Research Paper Over the Schematic Stage
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”
-Pablo Picasso. Every child exhibits the possibility to be an artist in every sense of the word. Whether it that a student progresses through is vital for his/her success as not only an artist but in an education focused society. The student’s drawing I chose is of a lizard/dragon. This student exhibits schematic based characteristics. The schematic stage is described as the achievement of a form concept in ages seven-nine (Brittain and Lowenfeld, 1970, pg. 476). Through drawing characteristics and space representations, the child shows a strong side of being in the schematic stage.
The drawing characteristics of the schematic stage that can be seen in the picture are through the child’s ability to show concept and not percept (Brittain, 1970, pg. 476). A concept is defined as being organized around a main idea or theme. Percept is defined as an impression of an object obtained by use of the senses (Merriam-Webster, 2004, pg. 149/434). The difference between these two definitions is the idea that they are based around. Concept has a more defined and widely understood idea while percept has a looser idea that is based off personal senses. This can make it easier to follow when more people are able to follow a defined idea. I think this conceptualization can be seen through the realistic features of the lizard. The lizard’s features seem to be moving form a perception to a concept. I say this because the lizard shows signs of being what a perceived dragon would look like but then begins to show what a realistic concept of a lizard is. The child shows other drawing characteristics in the schematic stage such as a bold, direct, flat representation (Brittain, 1970, pg. 476). This can be seen in the flat appearance of the drawing. The lines show a very direct drawing, but don’t show a 3-D object. The drawing conveys a succinct object with lines that definitely give a direct meaning to the picture and lines that display the child’s concept of the reptile.
The use of space representation apparent in this schematic stage drawing can be seen in the little use of overlapping (Brittain, 1970, pg. 476). The child only used overlapping when placing the legs on top of the body instead of having the stem from the body. Much of the schematic space representation is hard to determine because of the child’s depiction of the lizard. The child did not include any background or surface of which the lizard was presented on in order to give the viewer more information beyond the presentation of the lizard. The strongest representation of the space representation is in the presentation of overlapping techniques. You can see that the child is just now overcoming this overlapping obstacle as he/she has still separated the ears and head from the rest of a body with a line, but he/she does not have the two ideas directly overlapping.
The child is able to display some use of embellishing symbols. As the Board of Education of Baltimore County stated, “the child draws objects of particular interest, adding details only to areas important to himself” (1974, pg.3). This can be seen in the drawing where the child placed random clusters of scales on the lizard. There is no particular pattern to these “scales” besides having one clump on the body and one on the face. This child is able to make use of certain details as he/she has seen them but is not able to make them fully realistic and 3-D. This relates back to Lowenfeld’s schematic stage through the child’s use of conceptualization and realism. As I analyze the drawings presented in the Board’s article, my child’s drawing looks more advanced than those presented, but without the surrounding details to corroborate the artwork’s characteristics, the drawing remains steadily in the embellishing symbols stage. This can also be seen in Lowenfeld’s space representation of the schematic stage. In the stage, most children are using more of the surrounding space to support his/her image. The child is able to make a well-defined symbol (the lizard) on the page, but is unable to relate it with any other object or any other space.
According to Wilson, this child shows a developed and strong use of the simplicity principle. “[D]irect[s] the child to depict an object in as simple and undifferentiated a way as conforms to the child’s expectations for the depiction of the object” (1982, pg.41). While the image depicts a definite object, the lack of surroundings makes it harder to extend upon what the child is thinking. The child expresses a process of moving from a simple to complex frame of drawing through the elaborate representation of the lizard/dragon. This can support the idea of the child being able to draw a conceptualized idea of the dragon/lizard rather than something that is perceived in the child’s senses. The student’s ability to create such precise lines that combine together to create this image shows the child’s control. He/she is able to maintain control of his/her actions and able to depict an image because of this control.
