6 Drawing Development Stages
Observing the child as he moves through the stages of drawing development is critical as it often determines the entire opinion formed by the practitioner. Stages of development are usually referred to when the child is expected to draw in an age-appropriate way. This is important of course, but for me this is not the most important application of developmental insights.
When I assess drawings in terms of developmental sequence, my main concern is to match the given drawing against the child's own developmental sequence. In other words, when a child diverges from his individual developmental sequence, this concerns me more than when he develops more slowly than other children.
Such divergence could be manifested, for example, in sudden regression to an earlier developmental phase, as indicated by comparing a recent drawing with earlier examples. Such regression may be a clear indicator of fear or distress.
When you observe a child's drawings over a prolonged period, you can detect trends of change and development. For many years, children's drawings were evaluated in terms of matching normative standards, but studies conducted over the past five decades showed us that drawings express the children's inner worlds, and not only their technical ability. They provide significant information that helps parents make various decisions about their educational approach and improve family relations, the child's social relations, and more.
I do not recommend judging your child's creative work in rigid terms of matching norms. When I evaluate a child's drawings, I tend to compare them less to his friends' drawings, and more to his own. Therefore, I must qualify the age ranges appearing below in the title of each developmental stage.
For example, a four year-old may still scribble while his friends have already begun drawing human figures, but this does not necessarily indicate a developmental del ay. In addition, the development process and the transitions between stages are different for different children, such that we can find drawings of children who have skipped one of the stages or regressed to earlier stages, only to move on from there.
Stage 1: Spontaneous Scribbling – Ages 1½ - 2½
To the untrained eye, this stage would appear to be a never-ending string of meaningless doodles. Nevertheless, even non-practitioners can clearly see how children have unique scribbling styles. At this stage, children attach great importance to the sensorimotor aspect of the drawing act – they enjoy the sensation of moving the drawing tool over the page. Lines start and end at random, and when geometric forms appear, they are usually inconsistent and Disorderly.
In 22 month-old Theresa's drawing, we can see lines spilling over the page, lines with various lengths and directions without any regularity or personal preference. According to Freud, in terms of their psychological development children at these ages are in the oral stage, and indeed they tend to taste the paints or crayons as an integral part of the creative process. Only once a child feels that he has acquired the motor skill developed at this stage and we can see initial indications of brain-eye-hand coordination, will he move on to the next stage.
Stage 2: Structured Scribbling – Ages 2½ - 3½
At this stage, the child starts planning the drawing before executing it. The child would often fill entire pages with repetitive attempts to draw the same form. By this point, you can see children assessing their work while it is still in progress, or even reflecting on it before starting. Hazel (31 months) drew short and intermittent lines, and while doing so said, "This is a barking dog, woof-woof".
Once they can draw circles, children begin to draw human figures (called "tadpoles"). To do so, they use the lines acquired in the previous stage to represent limbs.
Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget defined that period as the beginning of the preoperational stage, when children solve problems by trial and error. Indeed, during the structured scribbling stage, children tend to use objects around them and their drawings as inner representations of their experiences, using anthropomorphic thinking (animating inanimate objects).
Stage 3: Pre-Schematic Stage – Ages 3½ - 4½
At this stage, the child begins to methodically plan the artwork, and tends to give it a name at the end of the process. Drawings begin to include objects familiar to adults, such as flowers, trees or cars, but the child still does not attach any importance to the relations between the various objects in the drawing. Consequently, the overall impression may appear to lack any sense, but as far as the child is concerned the drawing is satisfactory as it accurately depicts the characteristics and functions of the individual objects. For example, Ethan (45 months) drew this three-wheeled car, from a perspective that would seem unreasonable in reality.
This stage is followed by the schematic stage, in which the child begins to adopt realistic choices in his drawings, also in terms of color selection, and attempts to draw objects of various sizes and locations on the page. This stage is followed by the pre-realistic and realistic stages during adolescence, characterized by light-and-shadow games, depictions of complex situations, perspectives and caricatures. Since children at these ages are not required to go on drawing on a daily basis (as opposed to writing), many adolescents give up drawing altogether and do not progress further than a level typical at 13 year-olds even as adults.
