Patterns of Artistic Development in Children
Comparative Studies of Talent

This 1998 book presents several original studies of artistically talented children and their less talented peers.

Constance Milbrath (Author), Tom Houston (Photographs by)

9780521443135, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 September 1998

440 pages
23.5 x 16 x 3.3 cm, 0.81 kg

Review of the hardback: 'An intriguing theory …' Janine Spencer, The Times Higher Education Supplement

Originally published in 1998, this book traces the development of artistic talent from early childhood to adolescence through a series of studies that look comparatively at development in talented and less talented populations. It presents a model of artistic talent that attributes individual differences to the figurative abilities of talented children. The model proposes that artistic talent results from the continual coordination of heightened figurative abilities with conceptual processes throughout a period critical in semiotic development. The studies focus on the development of form, spatial relationships, and composition. Milbrath's theory is richly supported by original examples of children's artwork.

Part I. The Representation of Form and Space: 1. Perspectives on drawing: deriving a developmental model for artistic talent
2. Samples and methods for the spontaneous drawings studies
3. From line to representation
4. The human figure
5. The evolution of a single viewpoint
6. Putting space together
Part II. Composition: 7. Composing the picture
8. Conducting the composition study: methods and procedures
9. The compositions studies
10. Toward a model of artistic development
Bibliography
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]