As I analyze this students work I have to remind myself that this is all my perception of his/her artwork and could be very different than what he/she had intended it to be interpreted as. Luehrman and Unrath present a valuable idea when analyzing a student’s work, “when applying stage theories it is important to remember that stages of development are only generalizations meant to be descriptive of tendencies…”(2006, pg. 8). I think this is important to keep in mind when analyzing a students’ artwork because we do not want to assume a multitude of things from a drawing without knowing the students’ context or reasoning. A child’s artwork though can be a great way to discover the kinds of things a student may be interested in and help to incorporate those things in to your teaching. For example, you could have students draw images of how they interpreted a story to get an idea of what important ideas he/she had. Art can be used to express what he/she is thinking. As I continued to look at how my personal interpretation of the drawing could be viewed, I found myself looking to Pink’s “A Whole New Mind.” Pink quoted Betty Edwards when saying “drawing is not really difficult, seeing is the problem.” Pink then continues on to say how sometimes it is important to “quiet down” the left side brain so the right side brain can show off it’s imagination (2005, pg. 15). This is important because in such a strongly controlled left-side brain world, we must remember to make use of our right-side brain and to acknowledge those people who may be showing more of a right-sided characteristic.
I hope to incorporate art in to my everyday teaching in order for both left side and right side brain students are given the chance to express themselves freely. I want to understand my students’ interest through their art. I want to try to include art activities within each subject in order to get a wider assessment of my students. Using integration through something as simple as requiring a certain number of mediums (math) or something as elaborate as writing a paper over why certain mediums resist one another (science and literature). After analyzing this art, I would help a student move from a schematic stage to the Gang Age by having students observe more details that surround them daily and see how it is that these could be represented in their artwork (in this particular student’s case, I would have him/her focus on the details surrounding objects, the space surrounding). I think a great way to promote this progression is through having students analyze these little details seen in their lives and through the observation of other pieces of artwork and how a student could alter their image to exhibit some of the same artist’s crafts (ex: not overlapping, objects have a backdrop). “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up” -Pablo Picasso.
Resources
Brittain, W. L. & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY: Macmillan Co., 474-479.
Luehrman, M. & Unrath, K. (2006). Making Theories of Children’s Artistic Development Meaningful for Pre-Service Teachers. Art Education, 6-12.
Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1984). Beginning stages of visual expression of young children, Art Experience, Development of Visual Perception, 1-8.
Merriam-Webster's dictionary (New Edition).(2004). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Pg.149/434
Pink, Daniel, W. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York, NY: Penguin Group. Pg. 15
Unrath, K. & Luehrman, M. (2009). Bringing Children to Art-Bringing Art to Children. Art Education, 41-47.
Wilson, M. & Wilson, B. (1992). Learning to Draw: Nurturing the Natural. Engle Cliffs, NY, 39-47.
The drawing characteristics of the schematic stage that can be seen in the picture are through the child’s ability to show concept and not percept (Brittain, 1970, pg. 476). A concept is defined as being organized around a main idea or theme. Percept is defined as an impression of an object obtained by use of the senses (Merriam-Webster, 2004, pg. 149/434). The difference between these two definitions is the idea that they are based around. Concept has a more defined and widely understood idea while percept has a looser idea that is based off personal senses. This can make it easier to follow when more people are able to follow a defined idea. I think this conceptualization can be seen through the realistic features of the lizard. The lizard’s features seem to be moving form a perception to a concept. I say this because the lizard shows signs of being what a perceived dragon would look like but then begins to show what a realistic concept of a lizard is. The child shows other drawing characteristics in the schematic stage such as a bold, direct, flat representation (Brittain, 1970, pg. 476). This can be seen in the flat appearance of the drawing. The lines show a very direct drawing, but don’t show a 3-D object. The drawing conveys a succinct object with lines that definitely give a direct meaning to the picture and lines that display the child’s concept of the reptile.
The use of space representation apparent in this schematic stage drawing can be seen in the little use of overlapping (Brittain, 1970, pg. 476). The child only used overlapping when placing the legs on top of the body instead of having the stem from the body. Much of the schematic space representation is hard to determine because of the child’s depiction of the lizard. The child did not include any background or surface of which the lizard was presented on in order to give the viewer more information beyond the presentation of the lizard. The strongest representation of the space representation is in the presentation of overlapping techniques. You can see that the child is just now overcoming this overlapping obstacle as he/she has still separated the ears and head from the rest of a body with a line, but he/she does not have the two ideas directly overlapping.