Stage 4: Schematic Stage – Ages 5-8
By this stage, the child begins to be aware of the logic behind laws and rules of conduct, develops his own rituals, and judges the world according to his inner feelings. He also begins to treat the world of colors more realistically (brown earth, blue sky, etc.).
The child already knows the drawing scheme by now. He doesn't have to observe a tree to be able to draw it. However, through drawing he reprocesses his impressions of reality, so that his documentation skill improves each time.
Freud identifies these ages with the onset of the latency period, in which children show greater interest in their peers and other people around them.
Consequently, human figures assume a central role in their artwork. Technically, children are now able to add more organs to the basic human form, as well as articles of clothing. The figure becomes more elongated, and children begin attending to differential proportions within it: elongated legs, belly, outstretched arms, and so on.
Drawings by 5-8 year-olds focus increasingly on the family and begin to show tendencies of accuracy to the point of perfectionism (reflecting the conflict between industry and inferiority).
In the drawings, you can see the objects are rendered complete with their identifying characteristics, as part of the adult conceptual world: a simple square becomes a window; a straight line with circles on top becomes a flower, and so on. Piaget also characterizes perception at these ages as polarized between good and evil, with inflexible and one-dimensional approach to rules. Indeed, in their drawings, children at the schematic stage begin focusing on evil characters (monsters and witches) and good characters (knights and princesses).
Cognitive development enables the schematic children to abstract and separate the wheat from the chaff:
The child will often neglect many details (although he may be fully aware of their existence) and emphasize only those perceived to be critical to functioning: legs that walk, arms that reach out, a mouth that talks or expresses some emotion, and so on.
Consequently, human figures assume a central role in their artwork. Technically, children are now able to add more organs to the basic human form, as well as articles of clothing. The figure becomes more elongated, and children begin attending to differential proportions within it: elongated legs, belly, outstretched arms, and so on.
Drawings by 5-8 year-olds focus increasingly on the family and begin to show tendencies of accuracy to the point of perfectionism (reflecting the conflict between industry and inferiority).
In the drawings, you can see the objects are rendered complete with their identifying characteristics, as part of the adult conceptual world: a simple square becomes a window; a straight line with circles on top becomes a flower, and so on. Piaget also characterizes perception at these ages as polarized between good and evil, with inflexible and one-dimensional approach to rules. Indeed, in their drawings, children at the schematic stage begin focusing on evil characters (monsters and witches) and good characters (knights and princesses).
Cognitive development enables the schematic children to abstract and separate the wheat from the chaff:
The child will often neglect many details (although he may be fully aware of their existence) and emphasize only those perceived to be critical to functioning: legs that walk, arms that reach out, a mouth that talks or expresses some emotion, and so on.
This emphasis can make the drawing seem surreal, as in the following drawing by a 5 years and 2 months-old girl. For this girl, the most important thing is to draw the figures holding balloons or each other's hands. Therefore, she allowed herself to ignore their legs (which is not typical of her other drawings).
Another example is children who draw a human figure on one side of the page, and the figure's behind on the other, "because it is behind".
Drawings at this stage are concise: the children focus on the common denominators of all houses/trees/flowers, rather than on the characteristics which differentiate them. Only after formulating general schemes can these children document the exceptions to the rule.
Schematic children begin to attach importance to the relations among the various objects in their drawing. In the following drawing by a 5½ year-old, for instance, you can see a child, a dog and a line (leash) connecting them. The schematic children's spatial perception also improves, and they often begin the drawing by marking the ground and the sky at the lower and upper edges of the page.
Moreover, this period is also characterized by drawing multiple land lines (for example, one at the bottom of the page to designate nearby objects, and another nearer the top to designate distant object) or rounded baselines (to indicate sitting around the table, for example). Usually, the child will refer to the bottom of the page as a baseline, and not turn the page while drawing.
