 2000). The cat is not the exact
shape of a cat and is still drawn
in the air as a flat 2-D figure.
The body and arms and legs are
made out of geometric shapes
and the cat was given eyes and
a mouth as well. There are 4
legs on one side and 2 on the
other side, which is incorrect.
The sky is drawn as a blue
scribble as well, and is only on the top of
Figure 1: A Childs Artwork
A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS 4
the paper when realistically the sky should be behind the cat and the family too. The sun
is placed in the corner and is very small, as it would be seen from the ground.
From looking at this picture I would assume that the child that drew this is in the
schematic stage. I believe this child is in the earlier age of the schematic stage, around 7
or 8 years old. There is a main base line in this picture where the child is identifying the
ground and the sky, with the space in between representing the air. The child also drew
each and every body the same and added facial features to the body, as well as correctly
placed the arms and legs. The drawing is still a flat representation but the child meant for
the cat to be flying, hence the caption flying cat. This drawing shows that the child
correctly understands the environment around them and understands basic concepts such
as ground, sky, and background. There is also very little overlapping and the human
figures are spaced out in a nice order. Because of all of these characteristics I believe this
child is in the early stages of the schematic stage.
Conclusion
Art is a way for children to tell their story through pictures and objects. It is very
important for a teacher to be able to analyze a childs drawing and be able to determine
what stage the child is in. There are many different stages that a child can be in and all of
those stages show improvement in the childs drawing throughout the years. The
schematic stage is an improvement in the drawing and shows that the child really
understands what he or she is drawing. It is important for children to grow up with art in
their life because it can be a way for them to express themselves. Visual learning and
thinking can help the child in so many other academic areas once they get older. There
are so many types of art and I believe drawing is the first step and helps a child
A CHILDS DRAWING ANALYSIS 5
understand other types. I will use art in my classroom by having the children not only
write stories, thoughts and idea, but also to have them draw those thoughts on paper.
Some children better express themselves through drawing, which often can go unnoticed.




















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References
Bang, M. (20001991). Picture this: how pictures work. New York: SeaStar Books.
Kellogg, R. (1970). Analyzing childrens art. Palo Alto, CA: National.
Lowenfeld, V., & Brittain, W. L. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York:
Macmillan.
Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New
York, NY: Riverhead Books.