Urges teachers to resist common adolescent desires to copy or trace figures rather than draw them freehand. Cites evidence supporting the need for drawing instruction in the middle school. (JDH)

An Artists-in-the-Schools program that involved a sculptor and a photographer in teaching fourth and fifth grade students about shadow and light is described. The arts program was interdisciplinary and involved the language arts of writing, reading, speaking, and developing vocabulary. (RM)

The Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, sponsors an annual search for the nation's most talented young artists. The purpose of the search is to identify and support through scholarships senior high students who wish to study at the institute. Winning entries from last year's search are reproduced. (RM)

A subject area with rich potential for integration with art is natural science. Assignments that enable elementary students to focus on a natural phenomenon, understand it in scientific terms, and develop a drawing or painting based upon it are suggested. (RM)

Line drawings depicting expressive qualities that were created by subjects aged from 4 to 20 were examined to trace the development of expressivity. Results document a developmental trend from initial ability to produce abstract expression toward production of more complex multidimensional types of expression and increasing integration of…

Describes a study of writing samples of three-, four-, and five-year-olds enrolled in the University of Virginia's child development center. In addition, the children were asked to draw pictures, write about them, read what they had written, and respond to questions gauging their knowledge of written language. (CT)

The notion of an "innocent eye," a naive direct view of visual reality, has a long history in art education. Faults and difficulties of this direct view are discussed, and new frames of references that have been adopted are examined. (RM)

This study assessed the personal values of a group of 17 kindergarten-age children. Children participated in a classroom discussion of heroes and heroines, then drew a picture of their heroes or heroines. The researcher analyzed each child's artwork and determined the outstanding values represented by the hero or heroine. A parallel was drawn…

This study was done to see if sixth grade students could improve their drawing abilities by looking at lines more abstractly--by drawing a picture viewing the original upside down and comparing it to the same student's drawing done viewing the original right side up. Pairs of works were scored on the basis of line quality, proportion, and likeness…

Two groups of 15 boys (mean age 8 years, mean IQ 100), both presenting difficulties in academic achievement, but one with and one without visuomotor impairments, were assessed to determine whether poor drawing ability was related to perceptual or motor disorders. (Author)

It is felt that drawing progress is best achieved by art specialists working on repeated exposures rather than one-time lessons. This type of classroom research serves as a tool with which art educators can work with curriculum workers and administrators to improve art programs. (Author)

Results argue against the too frequent use of human figure drawings as a single, stable, and accurate measure of intellectual ability. (Authors/CB)

McFee's perception-delineation theory is supported. Major methodological problems of the psychological research presented are in the area of set and the control of specific art materials. Among the conclusions: figure drawing may not be culture fair; a person trained in visual arts should be employed in research using figure drawing tests. (VW)