LOWENFELD (2024)

1. SCRIBBLE

(2 to 4 years)

The Scribble stage is made up of four sub-stages. (a)Disordered - uncontrolled markings that could be bold orlight depending upon the personality of the child. At this agethe child has little or no control over motor activity. (b)Longitudinal - controlled repetitions of motions. Demonstrates visually an awareness and enjoyment of kinestheticmovements. Circular - further exploring of controlledmotions demonstrating the ability to do more complex forms.Naming - the child tells stories about the scribble. There is a change from a kinesthetic thinking in terms of motionto imaginative thinking in terms of pictures. This is one ofthe great occasions in the life of a human. It is thedevelopment of the ability to visualize in pictures.

2. PRESCHEMATIC

(4 to 6 years)

The preschematic stage is announced by the appearance ofcircular images with lines which seem to suggest a human oranimal figure. During this stage the schema (the visual idea) isdeveloped. The drawings show what the child perceives as mostimportant about the subject. There is little understanding ofspace - objects are placed in a haphazard way throughout thepicture. The use of color is more emotional than logical.

3. SCHEMATIC

(7 to 9 years)

This stage is easily recognized by the demonstrated awarenessof the concept of space. Objects in the drawing have arelationship to what is up and what is down. A definite baseand sky line is apparent. Items in the drawing are allspatially related. Colors are reflected as they appear innature. Shapes and objects are easily definable. Exaggerationbetween figures (humans taller than a house, flowers bigger thanhumans, family members large and small) is often used to expressstrong feelings about a subject. Another technique sometimesused is called "folding over" this is demonstrated when objectsare drawn perpendicular to the base line. Sometimes the objectsappear to be drawn upside down. Another Phenomenon is called"X-ray".In an x-ray picture the subject is depicted as being seen formthe inside as well as the outside.

4. DAWNINGREALISM

(9 to 11 years)

Dawining realism is also known as the gang age. Groupfriendships of the same sex are most common. This is a periodof self awareness to the point of being extremely self critical.The attempts at realism need to be looked at from the child'spoint of view. Realism is not meant to be real in thephotographic sense rather than an experience with a particularobject. In this regard this stage is the first time that thechild becomes aware of a lack of ability to show objects the waythey appear in the surrounding environment. The human is shownas girl, boy, woman, man clearly defined with a feeling fordetails often resulting in a "stiffness" of representation. Perspective is another characteristic of this stage. There isan awareness of the space between the base line and sky line. Overlapping of objects, types of point perspective and use ofsmall to large objects are evident in this stage. Objects nolonger stand on a base line. Three dimensional effects areachieved along with shading and use of subtle colorcombinations. Because of an awareness of lack of abilitydrawings often appear less spontaneous than in previousstages.

THE PSEUDOREALISTICSTAGE

(ll to 13 years)

In the previous stages the process in making the visual artwas of great importance. In this stage the product becomes mostimportant to the child. This stage is marked by twopsychological differences. In the first, called Visual, theindividual's art work has the appearance of looking at a stagepresentation. The work is inspired by visual stimuli. Thesecond is based on subjective experiences. This type ofNonvisual individual's art work is based on subjectiveinterpretations emphasizing emotional relationships to theexternal world as it relates to them. Visual types feel asspectators looking at their work form the outside. Nonvisuallyminded individuals feel involved in their work as it relates tothem in a personal way. The visually minded child has a visualconcept of how color changes under different externalconditions. The nonvisually minded child sees color as a toolto be used to reflect emotional reaction to the subject athand.

Note:The above is a brief summary of thesubject, for more information refer to the following book. Withthe exception of the illustrations all of the above content isfrom: CREATIVE AND MENTAL GROWTH, Viktor Lowenfeld,Macmillan Co., New York, 1947.

Return to Art EducationPage