In terms of perspective, objects will be drawn in their complete form, and it is rare to see objects hidden by others.
Multiple land lines are a fascinating phenomenon in drawings by Tibetan children. Despite being in the midst of the schematic stage, well aware of the locations and colors of earth and sky, these children choose to revert to drawing row after row over imaginary land Lines.
This style may be affected by the Tibetan prayer wheels, set in a row one next to the other, which represent balance and recurrence which are part of their religious worldview.
At this stage, children still find it difficult to draw figures in profile or in motion, because doing so requires them to ignore schematic characteristics and omit some of the organs (such as a hidden eye, or an arm that is only partly visible while the figure is walking). Instead, they draw "everything that has to be there" by making some organs transparent. Use of colors is also schematic, as children tend to use basic colors rather than shades and combinations. Finally, schematic children attach central importance to the drawing's subject, and can even engage in a deep conversation about its meanings and the story hidden in the drawing.
Stage 5: Pre-Realistic Stage – Ages 8-11
Pre-realistic children acquire motor skills which enable them to refine their depiction of reality and differentiate objects more accurately.
Thus, we see attention to various types of cars or trees, local animals, etc. By this stage, each human figure receives individual attention, with its own typical details and accessories: glasses, buttons, bag, hat, and so on.
In each human figure drawing, the pre-realistic child tries to resolve graphic difficulties such as: How to draw a person lying down? Should I draw all the table legs or only those visible from this angle? How to draw the house interior and exterior at the same time? In most cases, the difficulty is resolved by flattening the image: for example, houses will be drawn as seen from above. As abstract cognition develops, this flattening tendency will disappear.
Since the pre-realistic child wishes above all to document reality, he is careful to maintain the proportions among the various objects in the drawing.
His subjects combine figures from his intimate world (family drawings) with imaginary and historical drawings (Bible stories), as well as current affairs (war scenes, etc.).
In terms of psychological development, Piaget calls this period the operational stage, in which the child can grasp concepts of preservation (of quantity and weight) and to organize items in groups according to common denominators. Problem solving no longer relies exclusively on trial and error, but also on social rules of conduct, as well as the opinions and emotions of others. The child's understanding of reversibility (every change in location, form, or order may be reversed) and of hierarchic relations refines his family drawings, to which other groups are added, such as sports teams. Moreover, the child begins to attach several drawings together to represent a continuous plot.
The pre-realistic drawing represents an overall improvement in quality: the child refines his composition and landscaping skills. He draws the same subject repeatedly with improving skills, particularly in terms of his ability to render graphic elements that are unique to specific human figures.
At this stage, children begin to view their drawings as an expression of their self-efficacy. This is why they tend to compare their drawing abilities at these ages.
Stage 6: Realistic Stage – Ages 11-14
At the realistic stage, the child/adolescent is fully aware of his environment and has advanced graphic abilities that enable him to start dealing with depictive difficulties by refining his technical skills, such as games of light and shadow, three dimensions, complex scenarios, shades of color, perspectives, Etc.
The subjects become more realistic and less fantastic. The realistic preadolescent
attaches greater importance to proportions among the various elements, to the point of depicting different shades of color to emphasize their relative locations.
As opposed to drawings made in earlier ages, by this point the child will deemphasize his own image and assume the reference point of an observer.
According to Erikson, the most significant social group at this age is the peer group, which also explains why (unless otherwise directed) realistic children will tend to draw peer groups rather than families.
The drawings typically depict complex situations, including copies of diagrams, illustrations and cartoon figures. We see more faces in profile and detached organs (eyes, mouths). The interest in the human body which is typical of these ages will also be seen in the drawings, with methodical attempts to produce accurate anatomic sketches.
Nevertheless, the young realistic artist is often dissatisfied with the final result, seen as a distorted, inaccurate rendering of the landscape, building or human figures. Since there is no clear educational requirement to continue drawing on a daily basis (unlike other skills, such as writing), many children stop drawing at this age and remain at this level as adults, with bad memories from their difficult and exhausting drawing lessons at school .