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Katie Lovegren

Art 395/396-03

Mandy Klauck

Stages of Artistic Development

Image one: 9-year-old boy

Looking at the first image created by a 9-year-old boy the first thing I consider is that the images
that look like people are flat, with limbs extended showing that there is no overlap. I also notice that
there is a ground line and what looks like a sun drawn in the upper right-hand corner of the page. The
image seems to be telling a story as there are speech bubbles with text, indicating that the people are
communicating. I also notice that the hands are circular with fingers that are also circular. According to
Lowenfeld’s stages of artistic development I would say this artwork demonstrates the child is in
Schematic Stage (7-9 year old’s) of Artistic development. The people in the picture have moved beyond
stick figures as they have width in their arms and legs, rather than just sticks radiating from the head
which would indicate the Preschematic stage. The space is also well-organized leaving room between
figures and creating the appropriate space for speech bubbles.

Considering Betty Edwards, Stages of Creative and mental growth; I am leaning more towards
the pictures that tell stories. The artwork is primarily along a landscape and can be read left to right to
tell the story or follow the conversation happening in the piece. A simple symbol to represent the sun is
reminds me to consider the prior stage of symbols. In the stage of symbols circular forms become
universal symbol for many things. I can see this in the sun and also the hands, fingers and heads, but
because the picture has dialog and the artis is trying to convey a message it fits in the stage of Pictures
that Tell Stories. I believe at this point the student has achieved what they can in all of those different
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Katie Lovegren

Art 395/396-03

Mandy Klauck

Stages of Artistic Development

stages and is using some of

everything in this drawing. I
believe the student maybe is
one that does not have the
small motor skills to achieve
greater realism so when I
consider the detail in this
piece, I am sure that it is the
Stage of Complexity. The
speech bubble that shows the two people off to the side judging the shorter person by saying “you’re
crazy”, tells me that this student cares about what others think and so while the first character is
excited, the artist can easily say he is on the side of either believing in the discovery of that character or
agreeing with the other two that are smiling and believe him to be crazy. Due to the detail, is why I have
settled on the Stage of Complexity (8–10-year old’s).

Since the child is 9 and Lowenfeld’s Schematic stage is represented during ages 7-9 I believe this
student to be on track with this model. The Edwards Stage of complexity is described to occur between
the ages of 8 and 10, so this also indicates that this child is on target with what is expected for this age
group during this model. Since the child is at the higher end of the Schematic stage, I want to make sure
that the student has opportunity to stretch and grow their art skills so that they don’t become frustrated
with their art. I may try projects that explore color so that this student isn’t afraid to use color to show
detail.

Image two: 6-year-old girl

In image two, created by a 6-year-old girl, I see lots of detail. The student seems to scribble the
hair on with back-and-forth strokes, the teeth are pointy indicating that they are possibly sharp rather
than realistic. They eyes are round with sticks sticking out of them for eyelashes and the eyebrows are
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Katie Lovegren

Art 395/396-03

Mandy Klauck

Stages of Artistic Development

scribbled on. The portrait

is very flat. An example is
in the nose. The nostrils
are drawn directly below
and the lines next to the
nose are possibly meant
to be part of that
structure by it seems to
be drawn right next to it rather than giving the portrait layers and dimension. The is not a stick figure.
The eyes, nose and mouth seem to be proportionately spaces even though they are flat. This student is
drawing a face with great care to details that make up a face. But there is clearly no evidence of overlap
yet, so since the arms don’t touch the sides and it appears this student is starting to organize space
(face), it appears to represent the Schematic Stage (7–9-year old’s). Since she is only 6, I believe her to
be ahead of most of her peers.

Since there are so many details in the face, but there is not much care in how things look, I
believe that regarding Betty Edward’s stages of creative and mental growth I would put this piece in the
Landscape Stage (6–8-year old’s). I think the care is still in placement rather than achieving realism at
this point which puts this piece in a stage that is appropriate for 6–8-year old’s, according to Edward’s.
Since she is 6, it indicates that she on target with Betty Edward’s model.

I could see this learner thriving in a lesson around Picassos art work. It will show her that things
don’t always have to be perfect and that sometime details look weird. I would like to also explore color
with this student and have her do some activities with paint.

