Running head: DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
Understanding the Development of Children’s Drawing Through Self Portraits
Dionne J. Bates
University of Missouri
1
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
This paper looks at the development of children’s drawing skills through the self portraits
of three girls of different ages and grades. The student drawings observed were completed by a
four year old preschool student (student A), a seven year old second grader (student B), and a
nine year old third grader (student C). Each student was given a piece of 8 ½” x 11” paper and
various drawing materials to create their self portraits including: pencils, colored pencils,
crayons, and markers. The students were encouraged to use whatever drawing materials they
wanted. With each of the students’ drawings, there is a progression evident in the way children
draw. To understand each child’s development in art, I refer to drawing theories that describe the
stages of their self portraits.
Student A is a four year old preschool student and the youngest of the three children to
create a self portrait. She was very excited when she learned that she was going to make a
drawing. I asked her if she could make a drawing of herself and she immediately said yes with
excitement and began drawing. Figure 1 is Student A’s drawing and reveals her art making
process.
Fig. 1 self portrait by student A
2
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
She started drawing her head by making one large circle at the center of her paper. She
then proceeded with the rest of her body, making the torso, arms, and finally legs. Because of
how large she had drawn her face, there was not enough room for her to draw her feet. She
finished her drawing by adding a rainbow at the top, and this was because she had finished her
drawing after some time but wanted to continue drawing. Unlike students B and C, student A
used only one of the available drawing materials, crayons.
To understand what student A’s drawing stage is based off of her self portrait, there are
some drawing theories that can be referenced. Firstly, student A would be considered a child of
the “preschematic stage”, which is a drawing stage of children between the ages of four and
seven (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 475). This is because of the distortion of the body parts to
fit on the page due to the fact that she drew her head so large. Due to the fact that student A drew
her head so large also prevented her from being able to include her feet, and omission of body
parts is an attribute of the “preschematic stage” (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 475). The way
student A drew her body also relates to the “fill-the-format principle”, which states that a child
will “lengthen or shorten features so that they may fit neatly and in an aesthetically pleasing way
into a given space” (B. Wilson & M. Wilson, 1982, p. 43). Student A also fits into the 4th
drawing stage as described by The Children’s Art Center. To create her self portrait, student A
used a “simple baseline, drawn or implied,” “some specific details,” and “variation of lines and
shapes” (TCAC, n.d., p. 25).
Student A is also in “schematic stage” which is the drawing stage for children between
the ages of seven and nine (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, 476). This is because student A has
given volume to her arms, legs and fingers, and her body parts are correctly placed. In addition to
3
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
the preschematic and schematic stages, student A is also in the stages of “embellishing symbols”
and “using space around objects” (Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County
[MBEBC], 1974, p. 3). In the “embellishing symbols” stage, a child will draw what he or she
finds important, but include limited details (MBEBC, 1974, p. 3). Student A drew herself fairly
simply, only including a flower for detail in her shirt. Student A is also in the stage of “using
space around objects”, which states that “the child achieves satisfaction with symbols… attempts
to create a more finished product by the addition of items such as… skies and backgrounds to
surround the symbols” (MBEBC, 1974, p. 3). Student A fits in this stage because of the rainbow
she included in the available space after finishing her portrait.
The second self portrait is made by the seven year old second grader, student B. At the
time she made her self portrait, her class had just finished making masks of their favorite
celebrities that they drew themselves. So this student already had a process for how she made
portraits to begin with. Figure 2 shows the drawing process of student B.
Fig. 2 self portrait by student B
4
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
Like students A and C, she drew her head first in the center, making hers large, and
taking up most of the paper. Because of how large student B drew her head, she didn’t have
much room to draw her torso. She drew her torso and her arms smaller so that they would fit on
the page. Because of the last project student B’s class did, I think it is clear that she was more
interested in drawing the face as opposed to the whole body, and that is where she focused most
of her attention.
Compared to student A and C, student B spent the most time on her face, making sure
that she included important details. What is more evident in student B’s drawing, compared to
the drawings of students A and C, are eyelashes, eyebrows, and creases to the mouth and cheeks.
Drawing her face large gave her the ability to do that in the first place. Student B had to use
pencils and sharpies for the celebrity mask project. Her class was instructed to first use pencils to
draw their celebrity portraits, and then to outline them with sharpie before coloring. So, student
B continued that drawing process when drawing her self portrait. She started off by using a
pencil, which is still visible in some parts of the drawing, and used a sharpie over the outline to
finish.
Like student A, student B also possesses some traits typical of a child in the
“preschematic stage.” Student B drew her head so large resulting in her having to draw her torso
and arms significantly smaller which also prevented her from adding the rest of her body. This
counts as the omission and distortion of body parts which is common for children in the
“preschematic stage.” The way student B drew her body also relates to the “fill-the-format
principle” because she shortened her arms for them to fit on the page. Also like student A,
student B gave volume to her arms which makes her also part of the “schematic stage”. Student
B would also be considered in the “embellishing symbols” stage because she drew herself simply
5
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
and only included details important to her. (“Maryland Board”, 1974, p. 3). Like student A,
student B fits into the 4th drawing stage according to The Children’s Art Center. To draw herself,
student B used “some specific details” as well as “variation of lines and shapes” (TCAC, n.d., p.
