The Complete Guide to Children's Drawings: Accessing Children‘s Emotional World through their Artwork

Finally, when you talk with the kindergarten teacher you have to remember that the child is also listening. Saying things like, “She’s already four years old and still doesn’t draw houses!”, can make the child feel frustrated and stop drawing altogether.

Why, then, do adults intervene?

Some adults intervene because they fear their child is not drawing at an age-appropriate level, because of some developmental problem. By intervening, they “teach” the child to mimic age-appropriate patterns and abilities. Note, however, that just like copying from other children, it is easy to identify children who “fake” when they draw, using similar indicators used to identify fake handwritings. Namely, when children use elements that are out of sync with their inner development, their drawings will have a hesitant and inconsistent quality. Thus, studying an adult design and mimicking it could help the child produce a drawing that may look impressive, but a professional observer will easily identify it as fake.

Figure 1-28:Intervention drawing, with adult contours

Others intervene when they want to correct mistakes, to teach the child to draw “correctly”. In art, however, there is no such thing as “correct” or “incorrect”. The drawing is designed to mirror the child’s inner world and as such there are no correct or incorrect ways to go about it. Moreover, children who paint red skies are usually perfectly aware of their real color, but choose to draw them red for other reasons.

This attempt to “teach” the child how to draw correctly will fail in most cases. An interesting study (Cox 1996) on children at the “tadpole” stage (age 3) found that they become attached to their tadpole figure and are slow to abandon it even after observing college students drawing conventional human figures. In fact, the reason for the intervention – be it fear of developmental lag or any other reason – does not matter. The drawing mirrors the child’s inner world and “fixing” it will change nothing. Worse, as you have seen, it could disrupt the natural process. Note that when discussing adult interventions I do not refer to therapeutic interventions, as in occupational or art therapy.

When the girl who made the following drawing was 5½ years old, her mother contacted me in order to understand why she omitted the arms in her human figure drawings. At first, she told me that she had tried to intervene and check whether she was aware of all the body parts the arm is composed of (such as forearm, palm and fingers). When the child demonstrated her awareness, the mother continued to explain how important it was to actually draw all these body parts. Her daughter agreed with her, and yet, after several days, she returned to draw armless figures.

Figure 1-29:Armless human figure

My analysis of her drawings, including figure 1-29, indicated that she was a creative girl with a strong desire to control her environment. She made an effort to seem perfect on the outside, and her coloring was particularly meticulous. Despite her relatively developed emotional side, she preferred to set clear boundaries for herself when it came to sharing.

Nonetheless, she continued to draw armless figures because this is an age-appropriate phenomenon! Many children at her age draw complete figures and even dedicate considerable attention to drawing the fingers, and yet many others ignore the arms completely. This is highly typical of children aged 5–7 and there is no point persuading them to draw otherwise, mainly because they will do so in due time.

Naturally, most adult interventions are motivated by good intentions, without awareness of any negative effect they may have, such as refusal to draw. Many adults treat painting just like any other motor skill acquired with adult guidance, such as cooking, and are simply unaware of how important it is for the drawing child to experience and explore on his own.

Still, what can you do when the child refuses to draw?

First, you must make sure the reason for his refusal is not any physiological disorder (motor problem, visual disability, low muscle tone, learning disability, etc.). Once this possibility has been rejected, there are several courses of action available to you. If your child feels his drawings are not “good enough” because they are graphically inaccurate, take him to the museum and show him the wide range of “inaccurate” artworks. If your child asks you to draw for him, use your non-dominant hand to make a “bad” drawing on purpose. Another possibility is for you to draw with your eyes shut and ask your child to guide your hand.

Next, you can ask your child to turn your scribble into a recognizable drawing and then switch parts (Winnicott 1971). Finally, you can designate a special drawing notebook. This way, your child will have a sense of continuity from one drawing to the next and will be able to show his drawings around. In addition, the notebook will encourage him to make up a serial story around the drawings.

If you’ve tried several approaches and your child still refuses to draw, and assuming the possibility of physiological issues has been rejected, you should remember that drawing is a hobby and that there are plenty of other creative avenues still open to your child.

Boys versus Girls

Society tends to treat boys and girls differently. One study (Huston 1983), for example, explored adult attitudes towards infants at the age when their sex is hard to distinguish. It was found that when the infant wore blue cloths, adults used to hold it high and throw it in the air. When it wore pink, however, they treated it gently, held it close to their chest and avoided rough play.

