Art Analysis
Ashlea E. Bogner
University of Missouri- Columbia
Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” It’s important that children never lose their ability to imagine and create, attributes that art fosters. It is important so they can use their creativity in life and through out their education to obtain both success and happiness in the future. Art is crucial in the development of a child; it is something that gives a child confidence and enjoyment. Through analyzing art, I am able to see through a window into a child’s mind and understand what they value as well as what their lives are about. I can help a child better learn by understanding the level they are at and the creativity they show in their art by seeing what they center their art around. I can analyze the art they do in order to have a better idea of who they are and what they are thinking and comprehending.
I will examine a piece of art done by a child estimated to be between the ages of nine and twelve, believed to be in the Gang stage of drawing. To protect the child’s identity and artwork, I will give the child the title of, “Sam” for the use of this analysis. Sam drew what appears to be a reptile of some kind, perhaps maybe a dragon. The animal is from a profile view where only two of its four legs are displayed in the drawing. The feet have three claws on each foot. The animal has four main parts to the body including its two feet, main body, and its head. Sam was able to portray realistic details of the animal such as scales. The scales are present on both the body and the face. Sam also portrayed details on the feet, with the claws, eyes, and on the teeth. Each tooth was drawn individually with detail and the eyes were detailed as well. The animal also has horns and a tail. The proportions and shapes of the animal are very realistic. I will be analyzing the drawing and how it resembles the Gang drawing stage and explain why Sam is in this stage of artistic development.
The Lowenfeldian Stages categorize children’s abilities to create artwork and to understand art development is relation to their cognitive, emotional, social, and physical growth. The Lowenfeldian Stages include the Presehematic Stage, Schematic Stage, Gang Age or Drawing Realism stage, and Pseudo Naturalistic. The Gang Age or Drawing Realism Stage will be the area of focus I believe Sam to be in based on the characteristics of his drawing. The Gang Age stage usually includes children between the ages of nine and twelve (Erikson and Young, 1996). They display more realistic depictions of the subjects. Their artwork usually depicts the object to be still and does not include action. The landscapes, figures, and landscapes are flat. Greater awareness of details is a characteristic. There is no understanding of shade or shadow in their drawings. Their drawing includes less exaggerations and distortions. The body parts of subjects are more realistic, their body parts keep their meaning even if separated from the body of the object (Britain, 1970). I identified Sam’s drawing of the reptile to be in the Gang stage because of the characteristics listed.
The details and realism of the drawing helped to categorize it as a gang drawing. Sam’s drawing displays simple scribbles used to make his advanced drawing. Scribbles once resembling little representation now create an advanced and intricate drawing. He uses “single horizontal line”, “single curved line”, “zigzag or waving line”, as well as “imperfect circle” to make up his drawing of the reptile (Kellogg, 15). Sam also uses placement patterns such as “across the paper” and “base line fan“ and combines the two in this drawing. “Across the paper” means that the drawing goes from one edge to the opposite edge. “Base-line fan” occurs when the drawing flares up on one edge and moves toward one or both of the adjoining edges. Sam’s drawing is in the middle of the paper but does go almost from one edge to the other but not quite (Kellogg, 25). The reptile resembles “greater awareness of details” through the scales on the face and body. There were details in the feet with the claws, the eyes, and with the individual teeth in the mouth. Details were also represented through his horns on his head. The drawing shows, “embellishing of symbols” in the details on the reptile (Art Experience Develop Visual Perception, 1974) “No understanding of shade or shadow” is shown because the drawing is more of an outline with no perception of shade or shadow. The overall drawing shows “less exaggeration, distortion, and omission”, (Brittain, 1970). Another characteristic that helped in the determination of stage was, “body parts retain their meaning when separated”. With the body, legs, and head they are realistic enough that if separated from each other they still represent the image they are meant to (Brittain, 1970). I found this to be true and therefore determined the drawing was in the Gang stage. The drawing displayed multiple characteristics that put in the Gang stage. I think it is important to analyze children’s’ drawings to better understand the stages they are in and how they progress through these stages.
I think analyzing Sam’s art definitely helped me to better understand the developmental stages a child goes through and to value the importance of this activity. I hope that by analyzing a students drawing I can better understand the child’s thought and comprehension. I hope to better know the child be observing what they draw and how they do so to understand what they value in their lives and use this information to form a connection and help them to better learn in my class room. I would like to learn art to test my students’ comprehension of lessons. I think this would make it more interesting and help them better understand the information covered. I also think I would use art to help them take notes and understand the material covered. They would then be able to have a visual representation to refer back to but also able to better remember the information by having both text and pictures to help them recall the information. For Sam I hope he will continue drawing and focus on details and began to work on shading and shadows on his drawings. He will need to learn to draw more details regarding the backgrounds as well to help his art progress in the way it can.
Analyzing art is very important so that teachers know the stages children go through so they are able to analyze what each stage means. By analyzing art I am able to better understand the process children progress through and what each stage means. By understanding where a child is developmentally, I can better understand how to best teach them depending on their stage. I can use art as well to determine what they value and use this as a way to connect with my students, so they will feel more comfortable in my class and when learning. I will use this information to help my students in every way possible. I hope to use art to help my students understand and remember the material I am covering and become a better teacher.
Art Experience Develop Visual Perception. Board of Education of Baltimore County, 1974. Pg. 6-9
Brittain, W.L. & V. Lowenfeld. (1970) Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY. MacMillan Co. pgs 474-479
Erickson, M. & Young, B. (1996, October). What every educator should(but maybe doesn't) know. Art advocacy,
Kellogg,R. (1970) “Analyzing Children’s Art”. Palo Alto, CA:National Press.
pgs 15, 19, 25, 78, 85, 109, and 122.
