Running head: ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Analyzing Preschool Artistic Development Through Drawing Samples

Haley Phillips
University of Missouri

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Analyzing Preschool Artistic Development

Introduction
I get the opportunity to draw with real preschoolers each week and see the artistic
development of young artists. By making connections from readings and class discussions to
preschoolers drawings allows me to learn more about the artistic development in young children
and influences me as future a teacher. From this experience, I have concluded that children use
art as a way of communicating and are never just in one stage of development as an artist, but
rather they are in many stages at once; art development is more of a fluid process.
Method
I am a senior in the Early Childhood Education program at The University of Missouri.
Each Monday I work with a group of young artists for about 15-25 minutes at the Child
Development Lab at the University of Missouri. During this time the children draw pictures to
put in our special sketchbook. Most of the time I tell them that they can draw whatever they want.
Sometimes I prompt them asking them questions like, what did you do this weekend? Could
you draw about that? or What is one of your most favorite things, can you draw it? As the
children work, I am careful not to ask them what they are drawing, but rather ask them to tell me
about what they are doing. This keeps me from making assumptions about their drawings and
presents an open-ended question that allows children to really expand on what they are doing. I
have to keep in mind that they are the experts. The children are always very enthusiastic about
drawing and seem to enjoy their time with me. I have chosen to focus on two of my artists and
their work. The artists I have chosen to focus on are both 4-year-old boys. I will refer to them as
Matthew and Aiden.

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Findings
Matthew
Matthew seems to really enjoy sketchbook time each week. He has become more and
more comfortable with me as the year has progressed. After a
couple of weeks of doing sketchbooks together on Mondays, I
ran into him and his mom at a local grocery store. He was
bashful when I saw him, but he brought it up at school the
following Monday and you could tell he was really excited he

Figure 1

saw me. That experience really helped our relationship and gave us a connection. He used to
draw only for a short time, but now that it has been several weeks, he is always the last artist
drawing and never wants to stop.
When I ask Matthew to tell me about his drawings, most of the time he says that he does
not know what he is drawing. Once he told me, sometimes you know what you are drawing and
sometimes you dont. Many of Matthews drawings just use a lot
of different colors and he fills the whole page (figure 1, figure 2).
Filling the page and moving on to a new
page was found to be common among
Figure 2

preschoolers that were a part of a

Saturday morning sketchbook class (Thompson, 1995). Young

children often times are content just making marks on a page and

Figure 3

experimenting with them (Thompson. 1995). I think that is what Matthew is doing when he
creates pieces of art like these.

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Since Matthew typically draws his pictures like those in figures 1 and 2, one day I
proposed the idea of Matthew drawing a picture of him (figure 3). The next Monday, I suggested
instead of just drawing himself he could draw his family.
Rather than drawing his family, he drew a picture of him and
me (figure 4). I thought the fact that he added me into the
picture was very telling; I think it shows that he likes me and
Figure 4

that I am someone important to him. In both of his drawings of

people, he included a sun in the picture. Some things I immediately notice when looking at
Matthews people is that they have lines sticking straight up on their head that he told me is hair.
The fingers also go straight out from the line that is the arm. Although he uses thin lines for the
arms and legs, he does use shapes for the body so there is some substance there. The eyes are
huge circles that take up almost the entire face. The fill-the-format principle named by Wilson &
Wilson explains why Matthew might add extra fingers and a ton of hair all around the face, the
size and shape of the format determines the number and size of the appendages (1982, p. 43).
For example, in figure 4, the head has a lot of room around the perimeter, so Matthew uses all
the space available around the head to add the hair. In figure 3, it is clear that there are way more
than five fingers on each hand. He made the hands round, so there was a lot of space for fingers;
he just filled the space.
By examining Matthews drawings, I conclude that Matthew is in the scribbling stage as
well as the preschematic stage (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970). I think his drawings like figure 1
and 2 show that he loves making repeated motions and that each scribble color is the edge of a
shape. These are both characteristics of the controlled scribbling category of the scribbling stage
(Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970). The preschematic stage is the childs first representational