This is just one of many examples proving the social influence that molds boys and girls into gendered roles. On the other hand, many believe that gender identity is primarily innate. For instance, little boys independently choose “boyish” games (cars, superheroes), even when they have “girlish” toys (dolls, kitchen) at easy reach, and vice versa (Hoffman, 1964).

Figure 1-30:Typical painting by a girl

Just like playing with dolls, drawing also gives children the opportunity to create an imaginary world and draw themselves as superheroes or delicate princesses. Everything is possible on the drawing page and children relish this absolute freedom. Beyond themes that are popular among all children regardless of gender, such as family or holiday drawings, most boys tend to draw superheroes combined with various angular shapes, while girls prefer princesses combined with hearts, flowers, jewelry and similar details.

Figure 1-31:Monster drawing as a normative tendency

Unless there are indications to the contrary, drawings of monsters and violent heroes are considered normative among boys, and are usually not considered as evidence of any internal distress or anxiety experienced by the child. Sometimes they lead to precisely the opposite conclusion: the child who draws monsters is socially integrated and understands the social codes of the community, and accordingly has interests that are shared with his peers.

The drawing subject can thus be misleading and even cause unnecessary concern among adults. It is therefore important to get to know the children’s world and understand their language.

In order to identify signs of distress, it is more important to attend less to the subject per se and more to graphic indicators in the drawing, such as the degree of pressure applied on the drawing tool, line quality and color combinations.

A classic social learning study (Bandura 1971) showed that girls usually allow themselves to express negative emotions only when certain this is socially acceptable. Also when drawing, girls tend to attach greater importance to the final product and the way it is received. If the girl is preoccupied with her looks in real life, the figures in her drawing will be rendered accordingly: each figure will have jewelry, hair accessories, makeup and well-drawn eyebrows and lashes. To arrive at such carefully detailed results, they tend to plan their drawings more carefully than boys, color them gently and execute the entire composition with great accuracy. They also tend to draw “acceptable” subjects and avoid subjects that are controversial in terms of gender identity.

Importantly, girls in therapy will use drawings as a therapeutic tool to externalize anger and frustrations, but will tend to do it in a supportive environment. In such an environment, they are less preoccupied with how the final product looks.

Another classic study explored gender differences in graphic expression (Hesse 1978). This study found that significantly, boys’ line style and shape design tends to be characterized by dynamism and momentum, while girls prefer clearly defined lines combined with structured static forms. Girls’ subjects are clearer and more understandable, and they are careful to plan their composition and draw a baseline (the ground line), while boys the same age drew a baseline in only half the cases. In terms of coloring, girls tend to use a greater variety, while boys clearly prefer using 1–3 colors out of the entire pack.

Another significant different between the sexes has to do with brain structure (Restak 1982). Girls’ fine motor skills area is larger and better developed than boys’ and this is perhaps why their drawings are considered “nicer”, as well as their handwriting later on. They tend to draw small and carefully rendered figures. This does not mean that boys develop more slowly, but simply that the developmental trajectory used to judge their drawings is different than that of girls. Another difference that may have to do with brain structure is that girls seem to be better in reading facial expressions. This contributes to their developing social skills and also explains their preference to draw human figures and depict the relationships between them.

Indeed, one of the first studies in this area (Goodenough 1926) found significant gender differences in human figure drawings. Boys tend to draw figures in profile with long, dominant limbs, while girls draw small palms and feet. Goodenough attributed these differences to society’s tendency to emphasize girls’ appearance and encourage boys to be more physically active, a tendency that has changed considerably since her studies.

Physiological differences and differential tendencies to have certain disabilities are central to assessing gender differences in drawings. For example, the dominance of their right hemisphere, combined with other physiological factors, mean that learning disabilities are more common among boys. Thus, many cases of refusal to draw or difficulties in drawing and writing are later discovered to be related to dysgraphia or another disability. Particularly in the disabilities area, however, it is very important to avoid jumping into conclusions and test the child’s skills using other diagnostic methods, in addition to drawings.

Figure 1-32:A typically “boyish” drawing

This right hemispheric dominance also means that boys have better spatial perception. They study mazes and love drawing maps and diagrams. They also love drawing vehicles such as airplanes, tanks and cars. The following drawing by a 12½ year-old is a typically “boyish” drawing that emphasizes structure and space, as well as demonstrating considerable effort to reach the required level of accuracy.