Ashlea E. Bogner
University of Missouri- Columbia
Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.” It’s important that children never lose their ability to imagine and create, attributes that art fosters. It is important so they can use their creativity in life and through out their education to obtain both success and happiness in the future. Art is crucial in the development of a child; it is something that gives a child confidence and enjoyment. Through analyzing art, I am able to see through a window into a child’s mind and understand what they value as well as what their lives are about. I can help a child better learn by understanding the level they are at and the creativity they show in their art by seeing what they center their art around. I can analyze the art they do in order to have a better idea of who they are and what they are thinking and comprehending.
I will examine a piece of art done by a child estimated to be between the ages of nine and twelve, believed to be in the Gang stage of drawing. To protect the child’s identity and artwork, I will give the child the title of, “Sam” for the use of this analysis. Sam drew what appears to be a reptile of some kind, perhaps maybe a dragon. The animal is from a profile view where only two of its four legs are displayed in the drawing. The feet have three claws on each foot. The animal has four main parts to the body including its two feet, main body, and its head. Sam was able to portray realistic details of the animal such as scales. The scales are present on both the body and the face. Sam also portrayed details on the feet, with the claws, eyes, and on the teeth. Each tooth was drawn individually with detail and the eyes were detailed as well. The animal also has horns and a tail. The proportions and shapes of the animal are very realistic. I will be analyzing the drawing and how it resembles the Gang drawing stage and explain why Sam is in this stage of artistic development.
The Lowenfeldian Stages categorize children’s abilities to create artwork and to understand art development is relation to their cognitive, emotional, social, and physical growth. The Lowenfeldian Stages include the Presehematic Stage, Schematic Stage, Gang Age or Drawing Realism stage, and Pseudo Naturalistic. The Gang Age or Drawing Realism Stage will be the area of focus I believe Sam to be in based on the characteristics of his drawing. The Gang Age stage usually includes children between the ages of nine and twelve (Erikson and Young, 1996). They display more realistic depictions of the subjects. Their artwork usually depicts the object to be still and does not include action. The landscapes, figures, and landscapes are flat. Greater awareness of details is a characteristic. There is no understanding of shade or shadow in their drawings. Their drawing includes less exaggerations and distortions. The body parts of subjects are more realistic, their body parts keep their meaning even if separated from the body of the object (Britain, 1970). I identified Sam’s drawing of the reptile to be in the Gang stage because of the characteristics listed.
The details and realism of the drawing helped to categorize it as a gang drawing. Sam’s drawing displays simple scribbles used to make his advanced drawing. Scribbles once resembling little representation now create an advanced and intricate drawing. He uses “single horizontal line”, “single curved line”, “zigzag or waving line”, as well as “imperfect circle” to make up his drawing of the reptile (Kellogg, 15). Sam also uses placement patterns such as “across the paper” and “base line fan“ and combines the two in this drawing. “Across the paper” means that the drawing goes from one edge to the opposite edge. “Base-line fan” occurs when the drawing flares up on one edge and moves toward one or both of the adjoining edges. Sam’s drawing is in the middle of the paper but does go almost from one edge to the other but not quite (Kellogg, 25). The reptile resembles “greater awareness of details” through the scales on the face and body. There were details in the feet with the claws, the eyes, and with the individual teeth in the mouth. Details were also represented through his horns on his head. The drawing shows, “embellishing of symbols” in the details on the reptile (Art Experience Develop Visual Perception, 1974) “No understanding of shade or shadow” is shown because the drawing is more of an outline with no perception of shade or shadow. The overall drawing shows “less exaggeration, distortion, and omission”, (Brittain, 1970). Another characteristic that helped in the determination of stage was, “body parts retain their meaning when separated”. With the body, legs, and head they are realistic enough that if separated from each other they still represent the image they are meant to (Brittain, 1970). I found this to be true and therefore determined the drawing was in the Gang stage. The drawing displayed multiple characteristics that put in the Gang stage. I think it is important to analyze children’s’ drawings to better understand the stages they are in and how they progress through these stages.
I think analyzing Sam’s art definitely helped me to better understand the developmental stages a child goes through and to value the importance of this activity. I hope that by analyzing a students drawing I can better understand the child’s thought and comprehension. I hope to better know the child be observing what they draw and how they do so to understand what they value in their lives and use this information to form a connection and help them to better learn in my class room. I would like to learn art to test my students’ comprehension of lessons. I think this would make it more interesting and help them better understand the information covered. I also think I would use art to help them take notes and understand the material covered. They would then be able to have a visual representation to refer back to but also able to better remember the information by having both text and pictures to help them recall the information. For Sam I hope he will continue drawing and focus on details and began to work on shading and shadows on his drawings. He will need to learn to draw more details regarding the backgrounds as well to help his art progress in the way it can.
Analyzing art is very important so that teachers know the stages children go through so they are able to analyze what each stage means. By analyzing art I am able to better understand the process children progress through and what each stage means. By understanding where a child is developmentally, I can better understand how to best teach them depending on their stage. I can use art as well to determine what they value and use this as a way to connect with my students, so they will feel more comfortable in my class and when learning. I will use this information to help my students in every way possible. I hope to use art to help my students understand and remember the material I am covering and become a better teacher.
Art Experience Develop Visual Perception. Board of Education of Baltimore County, 1974. Pg. 6-9
Brittain, W.L. & V. Lowenfeld. (1970) Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY. MacMillan Co. pgs 474-479
Erickson, M. & Young, B. (1996, October). What every educator should(but maybe doesn't) know. Art advocacy,
Kellogg,R. (1970) “Analyzing Children’s Art”. Palo Alto, CA:National Press.
pgs 15, 19, 25, 78, 85, 109, and 122.