25).
Something special about student B is that she added a graphic to her shirt as well as a
ponytail. At the “gang age stage” children pay more attention to the detail of their clothes, and it
is evident in the graphic on student B’s shirt that she is aware of her clothing and wanted to add
detail (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477).
The last student, student C, is in 3rd grade and oldest of the three at nine years old. This
student was a little apprehensive about drawing a self portrait for me when I asked her. That was
most likely due to the fact that student C knows me, and knows that I am an artist, and so asking
her to do a drawing for me might have been a little intimidating for her. But once she started
drawing she became focused on the task and enjoyed the process.
Figure 3 is the self portrait of Student C. She drew her head first, like student A and B,
but instead of drawing her head large and taking up the majority of the page, she drew her head
small, about the size of a half dollar and towards the center of the page. Because of that decision,
student C was able to include the rest of her body unlike students A and B. Like student B,
student C first used a pencil to outline her portrait in its entirety before finishing it, in which she
colored it in with crayons.
6
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
Fig. 3 self portrait of student C
Student C was much more interested in the design of her clothes than the other two
students because of the various colors she used and the detail she included. She even used color
as a detail in the design of her shoes. As interested in the details of the face as student B was,
student C included a detail that student B did not. Student B used black dots for the iris, whereas
student C included a pupil and an iris because there in a pencil outline around the pupil.
While students A and B fit into two different drawing stages, student C fits well into one
stage of drawing, that being “the gang age.” Children of “the gang age” can be self conscious of
their drawings (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477). Therefore student C would be a “gang age”
drawer because of the fact that she was nervous before starting her drawing. In addition to that,
when student B made a mistake drawing her left cheek, she used another piece of paper, colored
it, and covered up the mistake. So student C was very self conscious about the execution of her
drawing, which was not an issue for students A or B.
7
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
Another component that makes student C of “the gang age” is the way she drew her
body. In “the gang age”, there is “less exaggeration, distortion, and omission of body parts”
(Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477). There is also a greater rigidness to the way children
represent people (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477). Student C’s self portrait does not have the
distortion of body parts that you see in student A’s and B’s. The proportions are not exact but as
Brittain and Lowenfeld say, they are not exaggerated (Brittain & Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477).
Because of student C’s interest in the design of her clothes, also puts her in “the gang
age.” Children in “the gang age” have a “greater awareness of clothing details” (Brittain &
Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477). By evidence of her multi colored shoes and the pockets she put on her
pants, student C cares about the detail of her clothing.
Student C fits into the 4th and 5th drawing stages according to The Children’s Art Center.
Student C fits into the 4th stage because she includes “some specific details” (TCAC, n.d., p. 25).
But she also fits into the 5th stage because she is able to draw her body using “contour shapes”
(TCAC, n.d., p. 25).
In conclusion, the three drawings by students A, B, and C reveal a progression in
children’s drawing as they get older through drawing theories. What was also discovered through
studying these drawings was that a child can exist in more than one stage. Students A and B were
examples of children who showed drawing characteristics at two or more stages. Student A’s
drawing provided an example that was primarily “preschematic stage” with some attributes of
“schematic stage”. Student B’s drawing showed what could develop from student A’s drawing
with more attention to detail, while still maintaining the typical characteristics of the
“preschematic stage”. Lastly, student C’s drawing shows how a child will reach “the gang age”
stage due to the increased interest in clothing and the rigidness of the form of the body (Brittain
8
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
& Lowenfeld, 1970, p. 477). These drawings show how a child’s drawing ability could progress,
because “children progress through stages of development … in predictable ways” (Erickson, &
Young, 1996, p. 41). The drawings also show how a child can exist in more than one drawing
stage. The reason being that some children may have more art training or experience than others,
therefore children close in age can exist at different drawing stages (Erickson, & Young, 1996, p.
41). That is crucial for art elementary teachers to know, because they will have students at
different drawing stages, and knowing these drawing theories will help them to understand their
students’ capabilities.
9
DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN’S DRAWING
References
Brittain, W. L., & Lowenfeld, V. (1970) Creative and mental growth. New York, NY:
MacMillan Co.
Erickson, M., & Young, B. (1996). What every educator should (but maybe doesn’t) know.
School Arts, 96(2), 40-42.
Maryland Board of Education of Baltimore County. (1974). Beginning stages of visual
expression of young children. In Art Experience, Development of Visual Perception, 1-4.
The Children’s Art Center. (n.d.). All about me: A teacher’s resource by the children’s art
center. Cape Town, South Africa: The Office of the Chief Director: Districts of the
Western Cape Education Department.
Wilson, M., & Wilson, B. (1982). Teaching children to draw. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: PrenticeHall
10