To conclude, the objective in interpreting boys’ versus girls’ drawings is not to arrive at generalized conclusions supporting statistical findings about gender differences, but to identify differences that simply mean that the child in question is a typical boy or girl. Children of both genders have always experimented with gender atypical behaviors, a phenomenon that seems to be more acceptable nowadays. When interpreting children’s drawings, you must be keenly aware of such social developments.

Copying

A group of children is seated around the table and everyone is busy drawing. A pair of inquisitive eyes checks neighboring drawings and sees that one girl drew a sun, while one boy drew a red car. The eyes return to their own page and want to draw like that as well. When our children return from kindergarten with a stack of drawings held in their little hands, how can we know which are really their own? Did somebody help them out? Did they copy from others?

Copying is prevalent since early age. Learning by observation is the basic way of acquiring language, for example, and indeed adults also tend to imitate others’ speak, clothing, style and even opinions and ideologies. Given these universal truths, you need to ask, what made the child copy? Is the final product exactly identical to the source or has it been adjusted in some way? Finally, did copying help the child improve his drawing skills and enable him to continue on his own, at a higher level?

Copying has many positive aspects. First, it means the child is aware of his environment. He is curious to learn from older and more experienced children – by studying their behavior he reaches conclusions that are relevant to his future behavior. Second, copying introduces the child to peer society – now he’s just like all the boys (girls): everyone draws spaceships (mermaids) and now he does as well. Copying is often a way of belonging and advancing socially. Clearly, the very act of observing other children’s behavior, regardless of whether it leads to copying, promotes the child as it exposes him to diverse approaches to the same issue and thus sharpens his social perception.

Figure 1-33:Original drawing

Figure 1-34:Copy by a second child displaying unimaginative, stereotypical elements

There are other reasons for copying and imitating, however. Western culture encourages children to develop quickly and be achievers. Children who lag behind will obviously notice this and may copy out of fear of seeming less intelligent. This trend continues and even intensifies during the school years: the fact that all classmates study together and receive grades for the same assignments encourages many children to constantly compare themselves to others, and even copy from them. Observing a variety of drawings by the same child enables experts to identify atypical, “fake” elements. For example, you would find figures or styles that are age appropriate, but rendered in a rigid and stereotypical manner, with no personal touch. By the way, the pressure to perform does not always originate at kindergarten. It is often the parents who insist on teaching the preschooler math and English in order to turn him into a genius that pressure the child, or older siblings whose achievements are a source of envy. In such cases as well, when the atmosphere at home is so demanding, children are liable to copy for the wrong reasons. Remember always that even when children copy from others, their natural human tendency is to leave their own mark, so that the copying child changes the drawing and eventually produces a unique work of art.

7 tips on how to respond to children’s drawing:

•Look at his drawing when you are available for it

•State clearly what you can see in the drawing

•Ask him if he wants to explain his drawing and respect his answer

•Try not to give him remarks on “mistakes” in his drawing

•Avoid overwhelming him with questions so as not to pressure him

•When you give compliments, do it fairly and meaningfully

•Encourage his creativity rather than the final outcome

2 Colors

Introduction

In 1777 the German philosopher Goethe climbed Mount Brocken in the Harz Mountains, where he noticed how the color shades changed on the snow: “Over the yellowish background of the snow, the shadows looked purple… while during sunset, everything around was filled with magnificent magenta and the shadows became beautifully green. Later on, following the sunset, the magical harmony vanished, replaced by a gray starry night”. The sunset which Goethe describes appears in countless other songs, stories, legends and drawings and one cannot remain indifferent to its powerful color combinations.

Colors and Science

Scientifically, colors were studied in terms of wavelength and frequency. It appears that the order of colors in the spectrum matches wave characteristics. For example, the color red which appears at one end of the spectrum has the longest (visible) wavelength and the lowest frequency. Purple, on the other hand, appears at the other end of the spectrum, with the shortest wavelength and highest. These characteristics, discussed in depth later on, affect children’s energy levels, as can be observed in their drawings.

Colors have also been studied from a physiological perspective, and it was found that they have a clear effect on our bodies (Fisher & Zelanski, 2009). Adding the clear physiological relationship between colors and our body to the mind-self relationship explains why children who are exposed to a certain color project it from their inner world to the outside by behaving in a certain manner. It is no coincident that we relax when we look at green mountains or blue oceans, and yet become more aroused when we see red. These insights are used for marketing purposes, but can also be relevant to our effort to understand our children’s world through their drawings.

When you compare children’s drawings to their personality traits, you see a significant relationship between them. Years of research have proven to us that using a certain color or color combination may project on emotional meanings that will be detailed further on. However, what is the reason for the strong influence colors have on our lives and drawings?

