"I'm trying the least of anything to control this drawing ... in fact I want it to run away with me." says Billy, a fifth grader who reads at 13th grade level. He clears his throat and begins to sketch and his stories flood the page. This qualitative research paper looks at what free sketchbook drawing does for a group of boys ages 8-14 who…

This paper deals with the main theses of Gombrich's theory of pictorial representation as they pertain to the understanding of representational artworks and children's drawing. It is argued that the current linguistic-cognitive model of representation adopted from Goodman's theory provides an understanding of images and children's drawing in art…

The problem of "stages" in the development of artistic ability is addressed by reviewing the cases of a gifted autistic child, Nadia, who drew realistically at a very young age, and of a normal child, Eytan, who rapidly taught himself the principles of isometric perspective and of foreshortening. A review of scholarly opinion about…

A tension exists between two schools of thought regarding the development of children's drawings. One position places great emphasis on the relatively invariant sequence in which figural differentiation comes about, and attempts to explicate the graphic logic which yields the rule-governed changes which can be observed in children's drawings. The…

This paper presents findings from a longitudinal, participant-observation study of one boy's spontaneous drawings from preadolescence to adolescence. Themes related to adolescent developmental psychology emerge in the drawings. Concludes that doodling and memory drawing permit imaginative play and free ideation while drawing from pictures…

Notes widespread use of human figure drawings to describe and predict psychological functioning. Reviews data-based studies on figure drawings and concludes that there is little support for their validity or for their use as devices to assess personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Presents ease of administration and anecdotal…

Responds to previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Notes recent approaches to interpretation of human figure drawings and cites flaws in argument against…

Responds to article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Agrees with original article, suggesting that arguments be couched in terms of three basic concepts: illusory…

Responds positively to previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use. Focuses on human figure drawing as personality assessment tool, reviewing its empirical research, identifying only ways that it can be used, and suggesting most…

Responds to reviewers of authors' previous article (Motta, Little, and Tobin, this issue) which reviewed data-based studies on figure drawings and found little support for their validity or use in assessing personality, behavior, emotion, or intellectual functioning. Defends position of original article and addresses issues raised by reviewers.…

Current beliefs about how children draw emphasize the importance of drawing from memory, rather than from observation. However, an experiment with children aged seven to nine showed that observation drawings included greater detail and complexity. More research on observation drawing is recommended. (IS)

Discusses two broad stages of children's drawing--scribbling and representation--and the phases of each stage that children will pass through as they develop. Provides suggestions for supporting children's early drawing development. (HTH)

Drawing is one of the first forms of art, both in historical terms and in terms of a child's development. Once in school, children should continue to draw and should be encouraged to draw better. Children learn to draw by drawing and by examining the drawings of others. (RM)

Drawing on the Kreilters' work with the psychology of adult artists, the authors show how children's story drawings develop the same four types of realities: origins, everyday experiences, normative realities (rules), and prophetic (anticipatory) realities. Illustrations are included. (SJL)

Described is a method of tapping students' creative potential in art: the Spontaneous Response Drawing. SRD consists of drawing with a single line, usually with crayons or colored felt tip pens on a large sheet of paper. (KC)