Linear and U-shape Trends in the Development of Expressive Drawing from Preschoolers to Normative and Artistic adults

This study sought to explain the apparently conflicting age-incremental and U-shaped developmental patterns found for the merit of expressive drawing by examining the role of representational realism drawing ability in the observed age patterns. Thirty children in each of seven age groups from young children to preadolescence (4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11 and 12 years) were randomly sampled. Two further groups (normative and artist) of 14-year-olds and young adults were included to assess expressive drawing shown late in development. Each participant completed three expressive drawings (happy, sad, and angry) and three visual-realism drawing tasks. The expressive drawings were assessed on five measures of expressive merit (overall quality, color, composition, line, and content) developed and scored by two adult artists. The data analyses were performed on those scores (i.e., raw scores) and those scores when statistically adjusted for performance on the realism drawing tasks. The raw expressive drawing scores linearly increased up to preadolescence. Linear trends continued for the artist adolescent and adult samples, but tailed off and declined in curvilinear relationships for the normative counterparts. By contrast, the analyses yielded a U-shaped curve in the merit of expressive drawings when those scores were statistically adjusted by realism drawing performance: young children and adolescent/adult sample showed elevated merit, more notably the later sample when artists were considered. The findings suggest the previously reported age-incremental patterns were influenced by a consideration of realism drawing ability in the assessment, while the U-shape curve de-emphasises representational realism in the content of the drawings.