Observing nature and our long evolution process may provide the answer to this question. In prehistory, and in fact almost throughout human history, people were busy raising crops, domesticating animals and barter trading. These activities often included spending long hours outside, close to nature. As a result, people have developed various insights regarding nature and the way it operates.

These insights were subsequently used for survival or comfort. Their intensive contact with nature also caused our forefathers to unconsciously internalize the meanings of colors – they understood that green meant growth, new beginnings and abundance, brown meant a solid ground, black meant danger, and blue meant that the rain had stopped and they could resume work, and so on.

Analysis of children’s drawings and the meanings of colors used in them will show striking resemblance to our forefathers’ perception of colors. In other words, current color perception is a product of human cultural evolution. So, similarly to our instinctual perception of snakes as dangerous, we see in yellow (sunlight) as a source of joy.

This idea is reinforced by other phenomena in children’s drawing, which also show a connection between physical and mental aspects of decisions children make while drawing. Two such examples are the stages of development in drawings and the way objects such as houses are drawn in various cultures. In these cases, studies clearly show that children from all over the world follow the same general artistic path, most probably dictated by our inborn perception and collective unconscious.

Colors and Psychology

Colors form a universal language. Psychological theories, like Jung’s, about the meanings of signs, concluded that signs in dreams, stories and drawings are part of our collective unconscious. Accordingly, colors were also shown to have collective meanings. This means that even if a certain color has a specific meaning in a certain culture and different meanings in others, the internal, profoundly symbolic influence on individual choices will nevertheless be homogenous and universal.

The first psychological studies of the emotional meanings of colors were conducted by Goethe. In 1810, he began attributing positive significance to warm colors and negative significance to cold colors. He was followed by artists such as Kandisnsky and psychologists who studied color preferences at kindergarten age, among schoolchildren, among adults and among children hospitalized for cancer.

Colors in the Child’s World

Colors fascinate children ever since they are a few months old. The cerebral cortex is responsible for the complex interpretation of sensory input, enabling children to identify and name certain colors. When babies develop eyesight, they are able to distinguish between dark and light colors and show greater interest in shiny colorful toys. Later on, they will develop the ability to differentiate shapes and patterns.

Colors arouse various feelings among children – for example, some will like red, but others will hate it because it reminds them of medicine. Some colors rouse children to action, others calm them down, and still others will cause disquiet and stress. Similarly, it seems the choice of colors in the child’s bedroom affects his mood and general functioning.

Most children enjoy using colors in their drawings. The exposure to colors develops their sensory mechanisms, so that the sense of sight integrates with the sense of touch, improving the child’s perception and functioning.

However, some children are color blind. These children process colors differently, and find it particularly difficult to distinguish between red and green and between blue and yellow. The problem is usually diagnosed around ages 4–5, after the children have acquired the ability to name colors. In the case of color blind children, no personality conclusions may be drawn based exclusively on the colors in their drawings; other elements and graphic indicators must be used instead.

Figure 2-1:Using color simply to depict reality

The key to diagnosing through colors is to look beyond the drawing. That is, ignore the drawing’s structure and elements such as house or tree, and focus on the dominant color. Nevertheless, you must beware of attributing far-reaching personality or behavioral meanings to the colors without cross-checking additional indicators. For example, the color green in figure 2-1 must not be ascribed emotional meanings because the use of green in this case is natural when drawing the ninja turtle figure.

In addition to the cross-checking of additional indicators in a child’s drawing, another important prerequisite is the amount of drawings analyzed – 25–30 will provide a good basis for a comprehensive analysis. If you observe recurring and dominant use of the same color in many of the child’s drawings, you may reach conclusions about his personality and difficulties based on the meaning of this color.

Furthermore, when you see a dominant color in the child’s drawings check with his parents whether this color was the only color available for drawing at the time. If the child had no other alternative, I don’t recommend reaching any conclusion about his inner world based on the meaning of colors.

This explains the meaning of colors in children’s drawings and their relationship with various personality traits. The choice or overuse of a certain color can help us arrive at conclusions about the child’s life.

In the following review of the various colors used in children’s drawings, I offer various examples of overuse. On the other hand, the two drawings below are examples for balanced color use. When color use is balanced as opposed to imbalanced, the emotional meanings detected through the colors will tend to be positive. Nevertheless, such tendencies alone cannot support emotional conclusions unless backed by other graphic indicators.