Image 3: 6-year-old boy

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Katie Lovegren

Art 395/396-03

Mandy Klauck

Stages of Artistic Development

When looking at this image I see a great use of color. My attention is centered around a tree
that I could describe as lollipop like, although I imagine Lowenfeld probably meant that trees were
represented like sticks with circles on top. There is a sky line and a ground line. The clouds are
represented by blue puffy shapes. The smoke ringlets are careful not to disturb or touch any of the
stamp work. The flower is nearly as tall as the house and the bird is just as long as the tree is wide. Since
all of the objects that belong on the ground are all lined up in a nice row and the person riding what
looks like a tractor is more like a stick person, I believe the piece is an example of the Schematic stage
(7-9). Since the boy is 6 years old, and using blue puffy shapes to represent clouds in the sky (all lined up
in a row), I believe him to be ahead of his peers his age. His images are grounded rather than free
floating which puts him beyond the Pre-schematic stage. Because the size relationships are not quite
there yet as I compared the bird to the tree and the flower to the house, I do not believe he is quite to
the Stage of Dawning realism yet.

In regards to Edward’s model I would put him at the Landscape stage (6-8). Edward’s describes
that using symbols to represent things in the environment such as the blue puffy clouds and a green
grass line are indicators of this stage. He is showing that he is mastering that his picture can tell a story
as the tractor is hauling flowers in a wagon and the bird is flying above the trees on a cloudy day. I can’t
quite understand how the orange stamping fits in, except that he is experimenting with something.
However, the experiment does not show that he is trying to convey or achieve higher realism, maybe
just that he had open space and liked the stamp. I think this stage is appropriate for his age and he has
probably been here a while and has developed strong motor skills.

Since the student seems to like experimenting with stamps, I would make sure to make more
materials available to him. I’d like to do a tissue paper activity with him too so he can see what
overlapping does to color. I think it would give him an avenue to explore and grow.

Image 4: 9-year-old girl

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Katie Lovegren

Art 395/396-03

Mandy Klauck

Stages of Artistic Development

There is not much to analyze in this picture. Three flowers evenly spaced along a ground line
with evenly spaced grass that seems to have been drawn with great care to ensure the height was more
or less even. One color used in this creation. Because the artwork is still in schematic form but has
details that seem to be more organized spatially and has become small and tight, I think this art piece
falls in line with Lowenfeld’s Stage of Dawning Realism (9-12). She is showing that grass, even though it
is not usually this color, is separate blades of grass rather than a flat green line. She is also showing that
the leaves on the middle flower are not perfectly upright like the other two flowers. Her age fits in at the
beginning of this stage and so she has room to grow in this stage before her age no longer falls within its
parameters.

When considering Betty Edward’s stages of artistic and mental growth I am thinking about a few
important things. I don’t think this drawing is finished. I think the student took great care in drawing
what is on the page, however I don’t believe that the flower on the far left needs to be there and so
removing it doesn’t throw off the balance. I am going to assume that I may need to see more of her
work to judge her abilities but I wonder if she cares more about her peer’s opinions than creating a
finished piece. Drawing grass and flowers for a 9-year-old girl is a safe choice if trying to satisfy her peers
so I am going to say just based on what I see that she is in the Stage of Complexity (8–10-year old’s). It
fits in with her age group and since she has drawn the grass as individual blades, I am led to believe that
she is striving for greater realism.
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Katie Lovegren

Art 395/396-03

Mandy Klauck

Stages of Artistic Development

Since I have decided that this girl needs to not think to much about what her peers will think I
think it would be great to give her other activities to work on so that there is less judgement, like we had
discussed during our TAB activities. If she has an interest in drawing landscapes, I would help her explore
ways to add depth and detail to her drawings. We need to start with color as this drawing falls flat for
me as it is only orange. I like the issue paper activity for her as well, where we overlap colors to see what
happens to the color. I also would like to give her more time to plan her drawings. I feel like she ran out
of time or spent a great deal of time thinking about what she wanted to do rather than just doing it. I
think I could give her activities where she is mimicking an artform so that she doesn’t have to think so
much but has some kind of path she can follow, until she becomes comfortable with color, lines and
shapes. I hope she would become inspired to find her passion and take off before she becomes bored of
her art and doesn’t enjoy it anymore.