The child is able to display some use of embellishing symbols. As the Board of Education of Baltimore County stated, “the child draws objects of particular interest, adding details only to areas important to himself” (1974, pg.3). This can be seen in the drawing where the child placed random clusters of scales on the lizard. There is no particular pattern to these “scales” besides having one clump on the body and one on the face. This child is able to make use of certain details as he/she has seen them but is not able to make them fully realistic and 3-D. This relates back to Lowenfeld’s schematic stage through the child’s use of conceptualization and realism. As I analyze the drawings presented in the Board’s article, my child’s drawing looks more advanced than those presented, but without the surrounding details to corroborate the artwork’s characteristics, the drawing remains steadily in the embellishing symbols stage. This can also be seen in Lowenfeld’s space representation of the schematic stage. In the stage, most children are using more of the surrounding space to support his/her image. The child is able to make a well-defined symbol (the lizard) on the page, but is unable to relate it with any other object or any other space.
According to Wilson, this child shows a developed and strong use of the simplicity principle. “[D]irect[s] the child to depict an object in as simple and undifferentiated a way as conforms to the child’s expectations for the depiction of the object” (1982, pg.41). While the image depicts a definite object, the lack of surroundings makes it harder to extend upon what the child is thinking. The child expresses a process of moving from a simple to complex frame of drawing through the elaborate representation of the lizard/dragon. This can support the idea of the child being able to draw a conceptualized idea of the dragon/lizard rather than something that is perceived in the child’s senses. The student’s ability to create such precise lines that combine together to create this image shows the child’s control. He/she is able to maintain control of his/her actions and able to depict an image because of this control.
As I analyze this students work I have to remind myself that this is all my perception of his/her artwork and could be very different than what he/she had intended it to be interpreted as. Luehrman and Unrath present a valuable idea when analyzing a student’s work, “when applying stage theories it is important to remember that stages of development are only generalizations meant to be descriptive of tendencies…”(2006, pg. 8). I think this is important to keep in mind when analyzing a students’ artwork because we do not want to assume a multitude of things from a drawing without knowing the students’ context or reasoning. A child’s artwork though can be a great way to discover the kinds of things a student may be interested in and help to incorporate those things in to your teaching. For example, you could have students draw images of how they interpreted a story to get an idea of what important ideas he/she had. Art can be used to express what he/she is thinking. As I continued to look at how my personal interpretation of the drawing could be viewed, I found myself looking to Pink’s “A Whole New Mind.” Pink quoted Betty Edwards when saying “drawing is not really difficult, seeing is the problem.” Pink then continues on to say how sometimes it is important to “quiet down” the left side brain so the right side brain can show off it’s imagination (2005, pg. 15). This is important because in such a strongly controlled left-side brain world, we must remember to make use of our right-side brain and to acknowledge those people who may be showing more of a right-sided characteristic.
I hope to incorporate art in to my everyday teaching in order for both left side and right side brain students are given the chance to express themselves freely. I want to understand my students’ interest through their art. I want to try to include art activities within each subject in order to get a wider assessment of my students. Using integration through something as simple as requiring a certain number of mediums (math) or something as elaborate as writing a paper over why certain mediums resist one another (science and literature). After analyzing this art, I would help a student move from a schematic stage to the Gang Age by having students observe more details that surround them daily and see how it is that these could be represented in their artwork (in this particular student’s case, I would have him/her focus on the details surrounding objects, the space surrounding). I think a great way to promote this progression is through having students analyze these little details seen in their lives and through the observation of other pieces of artwork and how a student could alter their image to exhibit some of the same artist’s crafts (ex: not overlapping, objects have a backdrop). “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up” -Pablo Picasso.
Resources
Brittain, W. L. & Lowenfeld, V. (1970). Creative and Mental Growth. New York, NY: Macmillan Co., 474-479.
Luehrman, M. & Unrath, K. (2006). Making Theories of Children’s Artistic Development Meaningful for Pre-Service Teachers. Art Education, 6-12.
Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1984). Beginning stages of visual expression of young children, Art Experience, Development of Visual Perception, 1-8.
Merriam-Webster's dictionary (New Edition).(2004). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster. Pg.149/434
Pink, Daniel, W. (2005). A Whole New Mind. New York, NY: Penguin Group. Pg. 15
Unrath, K. & Luehrman, M. (2009). Bringing Children to Art-Bringing Art to Children. Art Education, 41-47.
Wilson, M. & Wilson, B. (1992). Learning to Draw: Nurturing the Natural. Engle Cliffs, NY, 39-47.