Figures 2-2 & 2-3: Examples for balanced use of colors in different ages

Red

This is one of children’s favorite colors. In fact, in most cases, it is the first color which comes to our mind when discussing colors. Because of its dominancy and attractiveness, you may find it in traffic lights and life-saving vehicles, but also in fast food restaurants. As red refers to guilt and sin, you may see examples of it in fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, who paid a heavy price for her “red” curiosity.

In history, red was used as a symbol of courage and bravery; hence it was included, even in ancient Rome, in warfare-related objects. In ancient Egypt, people used to paint their body red to demonstrate their power. In India, red symbolized lust for power and materialism.

In China, red has a positive connotation and is a symbol of luck. Therefore it is used in celebrations and wedding ceremonies, where brides traditionally wear red dresses. In addition, the ceremony in which a newborn is named is called Red Egg.

Red has a stimulating effect on our nervous system and exposure to it increases the breathing rate and blood pressure (Ritberger, 2009). This is why red is associated with aggressiveness and competition.

In nature, it was found that red causes seagull nestlings to excessively search for food. It was also found that among European robins red triggers aggressive behavior.

Red has other meanings in our life, such as the power of life and inner energy, as well as survival. Max Lüscher – Inventor of the Lüscher Color Test – referred to red as symbolic of activity and leadership, as well as life’s pleasures and success motivation. Goethe referred to red as a noble and graceful color, which symbolizes monarchy and sanctity, but when used in an exaggerated proportion might cause anxiety. Kandinsky agreed with him and thought of red as a color which is in constant movement and therefore causes restlessness.

Following its historic and cultural meanings, in children’s drawings red is considered dominant and impressive. It is related to activity and doing. Children who constantly use red are often characterized as dominant and extrovert. These children like to be at the center of social attention. They like competition and challenges and prefer, of course, to be the winners. They are willing to invest great effort and energy to become leaders. Socially, they are direct and willful, so they know how to get what they need, without giving up to other children. Excessive use of red is common among aggressive children.

In the following drawing, it is possible to see excessive use of red. The girl who made this drawing did not try to document reality, but preferred red over other colors.

Note that when observing colors in drawings I recommend focusing on the amounts of color used, in order to differentiate between balanced and exaggerated amounts of color.

Figure 2-4:Excessive use of red

In general, when the color is used in a reasonable and balanced way, you may tentatively conclude that the child’s is balanced with positive “red meanings” such as active, enthusiastic and having a strong desire to be in the social center. However, when the page is swamped with red, my tentative conclusion would be that the child is attempting to compensate for contents and traits he lacked. Warmth will be replaced by aggression, hastiness by disquiet and the desire to be in the center by an existential need to be popular.

In this case, when the child is not at the center of attention, she behaves as if exposed to an existential threat, and reacts with nervousness and temper tantrums. All this may be concluded from her overuse of red. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, you must cross-check the information gleaned through colors with other graphic indicators in the child’s drawings. Some such indicators are pressure, line drawing style, subject, and figure drawing style. These indicators will help you make a comprehensive and quality analysis of the child’s drawings and determine whether the use of specific color is balanced or exaggerated.

Orange

Kandinsky liked the power of orange – the combination of red and yellow represented, in his opinion, balanced emotions and closeness between people, each remaining aware of his own powers. Like red, orange belongs to the warm color family and as such symbolizes energy, enthusiasm and doing. Children attracted to this color tend to be creative and optimistic. They are willing to dare and join new adventures, out of curiosity and a desire to experience independently and achieve their goals. A child who likes to draw with orange does not obey rules easily, but demands explanations for most requests. He often exhausts his parents with long verbal discussions, in which he usually prevails.

Figure 2-5:Excessive use of orange

Nevertheless, the combination of yellow and red which produces orange somewhat moderates the emotional meanings we associate with red. Thus, children who use this color in an exaggerated way will be assertive rather than aggressive, enthusiastic rather than overeager, etc. When orange is used too intensively, it means the child sees pragmatism and creativity as important elements in his existence. Note that as a rule, orange stands for quality and represents ambition, health and also good communication with the environment, even at high doses.

Yellow

Similarly to red, yellow also symbolize caution and thus appears in many warning signs. Yellow is traditionally associated with jaundice and cowardice, as well as with aging, for both people and objects. In ancient Egypt it was used to mark criminals’ and traitors’ doors. In the Middle Ages, yellow costumes were used as the sign of the dead. In India yellow robes are often worn by Hindu swamis and Buddhist monks in their schools and during the spring festival. In Russia, yellow represents romantic breakup. Finally, we all remember Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road.