Examined reasons why young children typically omit the torso in human figure drawings. Found that more children produced a conventional figure when they constructed a manikin than when they were asked to draw, suggesting that children omit torsos because they have not yet devised a way of drawing them, rather than forgetting them or having an…

Previous studies have revealed that children increase the size of drawings of topics about which they feel positively and use their most preferred colours for colouring in these drawings, and decrease the size of drawings of topics about which they feel negatively and use their least preferred colours for colouring in these drawings. However,…

Children's drawings are thought to be a mirror of a child's representational development. Research suggests that with age children develop more complex and symbolic representational strategies and reference points become more differentiated by gender. We collected two drawings from 109 5-13-year-old children (three age groups). Each child drew…

Education programs have fostered advanced levels of graphic representation ability in young children but have not detailed the specific mechanisms responsible for the accelerated growth. Research suggests that between 6 and 8 years of age children begin to observe more carefully before drawing and that observation prompts aid children's…

Investigates characteristics and themes in 102 drawings by sexually abused children. Themes of the drawings included genitalia, the absence of specific body parts, phallic symbols, inappropriate smiles, distorted body images, kinetic activity, prominent hands and fingers, and hearts. (RJC)

In a between-subjects design, 4-to 6-year-olds were asked to draw from three-dimensional (3D) models, two-and-a-half-dimensional (212D) models with or without depth cues, or two-dimensional (2D) models of a familiar object (a saucepan) in noncanonical orientations (handle at the back or at the front). Results showed that canonical errors were…

Research related to how young children's drawings change and develop is well documented and an extensive literature on this area can be traced back to the nineteenth century. Most of this literature, however, focuses on developmental aspects and largely fails to explore what would seem to be an essential ingredient in each drawings…

Assessed how attention toward a visual model affects children's production of visually realistic drawings. Found that spontaneous increase in attention toward models accompanied progression from intellectual to visual realism and that drawing performance of younger children was enhanced by contrasting tasks and explicit instructions. For all, use…

This article concerns the ways in which pre-school children use the visual arts to portray their understanding of politicians. The purpose of this research was to discuss children's drawings of politicians using semiotic analysis. The use of semiotic analysis was based on the need to understand the nature of the drawings and their relation to the…

Examined the likelihood of changes in various parts of children's drawings of people when the children were asked to represent action. (Author/JMB)

Investigated young children's ability to represent three-dimensionality in their drawings. Preschool, kindergarten and first grade children and adults were asked to draw a cube, a house, and a ball presented in a plain form, a form differentially decorated on each side, and in both 2- and 3-dimensional forms. (JMB)

This cross-sectional and longitudinal study investigated the development of human figure drawing in 42 children aged two to four years and eleven months. Drawings were categorized as scribbles, distinct forms, tadpoles, transitional, or conventional figures. Results suggest that young children draw the human figure in a tadpole form before they…

Examined in two studies the height of male and female figures in 5- and 7-year-olds' drawings. Found that adult figures were drawn taller than child figures. For boys, mean male and female heights were approximately the same. Girls drew females taller than males because more girls used different structures such as incorporating a skirt or trousers…

Pictograms--assemblages of geometrical shapes that represent parts of the body--simply and vividly show how the body moves. They can be used to help elementary students draw larger figures and have confidence in drawing people. The pictograms also encourage children to look at shapes and details that artists use. (RM)