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

attempts (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970). In Matthews drawings of people he shows

characteristics of human figure representation stage such as arms coming out of the head, and the
people that are drawn are looking at the viewer (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970).
Aiden
Like Matthew, Aiden too seems to enjoy sketchbook time. However, he does not draw as
long as Matthew does. He usually does two quick drawings and is done. He has drawn people, a
bus, and made lots of scribble marks that usually have a story behind them. After analyzing
Aidens drawings, I would also conclude that he is in the preschematic stage, yet still enjoys
scribbling and making marks.
Early on Aiden began drawing people or faces. On the very first day I was with him he
drew a person (figure 5). On the second day of our time together, he
drew me (figure 6). As you can tell one of his people does not have
any arms but the other one does. Gradual inclusion of arms is typical
of the preschematic stage (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970). His persons
arms come straight out of the figures head and his legs also come
Figure 5

straight out of the head. This, too, is a

common characteristic of children who are in the preschematic

stage (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970). Another characteristic that
Aiden displays in his drawings is floating objects. Both the people
and the bus that he drew float on the page. Establishing a baseline

Figure 6

where objects rest is not usually typical until the schematic stage.
Along with people, Aiden also has a collection of drawings that are just scribbles. The
scribbles in figure 7 are all varied. There are squiggle lines, straight lines, lines that look like

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

letters, and thick marks. In this particular drawing, Aiden had an

explanation for most of his marks. He told me that he was
making a road (pink line), and that the pink and blue dots
everywhere are raindrops. When Aiden began making other
marks on the page, he described it as, the road is exploding.

Figure 7

The Board of Education of Baltimore County came up with Beginning Stages of Visual
Expression of Young Children. These stages are much more detailed than those of Brittain &
Lowenfeld. For instance, there are multiple stages within the scribble stage. Aidens scribbling,
particularly in figure 7 reflects the naming the scribbles stage most closely: the child, after
scribbling, volunteers a name or explanation for the work. (1974, p. 2). Unlike Matthew, Aiden
always has an explanation for or a story behind his markings.
Conclusion
By studying the work of these two young artists, I have concluded that you cannot put
labels on young children of what stage they are in. As a teacher you should not expect children to
be at a certain stage just because of their age. Luehrman and Unrath (2006) support this
conclusion stating, Stages of development are only generalizations meant to be descriptive of
tendencies among large groups of children. Stage theory concepts should not be too rigidly
interpreted, but rather flexibly referenced as a general guide. (p. 8). Sometimes children are just
fascinated with the materials and seeing what kind of marks they can make. I think that it is
important to remember that just because children are scribbling, does not mean that their marks
do not have meaning or that they cannot make representational objects. Both of the artists I
worked with love scribbling and testing out the markers and crayons, but they also are both very
intentional in what they are doing.

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Although stages should not be thought of rigidly, it is important for teachers to have some
idea of what stage(s) his or her students are in to plan and create developmentally appropriate
content and lessons. It is also important for teachers to understand how and in what order
children generally develop artistically. Drawing with young artists is one way to gather
information and have first-hand observations of the artistic development of children.
Doing art with children can help develop verbal and visual literacy skills. Children read
their messages in their artwork to you; it is a form of communication (Johnson, 2008). As a
teacher it is important to value each childs work, whether it looks like something to us or not.
When working with young artists, be sure to not make judgments about what they are drawing
but rather ask them to tell you about what they are doing. What they have to say may surprise
you and you could learn a lot about them.

ANALYZING PRESCHOOL ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT

References
Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1974). Beginning stages of visual expression of young
children. Art Experiences developed visual perception. 1-4.
Brittain, W. L., & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and mental growth. New York, NY:
MacMillan Co.
Johnson, M. (2008). Developing verbal and visual literacy through experiences in the visual arts.
Young Children, 74.
Luehrman, M., & Unrath, K. (2006). Making theories of childrens artistic development
meaningful for preservice teachers. Art Education. 6-12.
Thompson, C. (1995). What should I draw today?: Sketchbooks in early childhood. Art
Education, 6-11.
Wilson, M & Wilson, B. (1982). Teaching to draw. Engle Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall