The Child Mind in Evolution. a Study of Developmental Sequences in Drawing 9780231892483

Citation preview

THE CHILD MIND IN EVOLUTION A STUDY DEVELOPMENTAL

OF

SEQUENCES

IN

DRAWING

With Many Illustrations

GERTRUDE HILDRETH, Ph.D. Teachers College, Columbia University

£0? KING S CROWN PRESS M O R N I N G S I D E WEIGHTS

1941

•

NEW YORK

Copyright, 1941, by GERTRUDE PRINTED

HILDRETH

IN T H E U N I T E D S T A T E S O F

AMERICA

Z13-staff, Swift-500

King's

Crown

Press

is a division

of Columbia

Press organized for the purpose of making certain material

available

pub 1ishers

at minimum

have adopted

every

cost. Toward reasonable

University scholarly

that end, the economy

except

such as would interfere with a legible format. The work is presented substantially as submitted by the author, without the usual editorial and typographical at tent ion of Columbia University Press.

PREFACE S o m e children

from a very early age develop a talent

for drawing that prevails over all other interests. Such children unwittingly expose their minds to public view and in so doing make a large contribution to our knowledge of child development. This monograph describes one child's evolution in mental development as revealed in his drawings. The study throws new light on the developmental sequences in children's drawings from nursery years to adolescence and affords an opportunity to study mental growth in minute detail. The findings reaffirm what had earlier been discovered and certain original facts have been disclosed for which no precedent is found in earlier research studies. The painstaking work of the many previous research workers in this field has stimulated my thinking at every point. The report consists of three parts: first, a description of the child and his background, the conditions under which the drawings were made; second, a detailed study of the con tent and characteristics

of the drawings;

third, a

psychological interpretation of the findings. Reproductions of the drawings selected

for analysis are found in the

appendix. I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Social Science Research Council for a generous grant-in-aid which made possible the necessary research work. The little boy who did all the drawings for no utilitarian purpose, with no ulterior motive in view; who worked as the true artist does to satisfy his own needs for self-expression, yet who through his spontaneous labors has so clearly demonstrated fundamental principles of child development, merits my deep appreciation. His parents gave invaluable aid at every stage in the study. Gertrude Hildreth New York, June, 1941

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface Chapter

I

The C h i l d ' s Drawing as Graphic Language

1

Chapter

II

The C h i l d ' s E a r l y E x p e r i e n c e s i n Drawing

11

Chapter

III

D e s c r i p t i o n o f the Drawings by Age L e v e l s

28

Chapter

Chapter

IV C h a r a c t e r i s t i c

Features

Drawings:

Schematic

parencies,

Perspective

of

the

Drawing,

Train Trans62

V C h a r a c t e r i s t i c F e a t u r e s : Writing «id Numbering,

Developmental Trends i n

Detail

o f Cab and P i l o t Chapter

VI

Characteristic

83 Features:

The

Driving

Mechanism, Wheels, Cars Chapter

VII

C h a r a c t e r i s t i c F e a t u r e s : P i c t u r e Composition,

Rhythm, Humor, Movement,

Narration Chapter V I I I

100

Psychological Interpretation

Graphic 119 140

Summary

157

Bibliography

Igl

The Drawings

Ig5

I THE C H I L E ' S DRAWING AS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE C h i l d r e n use drawing p r i m a r i l y as e r a p h i c language, means f o r i n t e r p r e t i n g ideas in o b j e c t i v e

their

as a

thoughts and p r o j e c t i n g

their

form. P s y c h o l o g i s t s have o b s e r v e d

that

c h i l d r e n have a " d r a w i n g " handwriting long b e f o r e they have l e a r n e d conventional w r i t i n g . ception.

Contrary t o the popular

drawing f o r the c h i l d i s not a r t

cated sense;

it

in the

con-

sophisti-

i s not intended to have a e s t h e t i c

qualities;

the c h i l d does not draw from models; he does not s e t out create

something a r t i s t i c

d r a w i n g he i s e x p r e s s i n g need

for self-expression.

than words. It

is

when he draws. his

through

thoughts and s a t i s f y i n g

He d e s c r i b e s i n p i c t u r e s

Drawing m i r r o r s

a key to mental

Instead,

the c h i l d mind in

f u n c t i o n i n g in

rather

operation.

thought-extension,

the spontaneous drawings made by c h i l d r e n during the ing,

t h e i r mental processes in thinking,

t h e i r creative imagination.

To o b s e r v e c h i l d r e n

h i s mental p r o c e s s e s ,

tual

and

aptitudes Although

a r t i s t s when they draw, tive

art

the

h i s concep-

interests.

C h i l d r e n draw i m a g i n a t i v e l y realistically.

while effort

t o our u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f

individual's personality, thinking,

early

and reason-

they draw and to study the products of t h e i r c r e a t i v e i n drawing c o n t r i b u t e s v a s t l y

his

childhood.

Since drawing f o r the c h i l d i s c h i e f l y years reveal

to

or

children

f a n c i f u l l y rather

than

are not performing

as

t h e i r work i s c l o s e l y akin to p r i m i -

and r e p r e s e n t s

a rudimentary s t a g e i n

pictorial

design. Drawing a f f o r d s an e s p e c i a l l y a p p r o p r i a t e means f o r underthought

be-

cause the c h i l d i s o r d i n a r i l y c a r e f r e e w h i l e he draws.

standing

the c h i l d mind and s t u d y i n g c h i l d i s h

The

r e s t r a i n t s and p r e s c r i p t i o n s

that l i m i t or i n h i b i t h i s be-

2 havior at other times are absent. In drawing the child does not feel cramped or restricted. He can accomplish anything he wishes; nothing is too difficult; nothing must be feared or avoided. Drawing becomes an outlet for his imagination, an emotional release, a highly pleasurable experience. The child can adapt the drawing activity to his developmental needs. When he is ecruipped with drawing materials he virtually has the world at his command. The childish drawing is often free from conventionalized instruction. No one bothers a child very much when he draws; no one is much concerned what he shall draw or how he shall draw. This is a fortunate circumstance

for the student of child development,

who

wishes to observe the natural growth processes in development. Another advantage is that drawing is an activity begun by most children fairly early and long continued. The drawings themselves are objective records of the child's thought processes. Children's spontaneous drawings have perennial interest for the child psychologist. Around 1900 the modern child study movement had its inception and as a result, closer scientific study of child behavior and development W8S made. Incidentally, psychologists discovered in child drawing an important key to child behavior and childish thought. Drawings made by children in all cultures, of various races, at all age levels, using all the effective drawing media and drawing a vast number of subjects have been reported by child study experts. Each reputable study has made some new contribution to our understanding of childish ingenuity in drawing. References to a few of these studies will be found in the appendix. A complete historical summary of research in this field will be found in Graewe (10). STUDYING CHILD DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EARLY DRAWINGS What a happy chance children's drawings afford us to study child development, the evolutionary processes in mental

3 growth from infancy to adulthood, the opportunity to examine and re-formulate laws of mental maturation. The dynamic principles can best be understood when children's drawings in progressive serial order over several age levels are subjected to intensive study. Both Luquet (14) and Eng ( 7 ) have called attention to the need for more detailed studies of the drawings made by a single child from day to day over successive age levels. These individual series afford more insight into sequential growth, stages and trends, the evolutionary development in childish thought as reflected in drawing than cross-section studies of drawings made by large numbers of children at any given age level, or an occasional sampling of the drawings made by one child. Random

sam-

plings show what children like to draw, and give us " average " developmental trends for age groups, but they reveal little about the individual child undergoing metamorphosis in mental growth processes from day to day. When the drawings made by individual children during a consecutive time span are studied serially in genetic sequence, the dynamics of growth in drawing, the developmental processes in thinking and learning portray the child mind in evolution. Only through the intensive study of drawings made by individual children in serial order is it possible to derive authentically the facts and principles of child psychology in drawing. The most creative recent trend ui child psychology

centers in the long-span,

cumulative

studies of individual cases in contrast to mass

research

with concentration on median trends which cancel out the individual. No matter who the child may be, any objective data that describe his mental growth cumulatively have value for the child psychologist. Most juvenile drawing studies have reported only the various subjects children draw at diverse ages or have attempted to show developmental trends by summarizing the percentages of children who draw certain subjects at various ages. Some

h cross-section analysis has been attempted to describe the developmental stages the typical child reaches in drawing various objects, such as a " m a n " or " house, " at a certain age; but these analyses are based on averages computed from drawing tendencies that groups of children similar in age show. Although the method is helpful in establishing age norms for drawing, the true individual growth pattern cannot be determined in that way. Furthermore, in " massed" data, individual differences are not considered. Mass studies are more frequently made than cumulative individual studies because it is easier to obtain many drawings from cross-section age groups than to collect a single child's drawings over the early growth period. Drawings of children under school age are seldom preserved in sequence, yet these are always superior to collections made solely during school years, since the latter may be highly influenced by training. INDIVIDUAL DRAWING SERIES Several studies, notably those of Luouet (14) and Eng (7) have come nearer than any others to portraying the child's development in drawing through analyzing all the drawings made by individual children during the childhood years. Luquet preserved and analyzed nearly 1700 drawings made by his little daughter, Simonne, from her earliest drawing up to the age of eight years, eight months. The published account of the study shows over 600 drawings. Miss Eng studied the day-by-day drawings made by her little niece from the first stroke until she had reached the age of eight. Many of these drawings are reproduced in the published

study.

Luquet made brilliant deductions from his series concerning the evolutionary processes his child underwent in mental growth during these early years. At some points, however, his evidence was fragmentary because the child made comparatively few drawings of any given object. Furthermore, the

5 child seemed later to have been subject to considerable adult instruction, hence the results have less significance for understanding the natural growth process. With Miss Eng's niece the situation appears to have been similar. Judging from the report, the child made even fewer drawings of any one subject than Simonne and she, too, appears to have been subject to conventional instruction especially during the first school years. The ideal drawing series for the student of child psychology would be characterized somewhat as follows: 1. A series for a single child that begins not later than the third year. If it begins later the initial rudimentary stages in drawing will be lost. 2. A " follow through" in the series to the age of ten or longer. 3. Frequent enough samples to reveal the consecutive growth trends. All the day-by-day drawings should be preserved, with dates, rather than sporadic irregular sampling of the drawings. 4. Frequent enough drawings of a single subject, for example, a man, a house, a flower, a car, so that the variables introduced when the object that is drawn varies can be controlled. 5- An appraisal of each drawing as a whole, so that the allover changes in development can be observed. 6. A series comparatively uninfluenced by instruction from parents and older siblings at home, or from teachers in conventional school situations. The earlier studies from which attempts to generalize the principles of child development were made have been partial to the extent that these criteria were not met. THE TRAIN DRAWING SERIES It was my good fortune several years ago to gain access to a complete series of drawings made by one child between the

6 ages of two and eleven years. The series meets all

the

fundamental criteria listed above. The little boy, Charles, who made the drawings became engrossed in drawing during his early years. Fortunatsly his mother preserved a great many of the drawings and generously placed them at my disposal. I first became acquainted with Charles when he entered school at the age of six, and first learned about the drawing collection when he was eight years old. We find in Charles' drawing series a unique combination of favorable circumstances. He began to draw very early; he made a great many drawings from day to day; he was wholly absorbed in the activity; he was entirely untutored in drawing; even his school experience contributed to free expression rather than formalization in drawing since it was free from restraint or formal instruction. Very early he became a " specialist" in drawing. Although throughout the series the boy drew a wide variety of subjects, he concentrated chiefly on locomotives and railroad trains. The number of such drawings he made was astounding.

(See Chapter II,

page 22.) Other children tend to specialize as Charles did, boys apparently more frequently than girls. Some children draw chiefly horses, others, men or cars. One boy is reported to have concentrated on step ladders, particularly step ladders up the sides of locomotives and freight cars. Few children however, draw as steadily as Charles did from day to day, are so consistent in output from year to year, or concentrate so closely on one motive. Even when other factors are favorable premature instruction with adult logic distorts the drawings and " spoils" the results for the investigator. Fortunately, no such unfavorable circumstances prevailed in Charles' case. CHILDISH INTEREST IN THE TRAIN THEME Pailroad trains fire the imagination of children and adults alike. The onrushing locomotive has an unparalleled

7 fascination

for y o u n g a n d o l d .

an activity most not

later

outgrown.

train out

of

emotional

apoeal

speeds

recall

The

urge

sight never w h e n it

is

referred

speed

in

" carriages." The

pending

the w h e e l s c a n b e

on

the

child's

sound and movement childish mystery

experiences

annealing.

To

w i t h superhuman traits.

puffs That

as it

along

with

screech

The engine

is a d e e p m y s t e r y

of

the

effect

Trains the

" the

whistle,the

fascinating The

combined few o t h e r

spell a d v e n t u r e

is a m o n s t e r

and

is

par-

crashing

down

monster

virile, dominating

What

calculated

de-

that

T h e c h i l d i n v e s t s the

cargo.

great

tremendous

" w r e c k " theme

by w i t h brightly

a heavy

as

experience.

It is alive,

flashes

it

memories

poignant.

f r i g h t e n i n g or

them

the

genuine

these

p u l l i n g p e o p l e at

and

a

friends whom

to a c h i l d

to the e n g i n e

can equal.

the track w i t h g i g a n t i c p o w e r .

landscaoe

to o u r

interest

to w a v e

train makes

gives a heightened

to y o u n g s t e r s .

ticularly

age

an

of u s h a v e

The

linked

again;

iron horse, " a gigantic beast

t h u n d e r of

many

are p a r t i c u l a r l y

grandmothers

t r a i n s go b y " is

from c h i l d h o o d ,

wanes.

awny or back home

and impressions Our

of us

" Watching

lighted

cars,

the or

is i n

the b o x

cars?

to a r o u s e

endless

curi-

osi tv. In c l a s s i c a l

literature

i n g t r a i n at e v e n i n g

a d r a m a t i c a c c o u n t of an o n - r u s h -

is g i v e n b y G e r h a r t

Kauptmann:

The s i g n a l m a n s t a n d s m o t i o n l e s s a t t h e r a i l w a y g a t e . At l e n g t h h e t a k e s a s t e p f o r w a r d . / d a r k s p o t on t h e h o r i z o n where t h e t r a c k ext e n d s b e g i n s t o e n l a r g e , / s i t e x p a n d s i t a p p e a r s t o s t a n d s t i l l mom e n t a r i l y . S u d d e n l y i t p o s s e s s e s motion and r u s h e s n e a r e r . Through t h e r a i l s goes a t r e m b l i n g v i b r a t i o n , a humming sound, a r h y t h m i c a l c l a n k i n g and p o u n d i n g . The u p r o a r which grows l o u d e r and l o u d e r i s n o t unl i k e t h e h o o f b e a t s of an a p p r o a c h i n g c a v a l r y s q u a d r o n , fi j e r k y g a s p i n g OTd s n o r t i n g comes t h r o u g h t h e a i r . The s t i l l n e s s i s s u d d e n l y d i s m p t e d . A b l u s t e r i n g , a r u s h i n g and r o a r i n g , a s t o r m i n g and r a g i n g f i l l s a l l s p a c e ; t h e t r a c k s seem t o bend, t h e e a r t h s h a k e s ; a s t r o n g a t m o s p h e r i c p r e s s u r e i s f e l t . In a c l o u d of d u s t , smoke and steam t h e p a n t i n g m o n s t e r h a s gone by and a s i t grew, {he commotion d i e s . The

8 vapor t r a i l s behind. Shrunken to a p o i n t , t h e t r a i n d i s a p p e a r s in t h « d i s t a n c e and s i l e n c e again r e i g n s over the f o r e s t . *

Apparently no comprehensive research study has been made of the interest children show in trains and the way in which this interest is displayed. We know from informal observation the universal fascination toy trains have for children, interest in watching trains, in playing train and looking at train pictures. In school, the transportation theme is always appropriate and is thoroughly enjoyed by children of all ages. The contrast between modern streamliners

and

trains of other days is a favorite topic. For an earlier generation there were few other vehicles to compete with the train in interest. Today's child tends to divide his affection among trains, nlsnes, cars and busses. Tt is natu r al to expect that the particular locale in which the child resides will influence his interest in vehicles. Children who live by the sea coast may draw more boats; those far from a railroad more cars or busses; the child who lives within sight and sound of busy railroad tracks may reflect this interest in his plays and games. THE DRAWING PROCESS IN CHILDHOOD

To draw means to make marks on a drawing surface, (for children usually paper or blackboard) which, except in the case of infants who scribble for the fun of the activity, usually

represent

some idea the draftsman has in mind.

Through drawing the child expresses his stored up images, whether these are simple or complex, new or old, pretty or ugly. Most of these images are of favorite objects, dy, " " car, " " pretty

flowers, " " dining

"dad-

room, " " our

h o u s e " and the like. The drawing may be of something the child saw or experienced yet could not take home with him, 1. Hauptmann, Gerhart. Bahnwarter Thiel. Berlin: Fischer. 1887.

9 for example, a rocking horse at a friend's house. He still possesses the object in his mind's eye and it is a simple process to make the impression more vivid by putting the image on paper. Furthermore, when the object is secured on paper it can be shown to others who could not see or enjoy the original, and the joy of sharing the experience brings an added pleasure. In drawing, the child has had to reduce his memory impressions of the object which was ordinarily seen in three dimensions to a two dimensional drawing surface. The problem offers few obstacles to the young child. His full satisfaction with his achievement despite its obvious crudity, stiffness, or immaturity is proof that the child has accomplished the task in the most appropriate way for him. How he accomplishes the task will be the subject of subsequent chapters. The child's cumulative drawing series may be considered as arranged in a time scale, the low end of the scale, the starting point, being represented by the rough circle which all children tend to make when they first begin to draw. The terminal point in realistic drawing at the upper end of the curve would be represented by photographic perfection in drawing objects,--a house, a train, a procession, people, trees, and the like as they normally appear. What happens in between is the thing the psychologist is most curious to discover. How completely are mental processes revealed in drawing; in what manner and what is their nature? STUDY OF THE TRAIN DRAWING SERIES In describing the drawings Charles made and in analyzing the results, we shall consider first, the child who made the drawing, his background and incentives for drawing, the conditions under which the drawings were made, the child's interests and activities apart from drawing, a record of the

10 frequency w i t h w h i c h the various d r a w i n g s were made,

his

early writing tendencies in connection with drawing, a brief description of the distinctive features in each drawing selected for study, developmental stages in the drawings and differential features at each age level. In subsequent chapters will be found analyses of various features of the drawings as follows: Chapter IV.

Schematic, non-photographic representation in

the drawing, the tendency to draw transparently, attempts to represent three dimensions in the drawings, drawing in perspective, orientation, proportion. Chapter V.

Writing and numbering in the train drawings,

developmental

trends in the locomotive cab and the pilot.

Chapter VI.

The driving mechanism, wheels, cars. Repre-

sentation

of p e o p l e ,

Chapter VII.

animals

and i m a g i n a r y

creatures.

Picture composition, creative ideas, rhythm,

humor in the drawings, movement and action, graphic narration. C o m p a r i s o n of the train drawings with those made by other children. In the eighth chapter a psychological

interpretation of

the drawings is made. The actual drawings on which the study is based will be found in the appendix. A short b i b l i o g r a p h y of

previous

studies is appended. I have not attempted to draw any analogy b e t w e e n

these

drawings and primitive art or art in anthropology. This has been done particularly well by Eng (7) and to some extent by Luquet (14, 15). Several new aspects of child development in drawing have been discovered that were not reported in previous studies. In many other instances it has been possible to confirm previous findings and to present more conclusive proof of their validity.

II THE CHILD'S EARLY EXPERIENCES Par par

le sérieux

IN

avec lequel il s'applique

les facultés qu'il y met en oeuvre,

DRAWING à ses

l'enfant

l'on peut dire, son organisme psychique.--G.-H.

dessins, forge, si

Luquet, 1913

Children's drawings and the mental'processes they reflect cannot be fully understood by studying the end-products, the completed drawings, alone. On the contrary, as the psychologist Stern (23) suggested, the child must be observed creating and recreating dynamically, actually at work with his pencils and paper. Nothing short of a moving picture would be wholly adequate for the purpose, but since that is lacking, a verbal description of the child deep in his absorbing task must suffice. Such a report has been furnished for us by Charles' mother who kept notes and stored up many vivid recollections of her son's drawing activity. As early as his mother could recall, Charles, whose birthdate was August

14, 1927, showed an interest

in trains.

Most children'en joy trains at some time or other, but in Charles' case the interest developed earlier, was more intense and longer sustained. His mother reports: There were two railroad lines not far from our house. When Charles was six months old his favorite ride in his carriage was along

"Railroad

Avenue. " I can d e f i n i t e l y

recall

instances, when I started our walk in another direction, of his protesting so much that it was far simpler to stand with the carriage along the railroad tracks watching

the men

" d r i l l " the locomotives than to continue on our way with an enraged baby in his carriage. At seven months of age he rode in the front seat with his father on the drive to and from the commuting train, watching everything with intense interest, the puffing locome-

12 tives, the long lines of freight cars, the hurrying express trains. The drive to the station in the evening afforded the double pleasure of greeting both his father and the train. For a few months he was driven twice daily to the commuters' train on which his father traveled. Later he went only in the evening. As he grew older and could use his kiddie car, he made trips to the tracks, alone. He seemed to know the exact time the trains were due. The tracks were fenced in, so that there was no danger involved in his going alone; besides, he could be watched from the front yard. He had always been dependable and very independent. Later, on a velocipede, he would play train. He mapped out routes on the sidewalk and rode his " expresses" and " locals, " making regular stops at his stations.

If pe-

destrians came along they would have to step to one side for Charles would not leave his tracks until he reached his train's destination. He always considered that he had the right of way. When anyone remonstrated with him he would say, " I just have to complete my run to Jersey City! " , or something similar relating to his make-believe railroading. The mother recalls that the boy's favorite toys were mechanical and electric trains. If he needed an accessory to complete his train system such as signals, gates, stations, bridges, he would make the necessary part out of cardboard, paper, paste, paper fasteners, paints, colors and so forth, putting in lights for illumination when he was older. Later he memorized numbers on engines and cars coming through town on scheduled time each day. Once in a while when he saw an engine with a different number he was much annoyed. If his mother was with him and they saw a train approaching, he would say, " Now the number of the engine is thus-and-so and there will be so many cars. " Sometimes he would give the numbers on the cars, too. He was usually correct in his prediction. When he went by train to Jersey

13 City, at the terminal he would look

for the numbers that

came through his town. His mother always had to allow ten or fifteen minutes for this sort of thing and it was always a great treat for him. He continued to show great curiosity about trains and his interest has continued to the present (age thirteen). At age ten his tracks were in the road and his bicycle was the train. The great enthusiasm he displayed while riding his bicycle in imitation of a train while he was completely oblivibus of anything else made him conspicuous in the neighborhood. As he grew older his parents tried to divert his attention

to other

interest without much

At age twelve and after he continued

success.

to work with his

miniature electric railroad, adding to his electrical equipment, working out arrangements

for the lighting and con-

trols, making new accessory parts. At age eleven and twelve this interest was shared by a schoolmate, a Swedish boy, who also maintained a miniature railroad and who on returning to his native land in the spring of 1940 expressed the wish in a farewell note that they would both keep up their interest in trains. Charles'

interest

in science and mechanics

reflects

special capacities such as few children of his age possess. He has never cared so much for reading as other children with equally gifted intellect. The boy has been given the Stanford Revision of the Binet tests several times. The average of three individual tests gives Charles a high mental rating, an intelligence quotient above 130.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED THE DRAWING AND STIMULATED INTEREST Judging from the mother's account of the child's early development, the iirmediate environment furnished rich stimulation for drawing trains, but other sources supplied motivation as well. At two and a half years he enjoyed a book

1U containing a train story, " T h e Little Switch Engine. " This was his favorite story in the collection. He asked for it over and over, enjoying especially the phrase his mother read, "Toot, toot, here we go, " which he shouted with gusto again and again. Apparently he derived much information

from the Lionel

train catalog he received with his first big electric train for Christmas when he was three years old. From this time on he continually pored over train picture books and catalogs, assiduously studying the mechanical details. At an early age he developed an interest in mechanics, wanted to know "What mades the wheels go 'round. " T h i s was no idle curiosity. He pestered his father to take him to the railroad siding to examine engines and cars, asking innumerable questions. His father complied with these requests, explained the mechanical operation of trains and answered all questions. The boy readily grasped his father's explanations about mechanical things,

inventions,

electricity, radio and the like. During all these early years trains undoubtedly made more impression on his mind and attracted his attention more strongly than anything else in his environment. A specialized interest was clearly shown. He collected pictures of trains continuously from the time he first showed interest. When he was three and a half he made a picture book of train pictures having fourteen pages in all. At the age of two and three Charles occasionally asked his mother to draw a train, possibly three or four times during these early years; but he usually paid little attention to these drawings or showed dissatisfaction with them. At

the age of

five he entered k i n d e r g a r t e n , but

his

tendency was to stand looking on rather disdainfully as the other children played. He did not seem to be able to understand or to participate in their play. After several months he contracted measles which kept him at home

for some

15 time, and finally with the threat of contagion from other children's diseases, he remained at home for the rest of the year. He always maintained an aloof old-mannish attitude toward the kindergarten activities. Before reaching school age Charles had little association with other children. There were no brothers or sisters, no cousins nearby or close chums, consequently he was entirely uninfluenced

by other juvenile drawing efforts.

It is

doubtful whether the child would have done so much drawing had he experienced more opportunity for play with chums. Prawing may have been for him a social intercourse substitute. From the age of six he attended school out of town so that he had little contact with schoolmates after school hours. Lonely children perhaps more than others live in a fanciful world. Since they lack childish campanions they tend to withdraw into an imaginary world rather than to engage in typically active childish play. Charles showed a strong tendency to imitate his parents' activities, particularly his father's leisure-time interest in puzzles, writing, making plans and mechanical hobbies. Apparently Charles, too, felt grown up when he was sitting at a table in the act of drawing or writing. From the age of nine he took the fifteen mile ride from home to school twice daily by bus and subway train. This gave him first-hand

information about transportation.

It

stimulated his love of adventure and furnished an outlet for his imagination. In fact, he commented that the trip was the best part about going to school. Ke himself had little opportunity to ride on steam-operated trains because most trips were made in the family automobile. The boy attended a progressive school where no formal drawing lessons were given and creative, spontaneous art was encouraged. The children were not given models to copy, but their attention was called to outstanding examples of pictures and sculpture.

16 In summary, the chief environmental stimuli that prompted Charles to draw trains were: 1. The railroad yards in his neighborhood. 2. The commuting trains he saw morning and evening. 3. His Lionel toy trains. 4. Train catalogs. 5. Picture and story books. 6. The occasional drawings he asked his parents to make for him.

TYPES OF TRAINS DRAWN The types of trains and engines the boy saw were steam trains, chiefly commuting trains and engines for local hauling,

freight trains and switch engines.

" Drilling" was

done by freight locomotives, also by yard engines of smaller drivers and a different kind of pilot. These were chiefly on the Erie and Susquehanna

lines. Some of the suburban

cars Charles saw in daily use were of the open-end rather than the newer vestibule type. Sketches of the types of locomotives he saw most frequently are shown in Figure I. Charles had little opportunity to see the larger and more modern locomotives on the fast express trains, at least close enough.or long enough to reproduce them in his drawings. His experience was confined to the "Atlantic" rather than the more powerful compound " P a c i f i c " type locomotive. The few gigantic types he drew must have been inspired by his train picture books and catalogs, f.'ost of his drawings were made before " streamlined" trains and locomotives came into vogue. Charles saw chiefly steam locomotives with driving wheels and steam cylinders all pxposed. Only from the age of ten Hid he have much contact with streamlined locomotives. The 2. Reproduced by permission of the Erie Railroad Company.

i

m

Tz

y:

Year a:

Level 3ir

sar

it:

jr

JX

17 Diesel type locomotive which has no visible drivers Charles seldom saw during the years when his drawings were made. The locomotives Charles drew suggest that he looked at them with the child's angle of vision, from below. His short stature required him to lean back and look up at the towering engine. Many drawings show a " forward plunge" of the upper part of the locomotive, similar to photographic representation when a locomotive is photographed from the track embankment.^ This is not quite the same view that the typical adult, standing along the tracks, would obtain. Distortions in perception due to the child's short stature have been noted by other investigators. DKAVING TRAINS Very early Charles showed a strong desire to express his ideas and feelings on paper. Nothing gave him keener delight than his earliest drawing experiences. At the age of two he began to draw trains. At this age it was not unusual to see him seated at the table before breakfast, between six and seven o'clock, drawing trains very rapidly, as if his life depended on his work. He would not come to breakfast until he had finished the picture. He drew incessantly, continually requesting more paper, stating that he had work to do. Each day he worked hard at his self-appointed task. At times he appeared to be intoxicated with excitement over drawing. His preoccupation with drawing, particularly his absorption in drawing trains, his rapt zeal in the task, bordered on monomania. The creative impulse was spontaneous and long sustained. He was tireless and happy in his activity. The boy's will to draw was not easily swept aside by any local external conditions or circumstances. His urge to draw tended to override all local visceral needs, apparently even hunger. He did not appear to experience 3. Cf. Beebe, L.

High Iron.

D. Appleton-Century.

18 f a t i g u e . His mother seeing him work so hard over h i s drawings would o f t e n urge him to run outdoors to p l a y , but he paid l i t t l e attention to the suggestion. From the beginning Charles considered his drawing as work, and concentrated s e r i o u s l y on i t . same tendency in h i s l i t t l e

Luquet ( 1 4 ) noted the

daughter. Erawing was not a

game or p l a y f u l d i v e r s i o n to the c h i l d .

I t e n l i s t e d a l l of

the b o y ' s c r e a t i v e e f f o r t . He d i d an i n c r e d i b l e amount of work motivated by no u l t e r i o r - ambition, work that had no u t i l i t y value for himself or f o r anyone e l s e . The achievement began and ended in the a c t i v i t y i t s e l f .

The completed

drawings were not l a t e r used i n any way by the c h i l d nor a f t e r they were completed did he make any reference to them. In drawing, he expended maximum energy; he appeared to be s t r i v i n g hard to achieve; he was thinking hard with every stroke he made; at the same time h i s work was characterized by rhythm and r e p e t i t i o n . From the beginning he appeared to be i n t e n t l y drawing something f u l l of meaning f o r him, not just amusing himself with pencil and paper or s c r i b b l i n g f o r the fun of i t . Well-sustained a t t e n t i o n c h a r a c t e r i z e d the drawing e f f o r t . P e r s i s t e n c e and c o n c e n t r a t i o n ,

all sus-

tained mental e f f o r t , w e l l - d i r e c t e d energy enabled the c h i l d to accomplish without apparent s t r a i n the irork he undertook. From the f i r s t e f f o r t he drew with l i g h t e n i n g speed. His work seemed to be e n t i r e l y impulsive, improvised on the spur of the moment. There was nothing c a r e f u l or painstaking or " f i n i s h e d " about his drawings. gest

If

any one chanced to sug-

that a page did not look w e l l he would r e p l y ,

" It

takes too much time. " While drawing he never stopped think or meditate. He was never bothered about

to

accuracy.

The drawings were never very smooth or exact, but were done in a rush with no eye to p e r f e c t i o n . not done to s a t i s f y any e x t e r n a l

They were o b v i o u s l y

a e s t h e t i c standards, but

simply to express h i s ideas through drawing.

F a p i d l y as

even his f i r s t scribbling was done, i t was never mechanical

19 o r purposeless. The spontaneity displayed did not result in chance or random strokes of pencil on paper. C h a r l e s w a s never c o n c e r n e d w i t h improvement; Strove

for p e r f e c t i o n ,

he n e v e r

at least he never showed any con-

scious effort to improve or made any statement to that effect. Nor was he ever conscious of

" errors"

needing cor-

rection. He did not erase or draw over a design to correct it. H e did not scribble on drawings he did not like or show d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n in any w a y w i t h h i s drawing. O n the contrary, he showed the naive c o m p l a c e n c y mentioned by other observers of children engaged in drawing. There was no evidence that as he practiced he saw his errors or shortcomings said attempted to improve a drawing. On the contrary, he was always self-assured, well-satisfied with everything he accomplished. He did not break off in the middle from fatigue but always completed what he did then and there. There was no doubt in his mind at any time as to his ability to d r a w trains. He seized his pencil and rapidly achieved his results. He p r i z e d his results highly and resisted any suggestion as to how the work ought to be done or could be improved. No matter how crude the pictures seemed to others, they always looked right to him. Had it not been for this casual attitude, and his rapid speed in drawing it is difficult

to see how he could have

gotten so much done with all the other things he was doing, especially after school days began. His mother reports that he did little

school home work,

and nearly always

drew

steadily during the radio programs he listened to. Charles did both his looking

and his drawing

p a r e n t l y c a s u a l l y and s u p e r f i c i a l l y .

quickly, ap-

He d i d not dwell o n

the scene before him in an overstudious manner, but was always alert in his o b s e r v a t i o n s .

V e r y early he showed ca-

pacity for precise thinking, exact m e m o r y with little apparent

effort

to retain what he o b s e r v e d . T h e b o y h a d a

powerfully retentive memory, which increased as he matured.

20 H i s drawings were c o m p l e t e l y the product of m e m o r y for he was never observed to c o p y p i c t u r e s or to d r a w a train at the- scene.

His o b s e r v a t i o n s w e r e c o n v e r t e d

into

memory

images which were later transferred to paper, remote

from

the bustling railroad tracks. He was a keen observer, well a b l e to retain and reproduce what he had seen. T h e r e

was

always considerable variation from an original he had seen or used even when he made a train catalog. H e did not talk much about the drawings; nor did he talk to anyone while he was drawing. Although he was o b v i o u s l y fascinated with locomotives he did not exclaim about

them.

He stored up impressions from all sources, reworked them in his mind, and reproduced the fused generalized

impression.

In his drawing he summed up all he knew about trains,

the

impressions derived from his varied experiences. All this work was self-initiated, the result of self-imp o s e d p r a c t i c e and self - i n i t i a t e d effort.

It w a s

wholly

spontaneous and untutored. The parents rarely asked the boy what he had drawn and never what he intended to draw. What he had drawn even from an early age was usually obvious, or he announced the subject. His parents did not correct work,

his

force him to correct it or to continue doing it. Oc-

casionally he asked his parents to draw for him and although they complied, he paid little attention to the results. He enjoyed showing his drawings to his parents and derived Veen emotional satisfaction from their approval. The

admiration

his parents showed for his work when he brought it to them for inspection no doubt

furnished added incentive to con-

tinue drawing. Most children

tire of a n y o n e a c t i v i t y v e r y

quickly.

C h a r l e s did not have the normal child's tendency to shift f r o m one

thing to a n o t h e r .

tendency

to stick

to o n e

He s h o w e d on the c o n t r a r y thing.

It is r e m a r k a b l e

Charles not only stuck to drawing so persistently, but for so long he was absorbed in a single motive.

a

that that

21 The craze the child showed for drawing trains might appear to be an abnormal emotional trend, an obsession or fixation, a form of neurotic behavior, an ego-centric trend, or an escape technique. Charles' obsession with trains was an abnormality if by that term is meant a wide deviation from the characteristic behavior of similar aged children; but it was not abnormal in any unfavorable sense. The activity appears to have been a stabilizing factor in his development. The test of time has shown this to be true, for the child is growing up with normal interests,

social and personal

traits. His parents were dismayed as they observed the child's continued absorption in drawing and tried to divert his attention to other interests. This negative attitude had no observable effect on the child, for he continued

steadily

with his drawing interests until in the natural course of development other forms of expression and other interests tended to take precedence. To his parents he appeared to be doing the same thing over and over; his complete absorption in a seemingly monotonous task day after day gave the impression of slow mental development. When finally at the age of four or so, his pictures began to look more like real trains, his family were somewhat relieved. His mother did not attempt to keep any complete

record

of his comments as he drew, nor did she often ask what he was going to draw or what he had drawn; but she noted the fact that he regularly commented that he «as drawing trains arid sometimes she made notes

to this effect

on

papers. Many children say that they will draw a certain object and change their intention or rename the picture after the drawing is finished. Charles seldom did this in drawing. He knew what he was going to draw, did it, then named the picture in accordance with his original intention.

22 He showed an early tendency to be left-handed, but he used both hands freely and finally established right dominance in all use of pencil or crayon. In drawing or writing numbers or stories, he always held his pencil grasped in his hand, his thumb acting as a guide. But in the second grade at school at seven years, he changed the position of his pencil to the position used in writing. He usually drew on one size and kind of paper, yellow pads measuring 8W by 11 inches, for approximately 98 percent of the drawings. Occasionally he got hold of white shelving paper or advertising bill sheets and worked on the back of these. At age four he made several large drawings, one over seven feet long. All the drawing was done with lead pencil. Colored crayon was used on rare-occasions for additional ornament. THE COLLECTION OF DRAWINGS As the drawings accumulated, Charles' mother bundled the pictures together and dated them at frequent intervals. Although not every individual drawing was dated there was sufficient dating to assemble the series in age levels at approximately three month intervals. As he grew older the boy frequently dated the drawings himself. The number of drawings made at each age level Is indicated in the following table: The Number of Drawings,Various Age Levels Available in 1939-40 Age

Engines or Trains

2

333

3 4

Miscellaneous

Total

1

334

241

23

264

123

153

276

5

129

232

361

6

122

69

191

23 The Number of Drawings Various Age L e v e l s A v a i l a b l e in 1939-40 ( c o n t ' d ) Age

Engines or Trains

Miscellaneous

Total

7 8 9 10 11 12

389 291 282 88 190 51

514 226 488 42 15 20

903 517 770 130 205 71

2239

1783

4022

Total

T h i s t a b u l a t i o n i s not a complete count of a l l the t r a i n d r a w i n g s , s i n c e t r a i n s and a c c e s s o r i e s drawn on c a r d b o a r d , g r e e t i n g c a r d s , and cut o u t s , were not i n c l u d e d . Had a l l t h e s e been i n c l u d e d the t o t a l number of t r a i n s drawn would be i n c r e a s e d by 100 or more, d i s t r i b u t e d through a l l a g e l e v e l s . T h i s t a b u l a t i o n i n c l u d e d o n l y d r a w i n g s t h a t were a v a i l a b l e in 1939 and 1940 f o r c o u n t i n g . I t was not always p o s s i b l e t o t e l l what c o n s t i t u t e d a s i n g l e d r a w i n g . The c h i l d o f t e n made drawings in the f r o n t and backs of h i s p i c t u r e and s t o r y books. Only p a g e s were c o u n t e d , but t h e s e o f t e n c o n t a i n e d more than one t r a i n . The count a c t u a l l y r e p r e s e n t s s e p a r a t e p a g e s r a t h e r than the t o t a l number of t r a i n s drawn. H i s mother r e p o r t s t h a t in the e a r l y y e a r s he drew an a v e r a g e o f t h r e e or f o u r p i c t u r e s a d a y ; a f t e r s c h o o l S t a r t e d , about two a day, with the e x c e p t i o n of the time he was home with irumps, m e a s l e s , and chicken pox, when he drew a good many more while c o n v a l e s c i n g . From the age o f t e n the number dropped c o n s i d e r a b l y . Between the a g e s of e i g h t and t e n i t was a p p r o x i m a t e l y f o u r o r more a week. O f t e n t h e s e drawings were incomplete, probably due to the p r e s s u r e o f homework and the ending of h i s r a d i o program at which time he knew he must do o t h e r work. B u t , i f he had time on

2k his hands, he busied himself with drawing. Even on trips he always found time to draw road maps, time tables or trains, usually when the family stopped for the night. The number of drawings was quite evenly distributed over the time interval during which they were drawn. The number declined steadily with time. He did not show a rage followed by marked loss of interest, followed by a sudden spurt, or rest periods and plateaus followed by acceleration. He kept on drawing steadily, but the number declined with his growing interest in the radio, gain in writing skill, interest in papers, books and school work. The miscellaneous drawings included: time tables, road maps, numbers, subway systems, inventions, radio circuits, newspapers, cartoons, games, cross-word puzzles, animals, men, women, faces, maps, motors, airplanes, phonographs, elevators, clocks, buildings, trolleys, music, radio plans, plans for a club house, magic squares, house wiring, landscape drawings. The total number of all drawings, ages two to ten inclusive is estimated at eight thousand. Not until Charles was nearing adolescent years did he know that his mother had kept his drawings. At no time were his drawings made for the purposes of a collection for his mother had no idea that the drawings might later be useful for research purposes. She preserved the drawings with the same affection she felt for all the chi.ld's other possessions which she treasured. This was fortunate since any conscious intention on the mother's part to preserve drawings for studying child development might have distorted the collection. OTHER «KITING AND DRAWING ACTIVITIES Trains were never the sole subject Charles drew as the tabulation shows. For a while he drew trees and birds and an occasional airplane. Charles did not show as much inter-

25 est

i n drawing p e o p l e and houses as o t h e r c h i l d r e n do

al-

though he drew these o b j e c t s o c c a s i o n a l l y . C l o s e to h i s i n t e r e s t

in t r a i n s came s c i e n c e and numbers.

At ages three and four he c o p i e d . l e t t e r s , He d i s p l a y e d keen i n t e r e s t from t h e age o f

numbers and words.

in studying l e t t e r s and numbers

t h r e e and soon a f t e r

asked how t o

words. He p r a c t i c e d copying these from papers, signs

that he saw i n the s t r e e t .

put h i s drawings t o g e t h e r from back

to

front.

At t h r e e years o f

i n a book,

t o g e t h e r w i t h s t r i n g o r paper pages

spell

the c a l e n d a r , age he

f a s t e n i n g the pages

f a s t e n e r s and numbering

the

From age t h r e e he showed

in-

c r e a s i n g i n t e r e s t i n numbers, o b s e r v i n g numbers w i t h

close

a t t e n t i o n and i n q u i r i n g about the l i t t l e number problems on h i s desk blackboard. During h i s

f o u r t h year he d i v e r s i f i e d h i s work

greatly,

although he s t i l l drew more t r a i n s than anything e l s e . a r e drawings of

radio c i r c u i t s ,

There

house w i r i n g ,

underground

r a i l r o a d system, road maps, cross-word puzzles,

phonographs,

clocks,

rent,

pictures

squares,

of

house

for

sale

and f o r

magic

drawings o f Empire S t a t e B u i l d i n g a l o n g s i d e

Telephone Company b u i l d i n g s i n New York; such words as c a t ,

ate,

the

c a t s on a f e n c e ;

WEAF, WABC, and the l i k e .

He w r o t e

h i s own name, made d o l l a r s and cents signs and used them in number work as, $1.99. He a l s o made newspapers with pages.

" H e r a l d T r i b u n e " was h i s

several

f a v o r i t e at t h i s age.

f i v e years he numbered h i s pages with Roman numerals.

At

Some-

times h i s mother bound the pages t o g e t h e r

f o r him in a book

which he f i l l e d w i t h drawings o f

By f i v e y e a r s

trains.

age he was drawing n e a r l y e v e r y t h i n g

of

that i n t e r e s t e d him.

T r a i n drawing was o c c a s i o n a l l y put a s i d e f o r calendars and w r i t i n g columns of numbers and a r i t h m e t i c problems. He f i r s t made road maps, automobile in August,

the r e s u l t o f

a t r i p t o Ohio by

1932, when he was just f i v e years o l d .

L a t e r he o f t e n made road maps and l a r g e complicated track layouts.

At s i x y e a r s he drew many d i f f e r e n t

railroad things

26 with the result that relatively

fewer trains were drawn.

During this year he made a train book with two parts, eight pictures in the first part, all with pictures of trains, and ten pages in the second part. He showed very early great interest and facility in copying numbers and letters accurately as well as skill in labeling things and he learned much in this way. At about age five he paid increased attention to street signs of all kinds, calendars and newspapers. He wanted to label everything with correct writing and spelling, "Toledo," " E r i e , " and continually asked his mother for the correct spelling. At about age five he made newspapers with wavy lines representing the print, and a book with a hundred pages, all numbered, in which he did lettering or pretended to write. He labeled his newspapers

" S u n " or " P o s t " in imitation of

real papers. By about age six, writing stories and poems about trains began gradually to supplant expression through drawing. A craze at seven years was to make up puzzles like those in the newspaper: " Guess the name of the book or person it represent s . " Thi s gave him extensive writing practice. He used the words " vertical" and " horizontal" in constructing these puzzles. This interest in puzzles, maps, newspapers, and time-tables was often in direct imitation of his father's activities. Although he asked for and received considerable help in writing letters and numbers all this learning was incidental until he was well along in his first year at school at age six. There was a wealth of variety in Charles' number practice. His mother observed him persistently studying

the

kitchen calendar, after which he made something resembling a calendar but with more rows. He did considerable

score

keeping in games and made a bagatelle board. There was a comparatively

long period during which he

fluctuated between correct and incorrect letter and number

27 writing.

His work shows p e r s i s t e n t p r a c t i c e ,

but not

until

he was about seven and a h a l f y e a r s o l d did he s u c c e e d a c q u i r i n g good w r i t i n g h a b i t s .

His f a v o r i t e w r i t i n g f o r a

t i m e was RCA. He o b s e r v e d i n t h e newspaper

"

Radio. "

made radio programs l i k e those i n the newspaper, n o t i n g itials

of radio s t a t i o n s

NRA a s well stations.

and wave l e n g t h s .

except

for the f i r s t

w r i t i n g was l e a r n e d f u n c t i o n a l l y . to write,

He a l s o

as GOOD GULF and o t h e r l a b e l s seen on

T h e r e was c o m p a r a t i v e l y

name a t f i r s t

for example,

in

little

filling

writing of

three l e t t e r s ,

in-

wrote

CIIA.

his All

He always had something

newspapers,

o r games t o

letter.

At age seven he made a " movie f i l m , " c o n s i s t i n g o f a long row o f 12 small drawings, v a r y i n g i n the h o r i z o n t a l dimension.

T h e s e were p i c t u r e s

of

t e l l i n g a continuous s t o r y .

trains,

p e o p l e and h o u s e s

T h i s was kept r o l l e d up l i k e a

scroll. V o c a b u l a r y developed a l o n g with drawing, lettering,

and in much the same i n c i d e n t a l

numbering and

f a s h i o n . The boy

showed c o n s i d e r a b l e t r i a l and e r r o r as he groped f o r the new terminology appropriate for h i s expanding i d e a s . His p a r e n t s say t h a t he o f t e n invented new names for mechanical p a r t s or a p p l i e d f a m i l i a r terms in a new way. For example, name f o r t h e c o n n e c t i n g rods from c y l i n d e r

Charles'

t o w h e e l s was

" accommodation c o n n e c t i o n . " T h i s was h i s name a p p a r e n t l y f o r the whole mechanism o f rods and wheels, that

first

attracted

his

attention.

the moving p a r t s

He may h a v e

heard

" accommodation" applied to t r a i n s in general and r e s t r i c t e d t h e term to the moving p a r t s . new t e r m s ,

" G o b i a t o r s " for

tendency toward neologisms i s

He f r e q u e n t l y

manufactured

" f l a r e s , " f o r example.

who have not yet learned words they need for the t h i n g s wish to l a b e l .

This

f r e q u e n t l y shown by c h i l d r e n they

Ill DESCRIPTION

OF T H E D R A W I N G S

BY AGE

LEVELS

It would be impractical and unnecessary to analyze every drawing Charles made in order to show the most significant developmental trends in the series. Consequently this study is based on a selection of the drawings made somewhat as follows: Charles' mother first looked over the entire collection and selected several hundred that were most representative in the various age levels. These were not necessarily the best drawings judged according to adult standards. We then went over this collection together selecting approximately two hundred for intensive study. Some of these were later discarded chiefly because they duplicated others in the series. In the final selection one hundred and fortynine drawings remained, all but one of which are reproduced in the appendix. We tried to select drawings that showed the most characteristic features at each age level, and when a choice between two was necessary, selected the one that had some feature not duplicated in other drawings selected. It was not so much a question of choosing " g o o d " and

"poor"

drawings, because Charles sometimes did his work more sketchily than at other times

through all age levels of the se-

ries, achieving equally good results in the sketchy drawings. More of the early drawings were included because it was during the first years that growth was particularly rapid, and evolutionary transformation was most

spectacular.(Ages

two, three and four.) Fewer drawings of the later periods were included because the developmental trends were less pronounced from year to year and a smaller number of drawings tell the story. Each drawing chosen for final inclusion in the series was traced in India ink on transparent paper. All these draw-

29 ings were arranged in chronological order through each age year a n d numbered accordingly. Some of the dynamic quality in the originals is lost in the tracings though the copies w e r e made as accurately as possible.

It was impossible

to

show all the shading precisely as in the originals and the pressure of pencil on paper. T h i s s e l e c t i o n of d r a w i n g s

from a total c o l l e c t i o n

of

several thousand tends somewhat artificially to smooth the the g r o w t h c u r v e

t h r o u g h the e n t i r e

series. T h e r e

p e r i o d s when, day after day, the same drawing with

were

little

variation was made over and over again. In the following n o t a t i o n s the significant

features of

each d r a w i n g are p o i n t e d out, particularly those that d i f f e r e n t i a t e one level from another.

features

I have not at-

tempted here to give a complete description of each drawing, but to point out the new and exceptional

features of each.

E a c h d e s c r i p t i o n represents my own interpretation, however,

h a s b e e n c l a r i f i e d at m a n y p o i n t s b y

which,

Charles'

mother who gave me added insight into the meaning of various details. The numbers of each notation correspond to the number on the drawings in the Appendix. The following sections give detailed descriptions of each drawing.

YEAR TWO 1.

Irregular circle intersected by short lines.

These

short lines appear to o r i g i n a t e as random dots w h i c h are

then elongated.

larger 2.

Partial

circles enclosed in a

circle.

Circle

s u r r o u n d e d b y j a g g e d w a v y line

enclosing

three smaller circles, possibly intended as wheels or w i n d o w s or both. Wavy lines suggest 3.

smoke.

A sausage-like chain of thirteen links overlapping, s u g g e s t i n g a train of

cars.

30 4.

Similar to No.2, but more e l a b o r a t e with c i r c l e s on the edge of the l a r g e c e n t r a l c i r c l e as w e l l as inside the main c i r c l e .

Accessory jagged l i n e s that may be

intended for smoke. Smaller c i r c l e joined to the l a r g e one suggesting a car attached to the locomotive cont a i n i n g two smaller c i r c l e s 5.

f o r windows or

A more complicated system of c i r c l e s .

wheels.

An a d d i t i o n a l

feature: p a r a l l e l l i n e s on the margin of the main c i r c l e that may have been intended

for tracks.

Circles

on edge somewhat more d i f f e r e n t i a t e d than in No.3 and a l l more p a t t e r n e d .

Smoke or steam more d e f i n i t e l y

l o c a l i z e d at the f r o n t of

the engine or

train.

C i r c l e s joined in sausage s t y l e . Two of have f l a t

the u n i t s

s i d e s at the bottom. C i r c l e s w i t h i n ,

ap-

parently intended for wheels since they have s t r a i g h t lines

radiating

from a c e n t r a l

circle

suggesting

spokes. 7.

More elaborate drawing. Many more l i n e s and c i r c l e s overlapping and i n t e r l o c k i n g .

Wheels beginning to ap-

pear o u t s i d e the c i r c l e and beneath t r a i n s . units tend more toward the rectangular

Several

than round or

oval shape. Considerable accessory scribbling

suggest-

ing more d e t a i l . One s t r a i g h t row of disconnected

ir-

regular c i r c l e s and ovals marked o f f by short v e r t i c a l lines. g.

An irregular row of sausage-like cars attached to the l a r g e r forward unit, apparently intended to represent the l o c o m o t i v e . C i r c l e s w i t h i n each car p o s s i b l y

to

represent windows or wheels. I.'nits tend more and more to have f l a t bottoms. 9.

Sausage-type drawing.

One or more c i r c l e s

in each

car. Considerable smoke. Units are placed in a f a i r l y straight

row.

Smoke in c o r r e c t

relation

to

train.

31 10-

Engine unit, flat on bottom, well-differentiated from the rest of the train. Circles within the engine may be intended as wheels, windows or other detail. All units have flat bottoms. The series of units lies in a fairly straight row. Smoke from engine and two cars is indicated.

11.

Wheels tend to be placed on the bottom side of units.

12.

New elaboration: more units, more circles appearing on the edges or overlapping edges of cars, apparently both windows and wheels indicated in some cars. More flat bottoms,

though still melon-shaped

drawing possibly represents two trains

tops. This converging.

Couplers, suggested by straight lines or overlapping squares, 13.

appear.

Couplers are indicated distinctly by straight lines. The cars are clearly separated, wheels are differentiated from windows.

14.

The size differentiation here gives the appearance of perspective.

15.

Exaggerated couplers or track and coupler combined. Perspective suggested in the varied sizes of cars. Possibly tracks are shown. Wheels appear on the circumference of larger units. Windows and wheels are differentiated. The upper left hand unit suggests a front elevation view of a locomotive.

16.

Considerable advance is shown here. The first unit tends more toward the rectangular. Wheels are placed on the lower edge, showing transparencies. Windows appear in a row in the car unit. Couplers are indicated.

17.

Differentiation of detail appears for the first time on top of the locomotive. Tracks indicated beneath the train are seen transparently through the wheels. The wheels appear

18.

for the most part beneath car units.

Perspective is suggested in this drawing by the very small engine and larger cars. A chimney appears on the

rear car. Wheels are shown beneath the units.

Windows

are becoming square in shape, definitely distinguished from wheels. 19.

There

is a s u g g e s t i o n

of a

coupler.

Wheels beneath train. Spokes are clearly

indicated.

Wheel hubs are shown. 20.

The first tendency toward squareness in locomotive or car unit.

21.

N e w e n g i n e d e t a i l , h e a d l i g h t and pilot

indicated.

First d i f f e r e n c e in wheel sizes on locomotive.

Small

front wheels are lifted off the ground. 22.

The locomotive is rectangular in shape. Parts o n top of the locomotive are clearly differentiated,--

bell,

smoke stack, steam dome. Wheels are beneath locomotive. C a r s are still m e l o n - s h a p e d . The line a c r o s s

wheels

suggests a driving rod or it may be a track. 23.

A more a d v a n c e d drawing. L o c o m o t i v e cab a n d tender are differentiated. Coal is shown on top of the tender. Smaller wheels beneath the forepart of the The

t e n d e r h a s a flat

p a r t s o n top of

top for the

the l o c o m o t i v e

locomotive.

first

time.

are c l e a r l y

The

shown.

Wheels are m o r e evenly spaced. All are p l a c e d b e n e a t h the locomotive and tender. 24.

T h e headlight

is shown clearly

for the first

time.

Beams of light are indicated. The roof of the cab is shown d i s t i n c t

from the b o d y of the cab, but

placed

over the whole of the locomotive. The pilot is shown, but almost wholly detached. 25.

An elongated locomotive. Spokes are indicated, wheels beneath. Track farther below the locomotive.

Headlight

shown. Pilot almost detached. W h e e l h u b s are

shown.

(This drawing has been omitted from the illustrations.) SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT,

YEAR

II

The series began w i t h irregular circles which were named " t r a i n s " or

" engines. " It is entirely p o s s i b l e

that

in

33 these first d r a w i n g s the child was scribbling without

any

intention to make a train, but named each drawing a " train" after it was completed. Charles' mother believes, however, that in these first drawings, judging from the child's behavior and his comments at the time, he was drawing with the intent

to r e p r e s e n t

trains. T h e a v e r a g e

three y e a r

old

child draws with no intention of representing anything. this

respect Charles

at age two w a s v e r y

In

exceptional.

B y the end of the two year level series trains and locomotives,

recognizable as such, emerged. The d r a w i n g s

successive enrichment

throughout

showed

the series. For a time

sausage-link trains alternated with single units in the form of circles or ovals. Wheels at first were

indistinguishable

from windows. Gradually these accessory circles moved

from

the center of the main unit to the edge of the unit. We have observed a similar tendency when children draw houses at an early age. T h e y o f t e n make the windows as c i r c l e s along the edge of the larger circle or square

placed

representing

the house. In Charles' drawings smoke finally moves to the front of the unit.

Lines within

the w h e e l s

s u g g e s t i v e of

spokes

appear. Engine and car units are gradually flattened on the bottom. Lines that meet at an angle take the place of circles. Wheels move to the bottom side of the engine and car units. Couplers appear, suggested by straight lines joining the units. Windows and wheels are finally

differentiated

and begin to appear in proper relation to the engine and car units. Windows are placed in a row, wheels move beneath car units. The equipment on top of the locomotive becomes more complete and the various parts more clearly differentiated. Hubs appear on wheels, a tendency toward sauareness in the engine unit appears, headlight and pilot are indicated, locomotive tinguished

finally becomes rectangular,

the

the tender is dis-

from the l o c o m o t i v e , w h e e l s are m o r e

equally

3U spaced, the roof of the locomotive cab is finally distinguishable. The drawings as a whole become better organized. YEAR 1.

THREE

Headlight featured. Coal apparently piled up in the tender.

2.

Roofs on cars. Wheel trucks shown.

3.

Simulated writing appears on the side of the tender. Coal pile is indicated. Two small wheels on top of steam cylinder

4.

to the right, rather than beneath.

Circles within square windows suggest heads of people. Writing on the side of the car. Suggestion of a step or other equipment back of the first car wheel. Horizontal line divides roof from body of car.

5.

More "writing" appears on the sides of the car, in the form of dashes and scratches. Steps or fuse box suggested.

6.

Track without perspective, with cross ties at fairly regular intervals, standing on end. Heads of passengers in windows. The locomotive appears to be plunging forward at great speed. Driving rods are here shown clearly for the first time.

7.

Locomotive with letters C

H and A written on the

side. These are all letters in the boy's first name (Charles). Wore interest appears to be taken now in the locomotive itself. The pilot is shown in better position and with slanting parallel lines. 8.

There is considerable new detail in this picture in spite of its irregularities. The engineroan appears in the cab. Large headlight with lettering on the side. Roof of the cab projects over the rear. The roof is differentiated by shading. The coupler is two dimensional and solid. Dots and dashes represent lettering. Cylinders are shown.

35 9.

T h e engineman

is shown in profile

in the cab.

gestion of telephone pole and wires, tional scenery to appear. the headlight, chiefly

the

" L e t t e r s " and

" C, " the first

boy's name. Spokes are m o r e

regularly

first

Sugaddi-

" n u m b e r s " on letter of

the

stereotyped

crosses. M o r e e l a b o r a t e d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n

as

of p a r t s on

top of the locomotive. Both smoke and steam are drawn. Tracks are shown as straight lines well beneath the locomotive. 10.

Windows appear both round and square, but more square than round. Spokes and axles are indicated.

"Heads"

appear in the windows. 11.

Square windows with p a n e s indicated b y cross bars. Boxes on sides of wheels to indicate wheel trucks. Windows appear to be the type belonging on a car than

an

engine.

" Writing''continues,

rather

consisting

largely of dashes. 12.

Brake wheels (or possibly telephone p o l e s ) are shown on the freight

cars. Block

signals or traffic

These details give narrative quality " C"

and

" E " are

signs.

to the drawing.

the o n l y d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e

letters

shown. 13.

More elaborate couplers, suggestive of their mechanical operation.

14.

Train

is d r a w n well

B i r d ' s eye v i e w of c i r c u l a r

above

tracks,

side v i e w of o b l o n g box cars. V e r t i c a l cars

suggest

doors,

differentiated

etc. V a r i o u s

by characteristic

c o m b i n e s side elevation

the

track.

combined

with

lines o n box

t y p e s of

cars

are

lines. T h i s p i c t u r e

and b i r d ' s

eye view.

In

the

freight car in the upper right of the picture, the car wheels appear to be joined in pairs. Wheel shown in car

to upper

right. T h i s

similar to Charles' miniature

track

railroad.

truck well layout

was

15.

Considerable progress is shown in this drawing. Pilot, headlight, vertical bands on locomotive all clearly shown. Many more spokes, box under

forepart

of locomotive, brake wheel between locomotive and car, steps, lettering on box car, circular emblem suggestive of

" G r e a t N o r t h e r n " freight car. Wheels are well-

differentiated. Tracks are roughly shown. A ladder appears on the side of the freight car. 16-

A marked increase in the amount of lettering, but few real letters are made. Two rows of tracks. Caboose on the upper track with platform on each end.

17.

Switch engine with flat cars. Locomotive pilot high in the air. A view of the station, possibly, to the right, or a house with chimney. Brick construction of house and chimney are suggested.

18.

More shading to indicate volume and to distinguish parts. Better localization of lettering. Emblems of freight cars with lettering shown. Parts on top of locomotive are clearly shown, smoke stack, bell with cord, steam dome.

19.

Freight cars are distinguished by various markings. Door clearly shown. Truck clearly shown for one pair of wheels. Vertical lines suggest broad siding on the cars.

20-

This is probably a switch engine. The cab of the locomotive is elevated above the boiler. A man in the cab window. Elaborate coupler at the front of locomotive. Considerable

the

" lettering" on the head-

light. Steam cylinder is shown. Driving rods connect with steam cylinder. Line on the side running nearly the whole length of the locomotive shows new attention to detail, more correctness in drawing. 21.

More shading to show various parts. Locomotive pushing cars. Bell and other parts clearly shown.

More

elaboration of detail on the side of the locomotive.

Lettering. Still no correctly made letter or number symbols. 22.

Raised cab roof. Wheels differentiated in size. Lettering "Toot Toot." The " T ' s " in this lettering suggest the brake wheels and telephone posts previously drawn.

23.

Wheel hubs appear more uniformly. A figure appears in the cab window. Cab roof projects forward rather than back.

24.

Engineman is shown in cab of locomotive with eyes, mouth, and hair clearly indicated. Detail on the side of the locomotive is elaborated. Cylinder is shown. Wheel hubs are more elaborate than formerly. Lights at both front and rear of locomotive. The problem of drawing both large and small wheels beneath engine on an even base line is here solved.

25.

The brakeman shown on the top of a box car is taller than the width of the car. More clear-cut lettering, but the letters are not correctly made. Steps up the side of the box car.

26.

Still more elaborate lettering. The letters " a " and " B " are correctly made.

27.

Front view of the locomotive. Number writing is correct for the first time. Tracks are parallel and are shown before and after the locomotive, but they are closer together behind the locomotive. Wheels appear as though lying flat on the tracks, attached to front view of locomotive like cars. Attempt to write ESSO alongside.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT. YEAB III The sequences in various developmental features are not always clear cut because different sorts of trains were drawn from time to time and Charles emphasized first one feature then another.

38 Wheels continue to be transparent and to appear on the sides of cars. Details are more frequently featured, and sometimes exaggerated, such as headlights, and coal piled up in the tender. Wheel connections and. trucks are more nunerous as well as more frequently and clearly shown. Simulated writing appears on the sides of the engine and car units, apparently intended as engine and train numbers and names. There are circles within square car windows

suggesting

passengers. Steps are indicated on engines and cars. Tracks appear with ties spaced at rejular intervals. The top of the locomotive is pushed forward as though the engine was plunging ahead at great speed. Driving rods appear for the first time. Letters of the alphabet distinctly made are drawn on the side of a locomotive. More attention is now given to the locomotive itself. The drawing of the pilot is much improved. An engineman appears in the cab of the locomotive; a suggestion of scenery appears in the form of telephone or telegraph poles and wires. More elaborate differentiation of parts on the top of the locomotive; spokes appear as crosses on wheelsi windows are now more frequently square than round, though both types appear. Heads are more clearly drawn in the windows of passenger cars. Window panes are indicated by cross bars; a brake wheel appears on a freight car; more details such as block signals are shown, giving narrative quality to the drawings; a bird's eye view of tracks is drawni locomotive wheels are better differentiated. The amount of lettering on cars and engines is greatly increased) pictures with several rows of tracks appear; the station -appears in a railroad " scene, " shading is used to indicate volume; all equipment on top of the locomotive is now distinguishable,-- bell, smoke stack, steam dome, sand dome, et'c. Freight cars are differentiated;

steam

cylinder is shown with driving rods connected with it. Locomotive wheels are better differentiated in size; lettering

39 n o « i s adequate to t e l l a " story, " a f u l l length f i g u r e of a workman appears on a f r e i g h t

car.

Whereas in Year Two the progress was from vague p e n c i l c i r c l e s c a l l e d " t r a i n s " to pictured o u t l i n e s more r e a d i l y d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e as t r a i n s ,

in Year Three the g r e a t e s t pro-

gress was made in enriched d e t a i l , writing and l a b e l i n g , improved organization of each engine or t r a i n drawing, proportion,

better

an increased amount of drawing and l a b e l i n g ,

more f i g u r e drawing, and increased n a r r a t i o n in the drawings, more a t t e n t i o n to the locomotive mechanism. Features were sometimes i l l o g i c a l ;

there was s t i l l

some confusion:

rows of windows on the s i d e of a l o c o m o t i v e , inaccuracies,

and v a r i o u s

incompletions in the drawings. L e t t e r i n g was

p r a c t i c e d in drawings at three years while l i t t l e

progress

was made in the t r a i n drawings as a whole in the meanwhile. As he gained more f a c i l i t y , Charles' drawings continued to be " trains in general, " a train of his fancy, not any spec i f i c E r i e t r a i n that roared through the town at a c e r t a i n time of day, even though he sometimes used actual train numbers on his pictures. YEAR 1.

Better horizontal wheels.

FOUR

orientation

of

Coal p i l e d on the t e n d e r .

locomotive Coupler

and

like

a

f l a t t e n e d " C " reversed. 2.

A larger

drawing.

shown v e r t i c a l l y .

Ties

for

railroad

tracks

are

Some of the t i e s are i n d i s t i n g u i s h -

able from the number " o n e " in the number s e r i e s .

Im-

proved l e t t e r i n g and numbering on the side of the car. Letters 3.

" A " and « « B " a r e c l e a r l y shown.

V a r i e t y i s shown in the types of f r e i g h t cars drawn. The locomotive coupler i s emphasized. Wheel trucks are more e l a b o r a t e on the rear car.

4.

Continued w r i t i n g on the s i d e s of tender. D i f f e r e n t i a t e d f r e i g h t

cars.

c a r s . Coal

in

5.

The e n g i n e a p p e a r s t o be r u s h i n g a l o n g .

The

effect

o f ' s p e e d i s g a i n e d by p u s h i n g t h e upper p a r t o f

the

locomotive

the

forward.

This

train

is

oriented

to

r i g h t r a t h e r than to the l e f t as the m a j o r i t y a r e t y p i c a l l y drawn. Smoke and steam appear to blow toward the front part of the locomotive. 6.

Another long drawing.

" E r i e " shown in crude

letter-

i n g . C o n s i d e r a b l e development i n d r i v i n g r o d s . tion in s t y l e s of f r e i g h t 7.

Varia-

cars.

Steam c y l i n d e r i s shown. D i f f e r e n t i a t e d wheel

sizes.

Smaller engine wheels high above t r a c k s . C i r c u l a r windows on t h e s i d e s o f p a s s e n g e r c a r s . g e s t e d by s h o r t h o r i z o n t a l l i n e s . i s crudely printed.

8-

Steps are

sug-

The d a t e , May 1932,

Numbers a r e backward.

The

entire

t r a i n i s shown suspended high above the t r a c k s .

Ladder

on s i d e o f

locomotive.

Differentiated

Coupler

- bumper on

front.

sizes.

S p o k e s more

evenly

wheel

spaced.

More d e t a i l

joints.

Several

around hub.

rows o f

occupied by t r a i n s .

tracks.

Driving

rods

have

Extra

tracks

not

Small wheels n e a t l y drawn beneath

steam c y l i n d e r . 9.

The c h i e f new i n t e r e s t h e r e i s the b o y ' s attempt show h i s

f a t h e r i n the t r a i n .

He l a b e l s

" In T r a i n Daddy" i n l a r g e crude c a p i t a l l e t t e r s . light tender.

on r e a r o f

tender.

Steam c y l i n d e r

is

Equipment

to

t h e drawing,

shown

Head-

beneath

shown. L a d d e r on s i d e

of

locomotive. 10.

B e t t e r wheel d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n .

"Erie"

correctly

l e t t e r e d . Wheel truck drawn as a r e c t a n g l e . 11.

A long f r e i g h t t r a i n with c a r s of v a r i o u s s t y l e s . The l o c o m o t i v e c a b window i s d i v i d e d i n t o panes.

Wheels

a r e c r u d e l y drawn, but c a r r y the s u g g e s t i o n o f

trucks

c o n n e c t i n g s e v e r a l p a i r s o f wheels. Wheels tend t o be arranged somewhat more s y s t e m a t i c a l l y i n p a i r s .

Ul 12.

The r o o f o f guished.

the locomotive cab i s e a s i l y

n e a r l y in c o r r e c t s i z e p r o p o r t i o n .

are

S e v e r a l have spokes

and a s u g g e s t i o n of rims. The word " E r i e " i s

clearly

printed,

freight

but o t h e r l e t t e r i n g on the s i d e o f a

c a r i s crude,

showing the slow t r a n s i t i o n

w r i t i n g to c o r r e c t 13.

distin-

L o c o m o t i v e w h e e l s v a r y i n q u a l i t y but

A train oriented

from r i g h t

to l e f t

u s u a l arrangement. Coal i n t e n d e r , o f tender,

from pseudo-

printing. instead of

the

h e a d l i g h t on r e a r

t r a i n well above t r a c k , brake wheel i s shown,

caboose on r e a r . Bushy p i l o t high above t r a c k . 14.

An e l e c t r i c t r a i n showing overhead wire and connection poles.

Train labeled

" P a i l . " S e v e r a l rows o f 15.

trolley

" Train, " " Erie, "

tracks.

I n t e r e s t here i s centered c h i e f l y in the t r a c k s . A "Bird's the

Eye View, " but t h e f r o n t

locomotive

tracks.

is

The p i l o t

shown i n

e l e v a t i o n view o f

two p l a c e s

" fans o u t " f l a t .

flat

on

Improbable

the

angles

in t r a c k s due p o s s i b l y to space l i m i t a t i o n s . 16.

Lettering:

Road, R a i l ,

Erie.

L e t t e r i n g PAT on t h e

s i d e o f the l o c o m o t i v e h e a d l i g h t . joints 17.

Driving

and a r e c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e

Smaller

drawing

than u s u a l .

l i n e s are s t r a i g h t e r ,

steam

Better

rods have cylinder.

proportions,

numbers a r e c o r r e c t l y

written.

L e t t e r i n g shows c o r r e c t s p e l l i n g and w r i t i n g o f

"ERIE."

Switching equipment at i n t e r s e c t i o n of upper and lower tracks. 18.

Here the drawing i s more e l a b o r a t e in c h a r a c t e r , p r o p o r t i o n s a r e b e t t e r . There i s smoother o f the v a r i o u s u n i t s .

the

articulation

The l i n e s a r e b e t t e r ,

the u n i t s

a r e more p r e c i s e l y and f i r m l y drawn. A rim appears on a wheel f o r the f i r s t wheel

improved, on h i s

time.

However,

rims have appeared e a r l i e r .

suggestions

of

The l e t t e r i n g

is

more v a r i e d than f o r m e r l y .

The boy c o p i e d

tank c a r s words he had s e e n on s i g n s

at

gas

1*2 filling stations. He writes a descriptive phrase: "War tank lpped (looped) on." 19.

The word " coal" is clearly written on the coal car. Coal on top of the car is shown. There are two converging lines of tracks with trains on each. Sims on wheels. Wheel trucks under the locomotive cab are better drawn. The bell is more clearly outlined. The whole train rests more firmly on the track.

20.

Converging tracks with trains on each. People in the passenger car. Three dimensional space is represented here. It is possible that the top drawing is actually intended to show a curve in the track.

21.

The junction of two tracks and trains. Electrical switch connections are shown.

22.

A maze of complicated, intersecting tracks numbered so that they can be followed on a road map. The train itself curves in going around a curve.

23.

A larger, many-wheeled locomotive. Mechanism beneath the train to the left represents electrical connections, transformers, and the like, for switching.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT, YEAR IV During this period Charles asked for and received considerable help in writing numbers and letters. He saw he needed this skill and was not satisfied with his immature attempts. More variety appears in the types of trains, locomotives and freight cars drawn. An electric train is differentiated from a steam locomotive. All the trains give the impression of rushing along at great speed, though it is difficult to analyze the features that contribute to this effect. Drawing of wheels, spokes and hubs is much improved. Driving rods have joints; there are several rows of tracks in a single drawing; words are correctly written and spelled; all lettering and numbering is more distinct; there is more character in the drawings; better articulation of the

various units; lines are all more smoothly drawn; wheel rims appear; descriptive phrases appear in connection with the drawings; ground connections for electrical equipment are shown. Converging tracks with a train on each appear to tell the story of a railroad scene, the junction of two tracks and meeting of two trains. A complicated track layout is drawn. The locomotives are occasionally longer with more wheels. Although the progress here is marked from the beginning to the end of the year, it is not so startling as the progress made in the two preceding years, because major steps in progress that are fundamental in character are not so frequent. By Year Four there was a decided falling off in the number of train drawings, about half the number made in Year Three. YEAR 1.

FIVE

A long passenger train better placed than before with respect to the track. Vore even, regular drawing than formerly, but somewhat

simplified and

stereotyped.

Balustrade on rear platform shown as a ladder. Poofs on cars distinguishable. Ventilator on top of one car. Windows in one passenger car grouped in twos with upper semicircular pane distinguishable. Driving rods connecting with steam cylinder. Door in passenger car. Ventilator on top. 2.

A longer type of locomotive hauling a passenger train The numbering is clear, carefully placed. Wheel trucks are shown, all transparent. Ventilator on top of rear car.

3.

An electric train with contact brushes. Headlight beaming on each car. Steps on cars are clearly differentiated. The whole drawing is conventionalized and stylized.

4.

Improvement in placing of wheels. Locomotive more correctly drawn. Wheels differentiated in size. Bell

shown as a t r i a n g l e

enclosed

in square

frame work.

Clear cut coupler. 5.

Modern l o c o m o t i v e shown at top. Three s e t s o f are

shown.

Middle

curved

track

joins

tracks

upper

track.

6.

Two locomotives in tandem shown p u l l i n g

7.

Locomotive d e t a i l more c a r e f u l l y drawn. More compli-

train.

c a t e d mechanism shown. Rims on wheels i n d i c a t e d . h e a d l i g h t on t e n d e r .

Coal

shown in t e n d e r .

Pear

The shad-

ing adds g r e a t l y t o t h i s p i c t u r e . 8.

L o c o m o t i v e d r a w i n g much s i m p l i f i e d . c e n t e r i n g more on mechanism, many-wheeled

A t t e n t i o n now

joints in d r i v i n g

rods, a

Locomotive of modern s t r e a m - l i n e d

Upper p a r t p r o j e c t s beyond l o w e r . L i g h t

type.

on l o c o m o t i v e

cab. 9.

Clear

lettering,

"Erie

show s o l i d p a r t s . Rims on w h e e l s .

City, " N o .

New d e t a i l

6- Shading

on t o p o f

to

locomotive.

A more e l a b o r a t e p i l o t .

Small

front

wheels high above track. 10.

The f i r s t n a r r a t i v e t o l d in words and p i c t u r e s combined:

"Toot

drawing 22, 11.

toot.

"Toot

We're o f f . " E a r l i e r

Complicated d r i v i n g ladder

is

in Y e a r

III,

toot " alone was w r i t t e n . rods.

New v e r s i o n o f

shown on the s i d e of

smoke. A

the l o c o m o t i v e .

Steps

the heavy e x p r e s s

type.

are shown on c a r s . 12.

Streamlined

l o c o m o t i v e of

Complicated d r i v i n g mechanism i s shown. L e t t e r i n g numbering, the 13.

tender,

and

" N e w York 1333. " H e a d l i g h t on the rear ladder

Convergence of

up t h e

four

side

tracks

of

the

on each of

of

locomotive. which

is

s

t r a i n . Passenger and f r e i g h t t r a i n s are d i f f e r e n t i a t e d . 14.

L e t t e r i n g and other d e t a i l s

show advance h e r e .

Three

s e p a r a t e t r a i n s are drawn. The upper one made s m a l l e r g i v e s the e f f e c t of 15.

perspective.

A dramatic n a r r a t i v e

picture.

shown, t r a f f i c c r o s s i n g s i g n a l s ,

Sun in sky, automobiles at

station cross-

ing. Block s i g n a l s set for " Proceed" or " Go. " Clouds in sky.

A busy,

hustling

scene,

with much

activity

portrayed. 16.

An e l e c t r i c trains.

railroad,

three

Mechanism of power l i n e s

s e t s of

tracks

and

and transformers

is

shown. Air brake tubes. Sun shining in the sky. Interest in f r e i g h t and passenger cars was about divided

from the time the two c l a s s e s were f i r s t

entiated.

But a p p a r e n t l y

freight

equally differ-

c a r s were always more

i n t e r e s t i n g to Charles because of their greater

diversity.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT, YEAR V

Drawing q u a l i t y varied from time to time depending on the interest

the boy took in various

features of the drawing.

During this year wheel placement i s better, tail

locomotive de-

i s more accurately drawn, operating mechanism i s much

improved and more attention i s given to mechanical of

train operation. L e t t e r i n g ,

tinues to develop.

The f i r s t

features

l a b e l i n g and numbering conactual written n a r r a t i v e

connection with the train pictures appears, comotives have begun to a t t r a c t

in

streamlined l o -

the b o y ' s a t t e n t i o n ,

the

number of tracks and trains in a single picture continues to increase.

Passenger

differentiated. busy scene at

cars

a r e more

clearly

A dramatic n a r r a t i v e p i c t u r e i s drawn, the

railroad

shown in e l e c t r i c a l trains,

and f r e i g h t

crossing.

eauipment

Great

interest

for e l e c t r i c a l l y

a is

operated

and the drawing of the equipment i s well done.

In

this year, wheels are not so frequently shown as transparent on the sides of engines and cars, but on the cars are shown beneath the side of the car. No fundamental steps in advance appear in this year, there i s steady

"all

o v e r " improvement in a l l

but

respects.

Train drawing i s beginning to give way s l i g h t l y to written description and narrative.

1*6

YEAS 1.

SIX

Long, mallet type locomotive plunging ahead. Track is shown as transparent. Advance in writing, but still a combination of real and pseudo-lettering. Driving rods connected with steam cylinder. Appurtenances on top of locomotive more clearly indicated. Bell enclosed in frame work, improvement over Year V-4.

2.

Many improvements appear here, though former crudities persist. The whole is more squarely drawn. Wheels are greatly differentiated

in size.

More complicated

interrelation of driving rods. Front wheels still suspended high in air. Coal is shown on top of tender. Just one driving rod connects with steam cylinders. Lettering is clear. "Toot Toot" tells a story. Locomotive cab roof has vfertical appendage, possibly to represent light. 3.

Wheels are elongated vertically and exaggerated in sire with reference to the locomotive. Coal shows in the center of the top of the tender. Locomotive cab roof projects over the rear of the cab. Train is shown on level track with slight overlapping of wheels and rails.

4.

Better proportion of wheel size to locomotive. Wheel trucks on tender. Driving rods shown in a complicated arrangement. Elaborate numbering and lettering properly placed on locomotive. Word " C i t y " on the tender and number above.

5.

Two separate tracks that meet to the left of the picture. Block signals indicating " G o . "Window frames in passenger car are shown.

6.

Several sets of tracks with trains moving in opposite directions. This is page Nine of a " Train Book. "

7.

A l a r g e l o c o m o t i v e with more e l a b o r a t e

appurtenances

on top. An o l d s t y l e open p l a t f o r m type p a s s e n g e r Row o f

lights

a b o v e windows shown on t h e

car.

exterior.

S o l i d l y shaded roof with p r o j e c t i n g ends. 8.

Engine shown lunging forward as though at great Three

rows o f

labeled. curve.

tracks.

Train

is

Parts

curved

on t o p o f

to

speed.

locomotive

show p a s s a g e a r o u n d a

Numbers d i s t i n c t l y w r i t t e n .

C l e a r cut

letter-

ing. 9.

Freight

t r a i n with v a r i e d

types of cars,

show v a r i e d s i z e and t h i c k n e s s .

shaded

to

Hand c a r o r work c a r

on s i d e t r a c k . 10.

T h r e e t r a i n s with c o m p l i c a t e d nected. car

tracks variously

A suggestion of p e r s p e c t i v e

i s higher

here.

con-

The

rear

than t h e l o c o m o t i v e which h a s t h e ap-

p e a r a n c e of being

in t h e d i s t a n c e

and moving

away.

Curve i n t r a c k i s shown. Four bumpers a r e shown at ends o f 11.

the

tracks.

Some s i m i l a r i t y to No.9. Hand c a r . c o m p l e t e l y shaded. T h r e e t r a i n s and four s e t s o f are connected.

tracks,

Varied produce in

t h r e e o f which

freight

cars.

Com-

p l i c a t e d coupler on r e a r c a r below. 12.

The l a r g e s t this point.

and most e x t e n s i v e

Elaborate,

able l e t t e r i n g ,

drawing made up t o

interweaving

tracks,

consider-

t r a f f i c or road s i g n s shown, much v a r i -

a t i o n shown in t h e c a r s a s s e m b l e d i n a s i n g l e

train.

F i v e t r a i n s or p a r t s o f t r a i n s a r e shown. Only one l o comotive i s

shown. T h i s has c o m p l i c a t e d d r i v e r mecha-

nism. The o t h e r c a r s a r e a p p a r e n t l y s t a n d i n g s t i l l tracks. 13.

Cross-hatching

The f i r s t

i s used f o r

page o f a t r a i n book.

t e n d e r and p a r t o f one c a r . T r a i n B o o k " in l a r g e press).

A large

capital

letters.

on

cars.

locomotive

The page i s l a b e l e d

The l o c o m o t i v e number

l i g h t cab and tender.

s h a d i n g box

"The

" E r i e , " (Ex-

a p p e a r s on t h e

head-

k& 14.

Elaborate

"Train

lettering:

night. " A p p a r e n t l y

the round

represents the moon.

leaving

Terminal

shaded ball

in the

at sky

" E x p r e s s " is printed on the side

of the cars. All brake tubes are shown. 15.

A full length man is shown in cab of locomotive with window transparent over his face. Lettering

" N e w York

City, " " E r i e " and " Express. " Elaborate tubes, shaded, connect engine and locomotive. 16.

P a g e O n e of a second l o c o m o t i v e of mallet D e s c r i p t i v e phrases not

room

to

show.

train book

type,

at Year

Six.

Long

twelve w h e e l s on a side.

telling Parts

clearly differentiated.

" T o o t Toot Toot Toot. "

about

on

the cars there was

top of

locomotive

Description of

more

speed at which

the train moves. 17.

The story of a train wreck. N a m e s of N e w York

City

subway trains appear on the sides of the passenger cars 18.

Three flat cars on track below train, each with a man on

top. The boy's

first, m i d d l e

and

written on the three cars in order 19.

A letter to the boy's road

track and

last names

were

from left to right.

father decorated with a rail-

front elevation

view of a locomotive.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT, YEAK VI Extensive development in many directions took place during this year. The locomotives

are

'onger,

equipment

shown in the drawings, wheels better arranged, improved, driving rods are more elaborate, improved,

lines are straighter

and

right

clearly

proportion

lettering is much angles m o r e

ac-

curate; there is an increase in the number of words written, more pictures with several trains moving in different directions, types of cars shown are more varied and more accurately drawn, details are enriched and more clearly shown, story telling is more frequent,

supplemented more generally with

writing. During this year a train book consisting of twenty-

seven pages, all with pictures of trains and considerable lettering, was made. YEAR 1.

SEVEN

More variation is shown here in the types of cars drawn. Apparently a work car of some sort, followed by a mail car, clearly labeled. Other unusual features to differentiate the types of cars shown.

2.

A simplified, clear cut drawing. Two tracks, with train and idle cars below. Tracks joined. Track bumper shown. Cars clearly differentiated. This drawing is characterized by a new simplification that does not appear in the previous drawings of more complicated type. Everything is squarely and firmly drawn. More detail of the underside of cars is shown. Brake wheels on freight cars are shown. This drawing is more " stylized" than previous drawings and clearly shows a new trend in development. Dump cars show dumping equipment underside.

3.

The drawings begin to be more routine in character, more stereotyped, and schematized. Cars are correctly and appropriately labeled. Time table is shown beneath train correctly listing the stations. Differentiated windows in passenger cars.

4.

A sketchy but distinctly outlined train. Cars clearly labeled. Hackensack

station is shown with clock,

hands on face of clock pointing to 9:05. 5.

An interesting new departure in this drawing, -tracks are represented by a single line full of curves suggesting

"hill

and dale. " Electrical wiring

from

signal towers to tracks is shown. A small station is shown near upper track. The smoke here becomes stereotyped, more as typical children usually represent smoke in long thick rolls. The cars are stereotyped, but the locomotives look more like real locomotives in structure and proportion. The picture is full of movement.

50 6.

A scene at the station. Crossing signs, car at crossing containing driver and passenger. Detail of station clock. Clouds in sky. Planes overhead.

7.

An active picture. The chief feature is the electrical wiring connecting

tracks and probably

signals.

Panes in locomotive cab window are more numerous than usual. Several different tracks are shown. 8.

A railroad game. A train clearly drawn in outline, with complete labeling giving directions for the game.

9-12.

A story about a train in four pages, each page il-

lustrated with trains. This time there is more writing than drawing, in contrast

to Year Six. The child's

name is signed alongside the title at the top of the first page. Color name

" r e d " appears on the third

page. There is more interest here in the story telling than in detailed or accurate drawing. 13.

An original composition showing a streamlined train of four units. A bird standing on the top of the second unit. Sun in sky, airplane.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT, YEAS VII Although the types of cars continue to be more varied and new details appear, during this year there was a noticeable trend toward simplification. The drawings are more clear cut. They become somewhat stereotyped, schematized; shading and superfluous lines formerly included are now omitted. More interest in electrical connections continues. A craze for making train games appeared at about this time. Writing begins to supersede drawing in story telling. With the simplified sketching of the trains, movement and activity are even more apparent in the train scenes. During the years Six and Seven the child was increasingly occupied with making books; he was concerned with train narratives, especially train wrecks; more complicated pictures were drawn with several sets of tracks, trains moving

51 in opposite directions, trains rounding curves, much variation in types of freight cars shown and their contents; cars were correctly and appropriately labeled, windows in passenger cars were differentiated, narrative scenes appeared, there was more interest at times in story telling than in accurate or detailed drawing. The train drawings gradually became rather stereotyped, but new detail continued to appear. From age seven on there was more tendency simply to outline, to omit shading and detail apparently for the purpose of getting the story told more quickly. But the representation of mechanical operation profited thereby, for in outline it is more clearly shown.

YEAR EIGHT 1.

The trains here are rather stiff and

stereotyped.

Elaborate time tables. Different color names written at the head of each table. Differentiated windows in passenger cars. 2.

Electric train, possibly with contact brushes. American

flag shown on rear car of upper

train.

Differ-

entiated windows in lower passenger cars. 3.

Front elevation views of locomotives on tracks arranged for complicated switching. There is a simulated index of the contents of the train book, of which this is the cover sheet.

4.

Subway trains with passenger and flat cars. Elaborate labeling of cars and numbering of stations.

5.

Train with labeling to be a page

" Kackensack. " This is intended

in a n e w s p a p e r .

Wavy

lines

represent

print. 6. 7.

Map of tracks and time table notatisns. A page from a " n e w s p a p e r " containing a train game contest with announcement of prizes to be awarded. The wavy lines represent lines of print.

52 YEAR NINE 1.

Trains of the future, articulated car units; an imaginative drawing.

Color

names used

to designate

lights and exhaust. 2.

Train is curved to suggest rounding a curve. The effect of perspective is achieved by changing viewpoint of the observer, front to side view during the drawing. Tracks

3.

are similarly

shown. Shaded driving

rods.

Two trains, one at Newark station, another, an express rounding a curve. Labeling indicates that the upper train is a local. The station is shown in the background.

4.

Subway tracks. Stations labeled and numbered. Crossing sign and "Death's Head. " Station names correctly spelled. Elevated station is shown. Steps appear to lead to and from the station platform.

5-6.

Two train games each accompanied by a little illustration, --in the first a hastily drawn comic figure, a freight car and a block signal; the second with boat, airplane and locomotive.

7.

An index page

from another

train book

that

was

started at this time. The contents are listed. All these headings were later completed with drawings and stories.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT, YEARS VIII AND IX The trend toward simplification and stereotyping continues during these two years. More interest is shown in complicated track arrangements. Subway and elevated trains, and track layouts are more frequently drawn. Interest in making books and newspaper pages continues. Creative ideas are shown in nearly every drawing. " Trains of the Future" are represented. There is wide variation in the content of the

53 drawings in these year l e v e l s . Comic figures are introduced. More detailed, elaborate and accurate labeling app e a r s . Novel t r a i n games are invented. Drawing in three dimensions with perspective improves during the nine year level. The train books Charles made in year nine were: ( 1 ) Book of e l e c t r i c a l devices with e l e c t r i c and steam trains, nineteen pages. ( 2 ) Book of transformers. Fourteen pages. ( 3 ) The train book. Twenty-two pages filled in according to the index. ( 4 ) Book of famous trains. Ten pages. This included drawings of h i s t o r i c a l l y important trains such as "Tom Thumb" and the " De Witt Clinton. " YEAR TEN 1.

A n a r r a t i v e p i c t u r e . Background of skyscrapers. Albany railroad s t a t i o n . The landscape background i s as important as the t r a i n . Old-style smoke stack on modern locomotive. Driving rods prominently shown connecting with steam c y l i n d e r . Passenger c a r s of o l d - s t y l e open platform type show overhead lighting detail, wheel trucks, and other equipment on underside. Correct labeling on side of tender. The drawing shows stereotyped tendency.

2.

Rolls of smoke, unlike previous indications of smoke. Driving rods correctly indicated, showing understanding of the mechanism. Drawing i s very c l e a r cut. P i l o t accurately drawn with small projecting platform. Bell on top of locomotive appears to be ringing. Differentiated detail on side of baggage car. Couplers a l l c l e a r l y shown. No accessory lines. This drawing tends more toward simple outlining than previous drawings.

3.

Three trains moving in different directions. Upper train with articulated units, streamlined; lower train rounding a curve. This page was dated. New d e t a i l in suggestion of spring over cab wheel.

4.

Two trains possibly intended to be racing each other, going rapidly around curved tracks. Spring over cab wheel more sharply outlined.

5.

A subway express train rounding a curve at high speed.

6.

Subway tracks showing switching stations and extra unused tracks. Color names are used to designate the different lines.

7.

Humorous picture showing tail end of train. House in air supported by balloons. Figures in air supported by birds, rockets and balloons.

8.

Humorous picture: creatures riding or flying through the air. Procession following train rapidly. YEAR

1.

ELEVEN

Large detailed drawing of side of locomotive with mechanical parts and their operation clearly and correctly indicated. Workman shown in action. Heavy driving rods suggest powerful action. Instead of spokes in stereotyped fashion as previously, the modern wheel construction is shown. Heavy rims on fore wheels are seen as in modern locomotives. Transparency is still shown in lower edge of locomotive. The bell is carefully drawn with shading, and appears to be ringine. Some steam, but no smoke.

2.

Four trains operating on four parallel tracks in the same direction. Block signals carefully drawn. Workman following second train. Clear cut labeling and lettering. Wheel trucks shown. Frame work under cars. Tender in bottom train has rounded end. Track along which the man runs is shown vertically with cross ties. The rest of the tracks do not show this feature. Lights shown in block signals. Everything regular and uniform.

3-

A page from a catalog of miniature train equipment. Parts are shown in the drawings. These parts are labeled and prices of the various parts are indicated.

55 4.

An imaginary drawing of a train of the future operated by " solar power. " Imaginary creatures appear in the aerial vehicles. The mechanism operating the train connecting with the sun is shown. The sun is shown with a face. A face also appears on the headlight of the train. Great variety in the freight cars. Playful labeling. Parachutists and a bomb.

SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT. YEARS X TO XI During this period realistic drawing often gives way to imaginative pictures, " trains of the future, " with fanciful creatures. Another train book is started, a poem about a train is written. There are fewer drawings in this level because much more writing is being done and the boy's attention is turning more and more to other subjects related to his school activities. An interest in tracks and map making and in time tables continues. Increased inventiveness is shown, especially in the imaginary drawings. Narrative pictures are frequently drawn with full detail in outline form. " O l d Style" locomotive details are put in, apparently for their humorous effect. The boy's understanding of the mechanism of steam locomotive operation is nearly complete; his understanding is reflected in the correctly drawn mechanical parts. The tendency toward simple outline without superfluous detail continues. Workmen are more frequently shown in appropriate action. The maximum number of trains and accessory detail is crowded into a single drawing. Perspective is shown in the child's own way. Humor is shown in the drawing detail and the labeling. Comical creatures are invented. Cartoonist qualities appear in the comic pictures of imaginary people and scenes. SUMMARY OF DEVELOPMENT, YEARS II TO XI When representative drawings in the various age levels are examined, the ways in which the drawings advanced in genetic sequence with age, practice and experience are apparent. In

56 t h i s sumnary we are i n t e r e s t e d both in the r a t e of a c c e l e r a t i o n i n v a r i o u s f e a t u r e s of the drawings and the changes in c h a r a c t e r of the drawings from year to year. I t i s d i f f i c u l t to i d e n t i f y d i s t i n c t i v e s t a g e s in development, b u t v a r i o u s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e found at c e r t a i n l e v e l s t h a t a r e not t y p i c a l of o t h e r s . There i s no sudden t r a n s i t i o n from one age l e v e l t o another, but gradual prog r e s s i v e development i s the r u l e . P r o g r e s s in drawing t r a i n s proceeded by the following succ e s s i v e s t a g e s which were not e n t i r e l y d i s t i n c t from each other: 1. R e p r e s e n t a t i o n of the whole o b j e c t whether locomotive or t r a i n by an i r r e g u l a r c i r c l e , with a d d i t i o n a l l i n e s sugg e s t i n g a c c e s s o r y d e t a i l ; a g e n e r a l i z e d drawing that could stand f o r anything. 2. The a d d i t i o n of more u n i t s , s t i l l in oval or c i r c u l a r form with i n c r e a s e in s u p p l e m e n t a r y o r s e c o n d a r y d e t a i l . 3. Tendency away from c i r c u l a r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n t o s q u a r e n e s s and the r e c t a n g u l a r . 4. D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of u n i t s and p a r t s , with b e t t e r i n t e g r a t i o n and o r g a n i z a t i o n of t h e s e p a r t s and u n i t s i n the whole. Smoother, more c o r r e c t assemblage of u n i t s . 5. Enrichment of d e t a i l , i n c r e a s e d a c c u r a c y i n drawing d e t a i l , and c o r r e c t placement of d e t a i l in the whole in rel a t i o n t o o t h e r p a r t s : c o u p l i n g s , smoke, p e o p l e , w r i t i n g , and the l i k e . 6. I n c r e a s e d b a l a n c e , symmetry, improved p r o p o r t i o n i n the drawings. 7. B e t t e r l i n e c o n t r o l , f i r m e r c o n t o u r s , more e v e n , s t r a i g b t e r , more c o r r e c t l i n e s . The change in t h i s f e a t u r e was l e s s from e a r l y to l a t e r d r a w i n g s than in o t h e r f e a t u r e s mentioned. 8 . I n c r e a s e in the amount of w r i t i n g and numbering a c companying the drawings; improvement in w r i t i n g s k i l l with i n c r e a s e in age.

57 9 . Developing i n t e r e s t from the engine or t r a i n i t s e l f to the t r a i n in a landscape background s e t t i n g . 10. B e t t e r correspondence with r e a l i t y , reaching a maximum a t about age s i x . 11. B e t t e r understanding of the locomotive mechanism with c o n s e q u e n t l y b e t t e r i n d i c a t i o n of the way in which t r a i n s and l o c o m o t i v e s o p e r a t e . T h i s t r e n d i n c r e a s e d s t e a d i l y throughout the s e r i e s . I n c r e a s e d tendency toward n a r r a t i o n and a b i l i t y to make n a r r a t i v e d r a w i n g s through e n r i c h i n g d e t a i l s , expanding the m a t e r i a l , making more complex drawings. 12. D i f f e r e n t i a t i o n of s i z e s and s h a p e s so t h a t f i n a l l y even the type of car or engine can be d i s t i n g u i s h e d . 13. C h a r l e s l a t e r s i m p l i f i e d a s d i d Simonne L u a u e t , by r e d u c i n g t h e number o f d e t a i l s and by a b r i d g e d s k e t c h y t r a c i n g of the d e t a i l s themselves. 14. There was a d e c r e a s e in the a c t u a l number of drawings made each y e a r , p a r t i c u l a r l y a f t e r C h a r l e s entered s c h o o l . 15. The tendency t o s u b s t i t u t e w r i t t e n d e s c r i p t i o n s t o r y writing for drawing.

and

16- The trend toward the drawing of imaginary t r a i n s with humorous i n c i d e n t and at the same time more r e a l i s t i c representation. By t h e a g e of e l e v e n C h a r l e s had not s t o p p e d d r a w i n g t r a i n s and h i s drawings had not become a l t o g e t h e r s t e r e o typed or c o n v e n t i o n a l i z e d . He was c o n t i n u a l l y i m a g i n a t i v e and i n v e n t i v e . The drawing s e r i e s was c o n s i s t e n t from beginning t o end. There were no r a d i c a l d e p a r t u r e s from the fundamental drawi n g c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s shown t h r o u g h o u t the s e r i e s . Each c a r r i e s the stamp of the b o y ' s own i n d i v i d u a l i t y . In the f i r s t two drawing y e a r s , a g e s Two and Three, the drawings improved from r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s not r e c o g n i z a b l e a s t r a i n s , to sketches any one could r e a d i l y i d e n t i f y as t r a i n s or l o c o m o t i v e s . The f a s t e s t growth, the most fundamental

58 changes came within the first three drawing years, ages Two to Four. From then on there was considerable differentiation in detail, but little advance in structure. in d r a w i n g

Increment

improvement became less and less as the child

neared maturity. In the first years, one pattern served for all the engines and trains, even for the engine and c a r s combined. In the mature years, the drawings were as varied as locomotives and cars a c t u a l l y are,

for the child represented w h a t he saw

w i t h correct detail. Charles used the a c c e s s o r i e s to dist i n g u i s h just w h i c h engine he meant. N u m b e r s and writing helped him here. In fact quite early he had the word

"ac-

c e s s o r y " in his v o c a b u l a r y because he o f t e n o b t a i n e d n e w parts for his miniature electric railway. In older age levels, especially seven and b e y o n d ,

when

Charles was not primarily featuring the locomotive or train itself but was rather

tending to tell a story about

the

trains, he drew in rapid simple outline, stereotyped;

but

when as less rarely occurred than formerly, he concentrated on the locomotive because of his interest in its mechanism, he drew realistically and took pains. These two apparently divergent and contradictory tendencies developed O n e major d e v e l o p m e n t a l

trend a p p e a r e d early: more

m o r e was crowded into each single picture, units,

together.

then m o r e a c c e s s o r y detail,

and

first more car

then more trains

and

tracks, finally a great variety of other material along with the train or locomotive. Wheels were at first

transparent.

Spokes and couplers appeared, the number of wheels increased and the wheels were placed under the cars and locomotive. At first there was no track, but later tracks w e r e d r a w n transparently across the train. In the beginning everything was drawn along a single horizontal base line. This is characteristic of young children's d r a w i n g no matter what

they draw. T r a i n s as d r a w i n g

sub-

jects lend themselves particularly well to this natural ten-

59 dency. Later C h a r l e s ' pictures

showed

several

rows or

levels, one above the other. At first there was no perspective. When the ties first appear they stand on end. Gradually there was differentiation in the size of the locomotive wheels. At first

the

locomotive was always drawn in profile. Later a front view was shown. Finally people appeared in the cars, the engineman in his cab, the brakeman on top of the freight

car.

In the developmental process certain features for a time took precedence over others. Sometimes considerable attention was paid to the equipment on top of the locomotive, at other times little emphasis was given to these details. Shading sometimes interested Charles, at other times not. When he was in a particular hurry he tended not

to add

spokes, but was content with single unfilled circles for wheels. A feature would appear, disappear, then reappear in much the same form as before. "Creative Drawing" was more pronounced at times than at others. It tended to come and go, reappearing each time in more mature form. REGRESSION AND FIXATION IN THE DRAWINGS Luquet (14) found considerable tendency toward

reversion

to initial or primitive types from time to time in Simonne's drawings. There

is little evidence of this tendency

in

Charles' drawings. There were apparent periods of stagnation, typical of all learning curves during which the boy, day after day, scarcely altered the essential character of his drawing; but the drawings as a whole do not show regression, a tendency to be less effectual or mature at a later stage than earlier. Even in the lettering on the sides of trains, though several years were required to attain any accuracy, and correctness, the trend was always progressive. There were times when the boy appeared to be held on a plateau from which he was slow in taking off; during which

60 there was little or no progress except for making firmer and more accurate lines. What might appear to be a regressive trend, the decline in the amount of detail shown and the actual number of

lines

used, was accompanied b y steady gain in accuracy and creativeness. Fixations appeared rather early, for example, the stereotyped drawing of the locomotive cab window, but

this

fixation was accompanied by more insightful d r a w i n g of the locomotive mechanism. The parts that ceased to interest the boy tended to become stereotyped. Figure II shows graphically the growth trends. The curve is based on a check of the n e w features a p p e a r i n g at each year level. For example, the first appearance of

squareness

was counted as one improvement and was credited to the year in which it first appeared; so too, couplers, passengers in cars, lettering, attempt at narration, and other

features.

The total number of new features in each year level was then computed and the cumulative sum of these gains year

after

year was used in constructing the curve. Age Level Year

New Features

Cumulative Sum

II

30

30

III

S3

83

IV

28

111

V

19

130

VI

20

150

VII

14

164

VIII

9

173

IX

10

183

X

11

194

8

202

XI

As the actual number of drawings decreased in the higher age levels some negative acceleration in the curve was naturally to be expected, but the decline in amount of drawing

61 accounts only to a small extent for the decline in new features. The curve shows that growth spurted at first and then leveled off gradually.

IV C H A R A C T E R I S T I C F E A T U R E S OF THE TRAIN DRAWINGS Schematic Drawing, Transparencies, Perspective In the preceding chapter were described the developmental trends shown within each year. In the next chapters characteristic features of the drawings, the manner in which the boy represented trains and accessories graphically will be analyzed. These features, such as transparency, graphic narration or writing and numbering, cut across almost the entire age range. The method used in studying these features was to select one feature at a time and to go through the entire series from age two to eleven, analyzing each drawing for the item in questiofi. Developmental trends were discovered in these separate features as the analysis proceeded through the series. The next four chapters summarize these analyses under the following headings: schematic drawing; transparencies, drawing in three dimensions; drawing in perspective; orientation; proportion; color, ornament and decoration; writing and numbering; developmental trends in the locomotive cab and pilot; the driving mechanism, and driving rods, picture composition, rhythm, representation of movement and action, graphic narration. SCHEMATIC, NON-PHOTOGRAPHIC DRAWING In the introductory chapter the fact was noted that a child's attempts to draw any given object may range all the way from a circular scribble, or vague impressionistic sketch to a clear cut, realistic reproduction of the object, depending on the age and maturity of the child. The closer the picture approaches the photographic, the nearer it comes to representing the object as most persons with normal

63 vision

see it. F e w p e r s o n s e v e r

drawing without

special

attain

to

photographic

talent and instruction.

Children

rarely draw p h o t o g r a p h i c a l l y w i t h any degree of skill.

The

typical photographic representation represents the u l t i m a t e stage in graphic realism. W h e n the child draws he u s e s his own peculiar m e t h o d , contrast

in

to the p h o t o g r a p h i c , w h i c h is to show all that he

k n o w s about

the t h i n g he d r a w s . H e d o e s not u s u a l l y

draw

the object as the adult sees it and from o n l y one p o i n t of view. A c c o r d i n g to Sully

(24) w h e n c h i l d r e n draw t h e y are

not a t t e m p t i n g to set d o w n an exact l i k e n e s s of w h a t

they

see w h e n they look at an o b j e c t , but i n t r o d u c e in a schem a t i c way what is of interest and seems important

to

them.

T h e child gets behind the m o m e n t a r y appearance of an object and in his drawing expresses what he knows to be there without regard to r e a l i s t i c a p p e a r a n c e . T h e c h i l d has the capacity

for selecting what

is c h a r a c t e r i s t i c and v a l u a b l e .

The young child is only trying to tell about things in drawing. H e is r e m i n d i n g h i m s e l f of w h a t he h a d s e e n a n d what he knows about

the o b j e c t s he draws. The child

of

infers

from what he knows of the object how it should look. L u q u e t (14) refers to the t e n d e n c y of the child to d r a w a l l he k n o w s a b o u t a n o b j e c t

as

"Logical

Realism. " For

example, a child s o m e t i m e s d r a w s a table all in o n e

plane

w i t h the four legs p r o j e c t i n g o u t w a r d from the c o r n e r s the

same two d i m e n s i o n a l

plane

as

the s q u a r e

table

rather than to show a p r o f i l e v i e w or to d r a w c o r r e c t l y three dimensions

with perspective.

As Luquet

in

top,

says,

in the

child shows us the d i s s e c t e d object. T h i s results in unintentional absurdities and c o n t r a d i c t i o n s . d r a w i n g s C h a r l e s made,

In the s e r i e s «rt

the p h o t o g r a p h i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n

true p e r s p e c t i v e w i t h l i t t l e

transparency was seldom

tained and then only late in the series.

in at-

6k

FORMULAS AND SCHEMES

From the time the c h i l d draws o b j e c t s so that

they a r e

r e c o g n i z a b l e as the t h i n g the c h i l d intended t o draw,

the

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s are o f t e n schematic in c h a r a c t e r . Eng

(7)

uses

the term

"formalized

"formula"; schema" or

drawings.

tures.

to

the

she b e l i e v e s ,

because

their

child's

found

f e a t u r e of her n i e c e

C h i l d r e n draw s c h e m a t i c a l l y ,

typed p a t t e r n s , observation

refer

" s t e n c i l s . " Eng ( 7 )

tendency t o be a constant later

others

in

stereo-

superficial

r e v e a l s t o them o n l y the most n o t i c e a b l e

A poorly,

this

Margaret's

fea-

i m p e r f e c t l y organized concept r e s u l t s . Eng

suggests the term " f o r m a l i z e d n a t u r a l i s m " f o r t h i s characteristic ly

tendency in c h i l d i s h drawing. The c h i l d i s

sophisticated

enough t o draw more r e a l i s t i c a l l y .

schema he c r e a t e s that

scarce-

from h i s m a t e r i a l ,

the few bare

stand f o r so much in the c h i l d ' s drawing,

The

strokes

are w h o l l y

s a t i s f y i n g to the young draftsman. A schema or formula such as c h i l d r e n e x h i b i t

in drawing a

house, a man or a flower i s a convenient storehouse f o r cont e n t and i d e a s .

It

r e p r e s e n t s the form in which the c h i l d

p r e s e r v e s h i s memories and i m p r e s s i o n s . makes i t e a s i e r

Using the schema

f o r the c h i l d t o reconstruct h i s

The drawings, however, become stereotyped, they look s t i f f , u n r e a l i s t i c .

material.

conventionalized;

Joints and d e t a i l s are omitted

that would g i v e a more r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t . Schematic representation

is

economical

for

thoughts on paper, but i t tations u n r e a l i s t i c a l l y

the busy c h i l d

projecting

stylized.

Charles always chose the simpler process in h i s ideas in drawing,

his

tends to make his graphic represen-

and t h i s ,

representing

in short, was e x a c t l y what

the schema or formula he adopted p r o v i d e d him. The use of these s t e r e o t y p e s enabled him t o get ahead w i t h the more important b u s i n e s s ,

which was u s u a l l y

telling

a s t o r y as

65 rapidly as possible in drawing. He was not concerned about photographic exactness. Had he been he would, unfortunately, have made few drawings and these would have told little. Illustrations of non-photographic representation and schemas in the series are the following: 11-24. Pilot is almost completely detached from the locomotive, connected by a line. Headlights from the beginning of Year III are always represented by straight, diverging lines, long and short. Axles are represented from Year III-4 by straight lines, usually at first only two crossing at right angles. The same convention is seen in III-8 and 9. Smoke is always represented by jerky, jagged lines, until thick curls appear in Year VII-5. Writing is represented by dots and dashes. Tracks are represented in Year III-6 by a series of short vertical lines crossing two longer lines at right angles. The train is shown in profile, but the track in bird's eye view. The same thing appears partially in Year IV-2. Driving rods are represented by straight lines that gradually become jointed. The enginemen in the cab of the locomotive, the brakemen and passengers are shown sometimes full length, sometimes with head only. The couplers are at first short straight lines connecting the train units. Brake wheels at Year III-9 are shown in profile, each as a straight line at right angles to and on top of another line. Huba as in Year III-10 are enlarged solid dots. Windows from III-11 on are represented by sauares with two lines crossing at right angles, cutting the

66 square into four equal parts, similar to the drawing of spokes. Couplers become curved links. In Year 111-14 the tracks are flat, shown in bird's eye view, but

the cars are shown in profile

from the

side elevation. In Year III-IS the pilot

is shown as a series of

radiating lines. Steps up the side of the car are represented on

as a series of short lines. T h e

the underside of the cars is shown as

shaped

equipment

irregularly

rectangles.

111-15•

Spokes are more numerous, but are shown as

simple radial 111-17.

lines.

Equipment on top of the locomotive is rather

uniformly represented as a series of trapezoids or indistinguishable

figures.

III-19- Car doors are shown as rectangles with vertical lines for boards. III-27. jected

The front elevation of the locomotive is pro-

flat on the ground. The wheels also lying flat,

resembling ears, are attached to this flat representation of

the locomotive. The tracks are represented by two

parallel lines crossed by irregular shorter IV-7.

lines.

Car steps are represented by a series of short

lines in a column floating in space. From about this time on the steam box is shown as a simple rectangle, and the bell is represented as an oval within a trapezoid, square or rectangle. IV-15.

The front of the locomotive lies

flat on the

t racks . Tracks are usually shown as straight or wavy lines, increasing in number. Sometimes as seen from above, lying flat on the ground. Ties are shown as equal evenly arranged.

in size,

67 Coal is represented as a ball of overlapping circles in Year IV. Transformers as shown in Year IV-21 are usually rectangles with subdivisions and appendages. V-J. Electrical connections are shown as straight converging lines. Diverging lines are used often to represent various parts, --headlights, the pilot, etc. V-15.

All

four wheels in each of the two automobiles

are shown in a row. V/-2. The joints in the drivers are represented by enlarged dots. VI-4•

Wheel

trucks are shown as rectangles on

the

wheels, connecting them in pairs. V7-5. Block

signals are rectangles with circles.

In Year VI, the wood siding on box cars is shown by vertical lines or criss-crossing lines at an angle to the rectangle representing the car. VI-13- The bell resembles a triangular shape perched on a box. The headlight has evenly drawn light beams. VI-14. The sun is shown as concentric circles drawn in much the same way as the coal in the tender. VII-5. A new style of smoke, --rolls of continuous overlapping

circles.

VII-13. Radiating lines for the sun's rays. Sky represented by horizontal lines near the top of the picture. VIII-1.

Wheel trucks are shown as rectangles.

VIII-2. Car steps are shown as short ladders. Electric connections

are radiating lines from rectangles on top

of cars. VIII-3. Tracks appear as long vertical and short horizontal lines. IX-2• The pilot appears like a brush sweeping the track.

68 X-l.

Skyscraper windows are shown as short lines; sta-

tion windows, barred squares. In this year there was some shading and blurring of objects drawn to represent moving parts, giving the effect of speed. For other illustrations of schematic drawing see the later sections in this chapter where the pilot and locomotive cab drawing is analyzed. TRANSPARENCIES Transparencies are universal in children's drawing. In attempting to represent objects in space, children do not draw photographically, --the foreparts opaque with respect to objects behind, suppressing details that are masked in reality. On the contrary, they draw the object as they know it to be schematically, with resultant

transparencies.

In Charles' drawings transparencies are common from the three year level. The tracks show through wheels, the body of the locomotive shows through wheels, the engineman is shown full length in the engine cab. The tendency is so common as to give most of the pictures an ethereal, ghostlike quality. We see phantom locomotives, more like the machines with glass bodies exhibited at the New York World's Fair. It is difficult first

to identify the drawings in which the

transparencies appeared. The

following

tendencies

toward drawing transparently were noted: II- 3. Suggests overlapping car units. 11-4,5.

These drawings show overlapping wheels on the

rim of the main unit. 11-11. Wheels which have moved

to the lower edge of

the train unit are transparent. This tendency continues throughout the year. 11-17. Tracks are shown transparent through the wheels.

69 111-2•

Wheel

couplers

at an angle are

represented by two lines

transparent.

111-7. The pilot is 111-3,8,9,20,24.

transparent.

Transparent man in the cab.

More and m o r e

IIJ-11. are shown

joined

the train equipment

and

detail

train

unit.

transparently.

111-14.

Tracks

111-15. III-18.

show

Spokes Wheels

of

through

the e n t i r e

the w h e e l s

show through

are

transparent.

the locomotive

equipment

on the bottom. IV-1. is

Ladder or equipment on the side of the locomotive

transparent. IV-3.

Wheels and couplers.

IV-5. shown

New

on

the

s i d e of

the

locomotive

is

transparently.

IV-6. all

detail

An increased

transparent,

amount of mechanism is shown

though some parts are shaded

here,

as though

to make them stand out better. Wheel trucks are transparent.

IV-11. IV-15-

Front

v i e w of l o c o m o t i v e on tracks

is

trans-

parent. In Year V as less detail is shown there is less opportunity

for

transparency, but

the effect p e r s i s t s

in

the wheels. Y-5. V-9• V-15.

Track

transparent

through freight

The smoke weaves out of the chimney Block

signal

standard

car. transparently.

is transparent

over

the

building representing the station. V-16-

The sun is transparent. Airbrake tubes are trans-

parent. VI-2. Bell is transparent. VI-5.

One block signal arm is transparent over another.

70 VI-9.

Apparently there is an attempt here to avoid

transparency through shading. VI-1J.

More successful attempt in this drawing.

VI-12•

Tracks and hills of the landscape appear trans-

parent through the train. VI-13.

Track is transparent, bell and smoke, wheels and

side of train. VI-15.

Man in cab full length transparent. Shading of

air brake tubes prevents transparency from here on. More and more shading is used in an effort to produce an opaque effect and to overcome transparency. In the Year 111-27 occurs an exception, for although the train is flat on the tracks, the track does not show through. VII-13.

Sky shows through sun.

VIII-1.

Wheels and wheel trucks are transparent.

VIII-3•

The front elevation of the locomotive does not

show track transparency as in the earlier pictures. IX. Little evidence of transparency. More mature drawing in three dimensions here. X-l.

There are still occasional wheel and car trans-

parencies . X-3,4. XI-1.

Track and wheel transparencies. Solid shading of the parts reduces transparency

but the man's hands are still shown transparent, hence success in overcoming transparency is only partially complete. Transparency is shown in the wheels and very slightly in car tracks, but not in the little man nor in the block signals. The last picture in Year XI shows the hands in a figure at lower right as transparent.

71 Throughout

the s e r i e s

transparency

the m o s t o b v i o u s

and

persistent

is in the w h e e l s o n the s i d e s of the

trains

and the wheels shown w i t h r e f e r e n c e to the tracks.

In the

later

years in several d r a w i n g s C h a r l e s

apparently

tried

to g e t around t r a n s p a r e n c y b y l i f t i n g the l o c o m o t i v e cars

over

the w h e e l s .

transparency,

In s p i t e of

the

tendency

the wheels o n the far side of the locomotive

are n e v e r shown. One set of w h e e l s d r a w n in p r o f i l e sents

schematically

From

and

toward

both

repre-

sets.

time to time the b o y ' s e f f o r t

to a c h i e v e

t h r o u g h shading c a n be o b s e r v e d . T h i s

tendency

opacity

increases

t h r o u g h the series. A n o t h e r trend is to d r a w in mere outline, instead of in detail so that the problem

is in a sense c i r c u m v e n t e d .

transparency-opacity These problems

h o w e v e r , never completely s o l v e d in the

In d r a w i n g h u m a n figures in c o n n e c t i o n w i t h h i s and l o c o m o t i v e s Charles transparent passenger

alternated between

trains

full-length

figures and heads o n l y in the e n g i n e cab, c a r s . Why,

in h i s

are,

series.

earlier drawings,

were

and not

p a s s e n g e r s represented more o f t e n t r a n s p a r e n t l y in harmony with the general trend toward representing objects in space in t h i s w a y ? P r o b a b l y b e c a u s e really necessary

the h e a d w a s all

to d i s t i n g u i s h p a s s e n g e r s

The trunk and appendages had less meaning this

was

for the child in

situation.

It is customary to consider transparencies t y p i c a l l y childish. T h e y d o not a p p e a r Yet

that

in the cars.

in drawing as

in c l a s s i c a l

art.

t o d a y we find the d e v i c e s u c c e s s f u l l y u s e d in m o d e r n

abstract

art.

ATTEMPTS TO REPRESENT THREE DIMENSIONS IN DRAWING Three dimensional drawing

requires

p r e s e n t e d on a two d i m e n s i o n a l difficult

that v o l u m e b e

re-

sheet of p a p e r . T h i s is a

feat to perform realistically,

the ultimate

task

72 in photographic dr awing. Charles circumvented the threedimension problem in his early pictures chiefly by using the profile device. The locomotive and trains lend themselves well to profile-type drawing since they are usually and most effectively seen in profile. Some attempt to represent the third dimension, (the projection of an object in space,) or to indicate volume and solidity, appears throughout the series. The trend is related to perspective drawing to be described in the next section. Usually there was only partial success in representing the third dimension, admittedly the most difficult problem in all drawing. The profile and transparent drawing details persisted along side of parts represented as having volume. Sometimes the tendency noted by Luquet in his child's drawings was shown in Charles' work. The boy shifted his point of view within the same drawing. This enabled him to show what was on various sides of a locomotive, without having to draw in three dimensions. The tendency to " change the point of view" within a single drawing actually enables the child to tell more than he could in a realistic three dimensional drawing. Illustrations of drawing with changed point of view in the same picture, are found in Year 111-14,27, IV-IS and IX-2. The tendency disappeared after the Four Year level to reappear in a different version in Year IX. The sculpturesque quality of conventional art is largely lacking from these drawings. No shadows were ever shown. The points at which volume is suggested, attempts at shading and three dimensional drawing, are as follows: 11-24. Elliptoid face of the locomotive headlight suggests the third dimension. This effect may have been accidental. 111-2,10. Roof shown suggests third dimension.

73 III-8. Shaded coupler makes it appear solid. III-12. Shading in block signals.Brake wheels are shown in third dimension. V-15. Front views of autos and station are shown together with a side profile view of the locomotive. IV-19,20, (also V-13,14,16, VI-5,7,12, and VII-5). The second track connects with the first at an angle giving the effect of a plane at right angles to the train. The lower cars and trains seem nearer. VI-18. Shows area. VII-6. Automobile, station and shed are shown in front elevation, but train in side profile view. The traffic signs seem to stand out in front. IX-2,3. Train rounding bend shown in three dimensions. IX-2. This picture suggests three dimensions at once, the front part of the locomotive and track, then the rear part is shown in profile view, as usual. X-3,4,5. Three dimensions are suggested in the trains rounding the curve. X-7. This picture has a sense of space. The house suspended in air gives the impression of being in three dimensions . DRAWING IN PERSPECTIVE In drawing, the most mature, realistic stage (not necessarily the most artistic) is reached when the drawing is done in perspective as objects are seen in space photographically from a single point of view. Drawing in perspective gives the effect of depth or stereopsis such as the person with normal vision obtains when he looks into space.

The effect of perspective is gained in drawing in several ways: by representing objects in the distance as smaller than those in the foreground, by showing the distant part of an object that projects into space as smaller than the forepart of the same object, by lines approaching in the distance, by rounding the contours and making less sharp the contours of distant objects in contrast with those near at hand, by reducing the amount of details shown in distant objects; and when color is used, by bluing or graying the color of distant objects in contrast to those in the foreground. Small objects can be drawn effectively in three dimensions without the use of perspective, for the perspective in such case would be slight. Perspective is required for a naturalistic effect in representing long objects projecting into space or landscapes. H o w conscious the young child is of perspective it is difficult

to say. Recent research shows that the two year

old child does not see distance in abstract

perspective

figures. The undeveloped condition of the typical small child's eyes may prevent his observing perspective so effectually as the mature person.^ Updegraph found that even four year olds who were very sophisticated in spatial relations could not interpret space correctly in terms of perspective, relative size, shadows and the like. The behavior of typical young children suggests however

that as they

approach kindergarten age, more exact depth perception very rapidly develops. That children of

four are conscious of

perspective is shown by Mrs. Curti who says that her little girl, on noticing her father walking down the street toward the parked car exclaimed, " O h look! Daddy's getting smaller and smaller. " I myself recall when riding on the train as a 4. Updegraph, Ruth. The Visual Percept ion of Distance Young Children

and Adults:

in

A Comparative Study. University

of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare, 4, No.4.

1930.

75 c h i l d of five t h i n k i n g

that p e o p l e w h o l i v e d at a d i s t a n c e

w e r e d o l l - s i z e d and i n h a b i t e d t o y h o u s e s . In

the p r e c e d i n g

avoided trains ever,

that

Charles

the p r o b l e m of d e p t h a n d v o l u m e c h i e f l y b y

drawing

in p r o f i l e , we

find

perspective

At

f a i r l y e a r l y i n the representing

It i s - d i f f i c u l t

the Year

series

a naive

round objects

as e l l i p t i c a l this effort

farther

they on

are

intentional.

smaller

from

the

is m u c h

If c o n s i d e r e d

at o n e e n d . E v e n

buted form

of

end units,

first unit,

right hand

freight

as a u n i t ,

the two

than

year

this

unit Year

s i d e of

locomotive,

N o . 16

the

the page.

in u p p e r l e f t

the c e n t e r

perspective.

whether

s i d e of

car or l o c o m o t i v e

smaller

impression

smaller

the

the l e f t o r

II, d r a w i n g N o . 1 5 , page

in was

d r a w i n g s show t a p e r i n g off in size of the a t t a c h e d c a r s appears

of

smaller

II level a l o n g s t r i n g of s a u s a g e - l i k e

to b e c o m e

How-

grasp

train units

to s a y h o w m u c h of

g r a d u a l l y d i m i n i s h in size.

it a p p e a r s

suggested

or b y s h i f t i n g h i s p o i n t of v i e w .

accidental and which was

cars

it w a s

s h o w n b y m a k i n g the d i s t a n t

in s i z e o r b y shape.

section

II

shows

also No.17. T h i s can scarcely be

attri-

to c h a n c e or d i s p r o p o r t i o n

in Y e a r

giving

s i n c e it is a f a i r l y

uni-

tendency.

Perspective

is s u c h a s t r i k i n g

feature

that e v e n a v e r y y o u n g c h i l d m i g h t Perspective

is m u c h l e s s o b v i o u s

of

at

conscious certain

this

s t a g e or l a t e r

of p e r s p e c t i v e

present

top,

It is

doubtful really

t r a i n s a n d it

that p e r s p e c t i v e w a s n e v e r p o i n t e d o u t n o r his

trains

been due

and

for a t i m e a l l

locomotives

to s e v e r a l

to c o n c e n t r a t e

range, his a t t e n t i o n w a s m o r e l a r g e l y c e n t e r e d o n t h a n the w h o l e

drawing train.

reThis

thing,

close

rather

exact

For one

is

taught to

began

engine unit,

on more

tendency

in p e r s p e c t i v e .

factors.

it.

automo-

stages Charles was

as a f e a t u r e of

to h i m . L a t e r C h a r l e s l o s t may have

trains

e a s i l y b e a w a r e of in a table

b i l e , or in the s i n g l e car of a t r a i n u n i t . whether

long

of d e t a i l

Furthermore,

he at the he

76 appears to have begun to rationalize more about Perhaps he realized

trains.

that in actuality all the car units

would be fairly equal in size no matter how far away they were. Charles' tendency to study the locomotive drawings in his train picture books and catalogs may have retarded somewhat his progress toward true perspective representative of objects in space since the picture book drawings often appeared in profile and always in two-dimensional

planes.

They seldom showed perspective. No perspective is shown in tracks, Year III, No. 6. In Year III-16 the work car is placed higher and is made smaller than the main freight train. The track behind

111-27.

the locomotive is narrower

tfian that in the forefront of the picture and ahead of the circle representing the locomotive. From Year IV there is an increasing tendency to use per spective. V-14. The smaller, more distant train is at the top. VI. At times the boy seems to have been a little confused. He put things farther away (usually made smaller) in the foreground of the picture instead of the upper part. VI-8,18.

A smaller and apparently more distant

train

is shown beneath the larger train. IX-2•

The train is rounding a curve in the

tracks.

This is shown by curving the lines of the locomotive, curving the tracks, and combining front and side views of the locomotive, the front elevation appearing side elevation

first,

for the rear part of the locomotive and

the rest of the train. The hind part of the locomotive, tender

and attached cars decrease gradually in

size.

77 This is the best representation of perspective up to this point. IX-3•

Cars farther away are represented as smaller. Cab

and tender of locomotive are relatively smaller than the locomotive. X-l.

Windows in the skyscraper are much smaller than

the station and cars, giving the effect of perspective. X-5.

The cars tend to become smaller the farther they

are away. X-8. Comic scene. The upper cars are smaller than the lower car giving the effect of perspective. ORIENTATION, DIRECTIONAL RELATIONS Orientation improved with age, experience, and practice. Placing the wheels within the units and later the spokes outside the wheels were obvious errors in orientation that were soon corrected. From the time Charles first sensed the functional relation of the wheels to the cars, his representations were more accurate. These anachronisms were overcome as a result of the child's natural development, not as the result of formal instruction. There seems to have been no sudden emergence of improved orientation, but rather the gradual elimination of error. Improvements in orientation increased with experience and power to reason, to judge, to see relationships, to understand the significance of what was drawn. The trains from the middle of Year II are usually orientated toward the left side of the page. Before that time the orientation was in either right or left direction. In the early drawings the trains were drawn in a single horizontal line; later there were several rows of trains above each other in horizontal position. The dominant spatial positions were horizontal and vertical, but there were occasional curvilinear drawings, and various combinations

78 of c u r v e s , M a n y of

a n g l e s and s t r a i g h t l i n e s

the t r a i n s and

locomotives

in the

appear

arrangements.

to p l u n g e u p or

d o w n at an a n g l e a c r o s s the paper. By

the end of Y e a r

p a r t s of

IV correct o r i e n t a t i o n of the

the l o c o m o t i v e

and w i n d o w s h a d assumed try w a s

shown

in d r a w i n g early

in

was practically

attained.

Wheels

their proper positions. Good

the a r r a n g e m e n t

of

strings of

symme-

cars

and

the car units. W h e e l s w e r e o f t e n w e l l - s p a c e d

in

drawings.

The

a d d i t i o n of n e w d e t a i l was u s u a l l y c h a r a c t e r i z e d

proper placement

with

respect

to o t h e r parts. W h e n

b e c a m e c o n s c i o u s of n e w d e t a i l he tended to sense its proper 11-2,4. quite

relationship in the

Object

centered

Train moves

to the

11-10. T r a i n m o v e s tion

on p a g e ;

at

is m o r e

Charles

the same

time

ensemble. it

fills

the

sheet

In Y e a r

to

II,

tion w h e n 2 2 and

from

this p o i n t

to left on, but

P a r t s of

are w i t h i n

IJI-3.

and

the unit d r a w i n g

the locomotive

the smoke stack

the m a i n u n i t

or

representing

the

are in correct

first appears.

Year

posi-

II, N o . 2 1 ,

23.

During Year III trains more freauently move to left

orientaleft

alternate.

the w h e e l s

the o u t e r b o r d e r of

locomotive.

right.

to the left. R i g h t

frequent

right c o n t i n u e

than

from left

to

from right

right.

Forepart of locomotive appears to be upside down.

Orientation III, No.6Year

by

well.

II-9.

on

various

with

respect

to track

is well

shown in Y e a r

Smoke was rather indiscriminately placed

until

III. In Year IV letters and numbers are sometimes

Steady

improvement

in p l a c i n g

the

train

reversed.

straight

across

the page. N o g l a r i n g errors in o r i e n t a t i o n . P l a c e m e n t

of

79 lettering improves during this year. Placement of eouipment on top of locomotive becomes fixed during this year. Reversal errors in lettering. IV-7. Train is shown high above the tracks. This was characteristic for a time. By Year VI, No.6, wheels are still irregularly placed. No uniformity from car to car in spacing, number, placement, etc. VI-8•

Here is seen considerable improvement in wheels,

but still far from accurate placement. VI-J8-

The picture fills the space well.

By the Year VII the proper relation of the driving rods to the wheels and front steam cylinder is shown. By ten years this is more definitely and accurately shown, though the child actually appears to be less interested in the locomotive as a separate unit. His maturing mind enabled him to grasp the technical principles involved in the operation of the locomotive. VII.

Much straighter lines, better spacing. Train moves

across the paper. V I I - 1 3 . Plane and bird move in the same direction as the train. VII,IX,X,XI.

The trains all move to the left.

PROPORTION Charles displayed a better sense of proportion in his drawing than typical children of his age. His drawings also show more coherence, integration and unity, better organisation. Balance was good in the beginning, and continued to improve step by step. The boy did not usually find himself out of space with more still to draw that constituted any important part of the whole. But occasionally the head-

8o l i g h t , pilot or Later

rear car was cramped

for want o f

as the d r a w i n g s became m o r e complicated,

apace.

the

pages

were more crowded, but they were still well-balanced.

From

the first drawings at two years, the picture usually

just

comfortably

fills the page. Often the locomotive is well-

balanced in the center of the sheet, or the train is swung across the m i d d l e half of the page. Disproportion appears at times to have b e e n used tionally

for humorous effect. Often the parts that

intenseemed

more important were intentionally exaggerated in size, while other parts were minimized. Lack of proportion appeared in the following II-6.

An i n c o n g r u i t y

extend beyond

is shown here w h e r e

instances: the

the wheels. E n g i n e s are usually

shown much larger

at

spokes first

than other train units. As soon as the

locomotive tender was differentiated

from the rest of the

train it was drawn smaller than the locomotive. See drawings Year II, N o . 2 2 and 23By Year III, wheel ferentiated. large;

size in the l o c o m o t i v e w a s dif-

Wheels were

exaggerated,

at

first

disproportionately

in Year III, No.2. B r a k e wheels

on

freight cars are shown foreshortened, elliptical in shape, not as round wheels. Usually as many wheels were m a d e as the bottom edge of the car or locomotive would

accommo-

date. A glaring example of disproportion is shown in the first

attempt

to represent

a m a n in the engine c a b at

age III, No.25. The man is almost

twice as tall as the

height of the car. Even so, the top of the paper

flattened

his head a little. The same error appears later when the brakeman appears on top of the car. The uniformity

differentiated V-8,12• V-15.

tendency

toward

in the size of the wheels later gives way to wheel

sizes.

Disproportionately Block

small

signals are greatly

tenders. enlarged.

81 VI-5.

Block signals are here shown in better proportion. The wheels are d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y

large.

VI-2.

Small wheels are d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y

small.

VI-17. VI-18.

Shows good sense of balance and p r o p o r t i o n .

From Year VI there i s r e l a t i v e l y b e t t e r proportion of the locomotive to the cars. Year Seven shows much improvement in p r o p o r t i o n . are a b e t t e r

Wheels

s i z e in r e l a t i o n to the whole. However,

wheel proportion fluctuates from good to poor and v i c e

the

versa

during this period. The exaggerated

forward push o f

l o c o m o t i v e moving at g r e a t

the upper p a r t of

speed was a d i s t o r t i o n

the that

Charles o f t e n shows which may have represented an attempt on h i s part to draw r e a l i s t i c a l l y . in Chapter I I I ,

As has been suggested

the small boy looking up at the high loco-

m o t i v e from a near p o i n t may see the l o c o m o t i v e in particular COLOR,

this

way.

ORNAMENT AND DECORATION

Charles did not care to make his drawings in c o l o r . He was s a t i s f i e d with ordinary black lead p e n c i l . Although he always had a set of c o l o r e d crayons, he used them c h i e f l y for d e c o r a t i o n ,

not f o r the major drawings. There i s

just

one train drawing in c o l o r s . This appeared at the F i v e Year level.

The c o l o r s were red, green and black, but they were

used interchangeably and did not s i g n i f y anything in r e l a tion to the train drawings. Another on the reverse side was in red, green, blue and black. In two drawings, Year VII-11 and IX-1, he wrote in the c o l o r names appropriate f o r the l i g h t s instead of drawing the l i g h t s in c o l o r . There was l i t t l e attempt at ornament. Charles was business-like,

practical,

too busy f o r s u p e r f l u i t i e s that did

not c o n t r i b u t e to f u n c t i o n . Ornament f o r ornament's sake scarcely appears. Any embellishment was part of the o r i g i n a l

82 picture rather than decoration. Drawing was a story-telling device rather than an artistic pursuit. Evidences of ornament weie as follows: VI-6.

A fancy pattern at the too of the page, orna-

menting the first page of a train book. VI-16.

In the latter part of Year VI and in succeeding

years, trains themselves tend to become simply decoration in schematic effect for the stories written about trains. VI-19 is a good illustration of this tendency. Later in the creative and imaginary drawings, the whole effect is decorative, but there are few ornamental features used alone for their decorative effect. All the comic drawings seem ornamental. TEXTURE Texture is indicated by markings on the sides of locomotives and cars. Shading for doors, coupler and wheel trucks appears in Year III, No.18,19,21,25. Wood panelling is indicated in the Three Year level by lines on the sides of the freight cars.

V CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES Writing and Numbering, Developmental Trends in Detail of Cab and P i l o t Charle s showed an i n t e r e s t in w r i t i n g very early.

In fact

he seems to have known the purpose of l e t t e r s and numbers long b e f o r e he could make them c o r r e c t l y . Two f a c t o r s may have stimulated his e a r l y i n t e r e s t in w r i t i n g : parents w r i t e and o b s e r v i n g

seeing h i s

the i n s c r i p t i o n s on

trains,

calendars,

and s i g n s . At f i r s t h i s w r i t i n g a c t i v i t y was

imitative;

soon i t became f u n c t i o n a l in purpose as he re-

c o g n i z e d the uses which w r i t i n g His

served.

f i r s t w r i t i n g as i t appeared on the t r a i n drawings

c o n s i s t e d of

short h o r i z o n t a l dashes and curved l i n e s

i m i t a t i o n of

the printed l e t t e r and number symbols he had

in

observed on cars and engines. Several years elapsed between this f i r s t writing e f f o r t and correct l e t t e r i n g , but steady improvement took p l a c e in the meanwhile with no d i r e c t formal i n s t r u c t i o n .

or

His w r i t i n g and numbering was by no

means c o n f i n e d to t r a i n s .

There was always

considerable

w r i t i n g a c t i v i t y going on in connection with other drawing, games and newspaper play. It

is d i f f i c u l t

to determine the f i r s t p i c t u r e in which

attempts at l e t t e r i n g

appear because Charles

scribbled

pseudo-letters and figures long before he could make numbers and l e t t e r s c o r r e c t l y and the pseudo-lettering i s d i f f i c u l t to d i s t i n g u i s h from other marks and l i n e s . None appears in the Two Year l e v e l .

Not u n t i l

the c h i l d began to draw in

g r e a t e r d e t a i l did he f i r s t t r y to reproduce the l e t t e r i n g he observed on trains. Evidently written

symbols in i m i t a t i o n of l e t t e r s

and

numbers f i r s t appear on the t r a i n drawings between the ages

81* of three and three and a half years. Numbers were made correctly earlier than letters. At about age four the first correctly made letters appeared. The first words Charles wrote correctly were short easy words with no difficult letters: "Toot toot, " and "Erie." These words were easy to learn because they functioned in his experience and meant so much to him. The development that took place in spontaneous writing is shown in Figure III. Here are found samples of the writing and numbering taken from the train drawings from the earliest drawing where a sort of pseudo-writing occurred to the more mature writing that appeared at about age six. From that time on there was an increase in the amount of writing rather than any marked change in quality or style. The initial inaccuracies were all straightened out with increased maturation and patient practice. The growth in writing was all untutored except for help the boy demanded occasionally from his mother. The writing shows steady systematic progress with no noticeable regressions, though the quantity of writing on train pictures fell off at times as Charles turned his new writing skill to other purposes not illustrated here, for example, making newspapers, writing stories about other subjects than trains. Within the first six years of life Charles had attained all the essential, basic writing skill he was later to use. He did not attain this skill during the early school years, the time ordinarily considered most appropriate for learning to write. All writing in connection with trains through the Eight Year level was in capital

letters.

Though from the age of about six and a half the child received instruction at school in manuscript (print type) writing, he preferred to use capitals in all his labeling, just as the labels usually appeared on trains and traffic

YEAR Y

YEAR IE I

c«- VEu'YC)«; r •tpk.'^,

' 1 »A

' T

r ^•j v

Canti m e. te rs FICUFF WRITING

III

D f V E L0 PP E N T

PROM

AGI

THREE

IN TO

SPONTANEOUS AGE

SEVEN

F i g u r e IV. R e p r e s e n t a t i v e L o c o m o t i v e » B u i l t

by t h e American L o c o m o t i v e Company.

85 signals. The school-taught manuscript style first appears in the " P o e m " at the Nine Year level. Charles' writing in connection with the train drawings shows a gradual shift from the use of drawing as a means of recording his ideas, to written language, a symbolic means of making records. The one form of expression did not suddenly displace the other; but from about the age of eight or nine writing in story telling gradually supplanted drawing. Even to the end of the series at age eleven, writing out thoughts about trains had not wholly displaced graphic expression. As he gained skill and fluency in writing, the boy often showed the emotion he felt as he wrote by varying the sixe of writing and pressure of his pencil on the paper. III-3. Short dashes in imitation of numbers or letters on the side of the coal car. IJI-4. Short lines and dashes in systematic fashion on the side of passenger cars, obviously to indicate lettering. III-5. Much more extensive simulated lettering. III-7. The letters " C, " " A " and " H. " All are letters in the boy's name. They cover the side of the locomotive. III-8. Headlight receives some scratchings suggestive of numbers and letters. More localized lettering and numbering here on the cab of the locomotive

representing

a distinct advance over previous work, though the numbers cannot all be identified. III-ll. Markings on the side of passenger car. 111-12. Scribbling on the side of freight car, and on block signals. Close approximation to actual numbers and letters on the traffic sign. 111-15,18. Lettering in the trade-mark emblem on the side of the freight car.

86 More extensive lettering, more closely resem-

111-16.

bling actual letters and figures. The pseudo-letters are more distinctly made. 111-18•

Pseudo-lettering more fluently done.

111-20.

Elaborate lettering on the headlight. Apparently, a much closer approximation to

111-20,22-

the correct lettering for III-22.

14

E R I E " on the locomotive cab.

The first story " T O O T TOOT. " C h a r l e s

asked

his mother how to spell the words. III-25. Pseudo and actual numbers combined. The numbers 66 stand out clearly. 111-26.

A, B, C are clearly written.

III-27.

Numbers 441 distinctly made on the front of the

locomotive. During this period Charles assiduously practiced writing letters and numbers apart from the drawings. It was some time, however, before this outside practice functioned well in his drawings. IV-2.

Numbers and letters on side of car show greater

accuracy. Cross-ties on tracks become numbers. IV-4.

Scribble-like imitation writing continues.

IV-6.

ERIE for the first time legibly written.

IV-7.

The date, May 9132 (Numbers 9 and 3 reversed).

IV-9.

" IN T R A I N D A D D Y " a c c o m p a n y i n g

the d r a w i n g of

" daddy's" head. IV-10.

ERIE ERIE

IV-11.

S c r i b b l i n g on cars.

IV-12•

E R I E and other numbers and letters.

IV-14.

T R A I N E R I E ROAD E R I E R A I L

IV-16.

ROAD PAIL ERIE PAT (on headlight)

IV-17.

ERIE ERIE and numbering 994 and 44

IV-18.

TYDOL GULF WAP TANK LPPED ON (looped on)

IV-19.

COAL

IV-22.

Numbering of tracks.

87 In another drawing not shown here he wrote wards as

" NIAPT. " During t h i s y e a r

practice

in w r i t i n g words,

c l o c k s and c a l e n d a r s , ing

and l e t t e r i n g .

" T R A I N " back-

t h e r e was

considerable

l e t t e r s and numbers and in making

numbered t a b l e s a l l

At about

r e q u i r i n g number-

t h e age o f

four y e a r s ,

months he began t o ask much more i n s i s t e n t l y s p e l l i n g words. letters.

At

in c a p i t a l cat,

He l e a r n e d

four y e a r s , letters.

West S t r e e t ,

quently month,

wrote

the d i f f e r e n t

sounds and

n i n e months he wrote h i s eight,

the date with

For S a l e ,

their "dog,

For P e n t . " H e

the proper

" M a r c h " and

in

f u l l name

Other words t h a t he w r o t e were

ate,

f o r example

eight

for help

spelling

fre-

of

the

"May."

V - 1 , 2 . Numbering and l e t t e r i n g on c a r s . V-8.

Numbers 107 on h e a d l i g h t

V-9.

Lettering

V-10.

the f i r s t

Year Three.

correspond.

little

story

w r i t i n g of

and e n g i n e

cab oc-

year.

V-14.

NEW YORK ANIE AOP ONE S c r i b b l i n g i n p l a c e of

backwards.

l e t t e r i n g on t r a f f i c

in l e t t e r i n g

there seemed t o be somewhat l e s s

and numbering than i n i n d i c a t i n g the mechanical

Ninth Avenue.

he used t h e terms tinued to write ing of

interest

i n the c a r s and e n g i n e s .

Other words that he wrote d u r i n g t h i s year w e f e : local,

signs.

ERIE ERIE ERIE

During t h i s year details

appeared

complete sentences

YORK NEW The engine number 1333 w r i t t e n

V-15. V-16.

C i t y No. 6 "

" T o o t T o o t " that

Numbers 99 on h e a d l i g h t

The f i r s t

c u r r e d during t h i s V-12.

"Erie

"TOOT TOOT TOOT WE'RE OFF. " T h i s i s an e n l a r g e -

ment o f at

and cab c o r r e s p o n d .

and numbering

"vertical"

and " h o r i z o n t a l . " He con-

the d a t e c o r r e c t l y .

he asked h i s t h e p a r t s of

Express,

In connection with a book he was making

mother

to w r i t e

In one F i v e Year drawon h i s p a p e r

the l o c o m o t i v e as he drew them.

the

names

88 In this year scribbling and correct lettering and numbering are combined. When Charles was in a hurry he often resorted to scribbling, as for example in representing the pages of a newspaper. VI-2.

Toot Toot Erie

VI-6.

NINE--the number of a page in a train book.

VI-7.

Larger car number.

VI-12.

" Pail road" written as one word correctly, aJso

" G u l f " and much numbering. VI-13•

" T h e train book"

Erie

No. 591

Exp

VI-14•

Improved lettering, "Train Leaving Terminal at

Night. " VI-15.

New York City. Erie Express 91 Toot Toot Toot

Toot VI-16. "A

Page one of a train book. Descriptive statement,

train that has ten cars." " H e a r " probably meant

" h e r e " indicating location of wheels. 6 in front of train. VI-17.

191916

10000000000 miles an hour. The end.

Page 7 of train book. "Toot toot the train is

moving fast 1000 miles an hour. Faster and faster and faster 2000000 miles an hour. 4 cars on the train when the train wrecked at 2000000 miles an hour. "

This is.his

first story. VI-19•

A letter to his father, the front page of which

was the drawing No.18. " Dear Daddy. I love you. I hope you are happy in the office. You will be happy on the train. You will be happy when you come home tonight. Charles. " He wrote his middle name on the middle car, his last name on the car to the right and his full name was signed to the letter. Marked development in writing was shown during this period. All phases showed improvement: spelling, formation of the letters, and ability to express thoughts in writing. During this period a Train Book of 27 pages was made. This was dated, September 21, 1933. The labeling included: New

89 York, Subway, " El, " Hackensack trains to New York, Second Avenue, Third Avenue, Goes out, express, local, etc. The number names were sometimes written out. Once a child has learned the separate letter forms improvement in writing takes place rapidly. Simonne Luouet showed much the same trends in writing in this respect as Charles. In Charles' case we have a clear case of incidental learning with self-imposed practice. He demanded such assistance as he received, and his questions were answered in the most helpful way. VII-1. VII-2.

MAIL CAR Numbering on locomotive is even and consistent.

VII-3• Names on trains: Dover Local car and locomotive. Train nunbers distinctly written on trains and time table. Street names and destination; Kenvil, Succasunna. VII-4. Trains and station labeled: Hackensack, New York. Numbering on clock. VII-6. Numbers on locomotive cars and station clock. The plane is doing sky writing. VII-7. ERIE CITY Initials and numbering. VII-8. Train game. Elaborate lettering. Jail Lose turns Go back Go ahead Go back and start over. End Home Wheel with numbering rero to 10. VII-9-12• A train book. A story all in capital letters about a train. Dated May 1, 1935- Four pages. ONCE I PON A TIME THERE WAS A BLACK ENGINE. IT RAN FROM NEW YOT?K TO PATEPSON AND IT PULLED SIX CARS. THE FIRST CAP WAS ALL BAGGAGE. THE NEXT POUR CARS WERE PASSENGER CARS. THE LAST CAR WAS A MAIL CAR. ONE DAY AT 4:P.M. WHEN IT LEFT NEW YORK WEST BOUND NUMBER 10 GOT IN THE WAY. NUMBER 10 IS A FREIGHT ENGINE. 40991 WESTBOUND TRAIN, PUSHED NUMBER 10 OFF OF THE TRACK AND WENT ON A SPEEDING ABOUT 55 MILES AN HOUR. (The writing gets much larger here.) IT RAN THROUGH AN OPEN SWITCH AND CRACKED

90 UP AND THAT WAS THE END CF ONE BLACK ENGINE AND ITS TRAIN OF CABS BUT IT «AS NEVZX BUILT UP AGAIN AND «HAT HAPPENED TO THAT TRAIN I NEVES COULD TELL. THE END OF THE STORY. From age seven the tendency to write stories and poems with a train theme increased. These were often accompanied by drawings. D u r i n g this year there was i n c r e a s e d care in n u m b e r i n g and lettering; but no essential n e w stage in w r i t i n g

de-

velops. The amount of writing in proportion to drawing increases. VIII-1.

Color names are written above time tables. Use

of color names had developed during games the boy devised. VIII-7.

T h e passengers' comments (picture in upper cen-

t e r ) are put in frames as in the typidal c o m i c

strip.

Description of an elaborate prize contest. IX-1.

" Fuel " on forward train unit. Color names,

red,

white and blue to designate lights on the " Train of the Future. " IX-3.

" N e w a r k " on station.

"Local

train arriving at

Newark. Express train rounding a curve. " IX-4.

E l a b o r a t e labeling and lettering in m a p of sub-

way tracks. IX-5,6.

Two train games with elaborate lettering: Track

clear, O u t of coal, Full speed ahead, Halfway mark, Pad weather, go back and start over, red light, clear weather, go ahead. Men working, Take siding, Wreck, Go back, Take o n e home, IX-7.

Stop

for the o n c o m i n g

train, Out of

F r o n t p a g e of train book w i t h c o n t e n t s A poem of four stanzas in this year. THE EXPRESS 1. Punning through the tunnel Whistling at each crossing

water. listed.

91 Forcing people back Throwing off the mail. 2. The people at the station Would say, "At last the train" But to their disappointment The train goes shooting by. 3. Hear the whistle Hear the bell The train is coming To the terminal. 4. The engine unhooked The train put away The engineer's work Is done for the day. Another train was begun with index to pages as follows: 2-4, New York Subways; 5-14, Famous trains; 15-16, Other trains; 17-20, Streamline trains; 21-24, Ells. Labels for projected books: Book One, The Wide World News, Book Two, News. X-1.

Labeling:

" Albany"

" T h e Empire Express" on coal car.

on station.

X- 2. The date, clear numbering, X-3,4.

X-5.

"ERIE."

Dated drawings. A; Express.

X-6. Key to tracks on subway map carefully labeled. X-7.

U.S. Navy TNT Transportation.

X-8•

U.S. Mail, Cars numbered. The date.

XI-1.

A dated drawing.

XI-2•

Cars and engines all neatly labeled.

XI-3•

Imaginary page from a toy train catalog with pic-

tures labeled and prices indicated.

92 XI-4. Locomotive labeled " Boloney. " " Bur«" indicates electric discharge. $20,000, the value of the balloon. 2000 volts - a bomb connected with the sun. At this time another " poem" of seven stanzas, " On the Twilight Express" was written, accompanied by appropriate drawings. ON THE TWILIGHT EXPRESS I. Along the shiny rails Speeds the glistening train Passing little junctions Passing cities main. II. The day turns into night The towns are now much gayer The train keeps rumbling on With rapidity that's rare. III. The bells ring with The whistle screams Together they sound Without them all is

revenge with violence ghostly silence.

IV. At speed that was unheard of In days of long ago The train continues running Through the meadows, very low. V. From the lea to the mountain Onward puffs the train Some mail is thrown off To relieve the mailman's strain.

93 VI. The t r a i n

slows down a l i t t l e

As the y a r d s come i n t o v i e w There are

freight

c a r s by

the hundreds And e n g i n e s o l d and new. VII. The run i s Ahead i s

almost

the

Passenger

over

freight

station

shed i s now in

We've reached our

view

destination

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES OF THE DRAWINGS SHOVING DEVELOPMENTAL TRENDS

the Locomotive Cab Schematic drawing, formula in p l a c e of

the tendency to adopt and use a simple fully detailed,

naturalistic

drawing

i s c l e a r l y shown when the way Charles represented the engine p i l o t s and locomotive cabs i s

11-22• p a r t of

II-23.

analyzed.

F i r s t suggestion of an engine cab as a d i s t i n c t the

locomotive.

A l a r g e r cab.

717-5. Cab i s suggested by the window where the engineman appears. The roof over h i s head i s shaded. 777-9. Cab window and engineman.

III-10.

Locomotive i s mostly cab with p r o j e c t i n g

111-17. Cab i s

separated by d i s t i n g u i s h i n g

roof.

l i n e s and

shading from the main part of the locomotive.

Ill-18. panes,

III-20.

Cab with shaded r o o f ,

a window marked in

four

l e t t e r i n g beneath the window. Here the cab p r o j e c t s above the body of

the

locomotive as in r e a l i t y .

III-21. motive.

Shaded, e l e v a t e d roof much as in a r e a l Four-paned window,

t h e main l o c o m o t i v e

lettering,

by a v e r t i c a l

cab d i v i d e d line.

locofrom

111-22. jecting,

Cab is cl early differentiated. Shaded, proelevated

roof. Four-paned

single w i n d o w be-

neath, lettering beneath window. 111-24. Rear head lights are shown attached to the cab. IV. Several drawings show more streamlined effect with cab projecting back, but not above the locomotive. The cab is sometimes carelessly rounded off, hastily drawn. During this year the cab became quite

schematized,

represented generally by scrawled shading for the roof which projects over the rear. Vertical line cutting cab off

from locomotive boiler and square or oblong

window

with four panes. Some lettering beneath the window. This formula is repeated in successive pictures over and over during this year. The chief variation is shown in the " rounded

off"

in contrast to the projecting roof. This is probably the child's own invention, a trend shown also in the

" War

tank*' picture. Cab size is varied in proportion to the size of the whole locomotive. V. There is little new development in this year until picture No.8. Here there is more clear cut outlining. Numbers beneath windows are clearly shown. Light

with

beams is shown suspended from the projecting roof. Wheel placement drawing

in relation to the cab varies from

to drawing, but usually it is simple overlap-

p i n g of the circles representing wheels and the lower frame work of

the

cab.

VI-8- Here the new step is a broken line instead of a straight vertical line to separate the cab and locomotive boiler. Also more equipment showing on the rear. The same arrangement

is

found

in VI-8, VI-16 and also VII-2.

VI-13. Equal geometric divisions characterize the stylized drawing of the engine cab.

95 VI-15. Man is shown in cab full length. VII. Less shading, more simple outline, but the child sticks to his formalized drawing of a locomotive cab. There is little change in the drawing of the cab during this year. VII-2. A few simple lines outline and subdivide the cab section. VII-2,3,4,7

and later drawings. Fewer lines are used

to sketch the cab. VIII. Continued simplification. From Year Four on men in cabs have been more frequent. IX-1. The cab comes first in the imaginary locomotive in the " Train of the Future. " IX-2. The cab is drawn chiefly in outline. X. Almost all that remains of the cab is the barest outline of the cab and window. X-8. There are no lines to indicate that the cab is separated from the boiler. XI. The cab continues to be stereotyped, shown in simple outline. XI-2- Cab in barest outline, and not separated from the boiler. The steps in cab drawing development were as follows: (1) Line marks off cab from rest of locomotive. (2) Window appears. (3) Roof projecting.

(4) Enginemen

sometimes

shown in window. (5) Window panes. (6) Lettering and marking appears beneath windows. (7) Cab more sharply differentiated from the body of locomotive by characteristic lines and shading. (8) Headlight or roof light appears. (9) Lines separating cab from boiler vary from the straight vertical. All the development except Step Nine appeared by the end of three years, and from that point on, though there was

96 improvement in the drawing technique and in the d e t a i l s o f lettering,

windows, e t c . ,

no fundamental changes occurred.

Locomotive P i l o t Drawing of the p i l o t or " cow c a t c h e r " shows p r o g r e s s i v e trends when the drawings from year to year are analyzed. One part of

11-21.

the p i l o t ,

t h i s drawing apparently

steam c y l i n d e r

and h e a d l i g h t

all

represents combined.

11-22• Front appendage may represent p i l o t or coupler. 11-23•

P i l o t more c l e a r l y shown over two small wheels

drawn in simple o u t l i n e . Slanting irregular

11-24. pilot

from the h e a d l i g h t ,

the l o c o m o t i v e by a l i n e .

rectangle distinguishes

the

connected to the main body of The p i l o t

appears to dangle

apart from the main body of the locomotive. II-25.

The p i l o t i s shown as a p r o j e c t i o n on the f r o n t .

III-5.

The p i l o t i s shown as a p r o j e c t i o n on the lower

f r o n t of 111-7.

the locomotive and somewhat resembles a wheel. F i r s t i n d i c a t i o n of

s l a n t i n g l i n e s on a p i l o t ,

somewhat resembling a b e l l . 111-15.

Marked development. The p i l o t is separated from

the steam c y l i n d e r ; extending

from the base of

steam c y l i n d e r , 111-17. the

shown as a s e r i e s of radiating

lines

the l o c o m o t i v e ahead of

the

sweeping the track.

Similar to the f o r e g o i n g , but shown high above

track.

III-1S.

Exaggerated p i l o t with r a d i a t i n g l i n e s extend-

ing below the base l i n e of 111-20-

A coupler,

on the f r o n t of

the wheels.

g r e a t l y exaggerated in size i s shown

the l o c o m o t i v e in p l a c e of

the p i l o t .

P o s s i b l y t h i s i s a switch engine. Throughout the three year l e v e l ,

when the locomotive

is

shown pushing cars, no p i l o t i s shown or i n d i s t i n c t shading suggests regular equipment on the front of a switch engine.

97 Several

p i c t u r e s at

this

level

r a t h e r than f r e i g h t or p a s s e n g e r Typical p i l o t

III-24.

suggest

switch

engines

locomotives.

a t t a c h e d t o t h e steam c y l i n d e r ,

p r o j e c t i n g below f r o n t w h e e l s ,

f r o n t c o u p l e r shown above

pilot. III-27.

In t h i s

front

e l e v a t i o n view o f a l o c o m o t i v e

the p i l o t or c o u p l e r i s a s q u a r e w i t h s e v e r a l lines,

slanting

or t h i s p a r t may have been intended as a h e a d l i g h t .

IV-1•

P i l o t i s in s m a l l e r p r o p o r t i o n ,

s i b l y because i t

IV-3•

Better

comes s o n e a r

the

pos-

paper.

proportion. and t h e p i l o t

is

i s more r e a l i s t i c a l l y

if

I V - 4 . L i n e s a r e more n e a r l y v e r t i c a l in better

flattened,

t h e edge o f

proportion.

From t h i s p o i n t on t h e p i l o t n o t more a c c u r a t e l y drawn.

It

i s more and more

heavily

shaded. I n Year Four the drawing o f the p i l o t becomes f a i r l y conv e n t i o n a l i z e d as a s e r i e s o f h e a v y ,

c l o s e l y packed

radia-

t i n g l i n e s extending from under the h e a d l i g h t j u s t in of

t h e steam c y l i n d e r

front

t o t h e t r a c k s or lower edge o f

f r o n t wheels. The p i l o t o f t e n l o o k s l i k e a b l a c k broom. position,

s i z e and d i r e c t i o n

of

slant

continue

to

the Its vary

s l i g h t l y during t h i s y e a r .

V. The p i l o t

t a k e s on a l i t t l e

more c h a r a c t e r ;

v a r i e d o u t l i n e i n which t h e s e p a r a t e

more

rods are

shown.

A f l a t t e n e d p l a c e b e g i n s t o a p p e a r on top as i n

actual

locomotives. after it

first

This

flattened place

appears.

i s n o t a l w a y s shown

In y e a r V-9 a p r o j e c t i n g s t e p a t

t h e bottom o f the p i l o t i s

shown.

T h e r e i s an i n t e r e s t i n g a n a l o g y h e r e between t h e s e

fea-

t u r e s and the f a c t t h a t in c h i l d r e n ' s e a r l y drawings o f the human body, n e c k s a r e n o t until

late

in the

series

p i l o t and the b o i l e r .

shown. is

In t h e s e d r a w i n g s ,

any s p a c e l e f t

between

not the

98 VI-6.

Here i s shown a squarely p r o j e c t i n g p i l o t ,

flat-

tened on top. VI-17. the

Flattened,

projecting

s t e p on the b o t t o m

of

pilot.

VI-19.

Original

drawing o f

pilot

in

flat bird's

eye

view. In Y e a r V I I the p i l o t like

a stair

more l i k e

the actual p i l o t

VIII-3.

One o f

locomotive. pilot

i s n e a r l y always shaped something

s t e p w i t h upper

and l o w e r

treads.

is

seen on the modern l o c o m o t i v e .

the r a r e

f r o n t e l e v a t i o n views of

Two f r o n t views o f

the p i l o t

w i t h h o r i z o n t a l l i n e s resembling

the

are shown. One

appears as a brush with r a d i a t i n g l i n e s ,

IX-1.

This

the o t h e r

steps.

An o r i g i n a l p i l o t on the imaginary " T r a i n o f

the

Future. " IX-2. comb,

Front v i e w .

The p i l o t

and spreads o v e r

X-1,2.

the

resembles a many-toothed

track

Sharper o u t l i n e of p i l o t

like

a bushy broom.

showing b e t t e r

recog-

n i t i o n of i t s shape and function. X-3• P i l o t

i s represented more simply as a curved out-

l i n e containing short v e r t i c a l XI-1.

S i g n a l man i s

tive pilot

shown standing above the locomo-

where space has been a l l o w e d

representation i s s t i l l comotive.

lines.

The p i l o t

closer

f o r him.

This

to that of an a c t u a l

lo-

c o n t i n u e s t o be r e p r e s e n t e d by

the

fewest possible simple strokes. STEPS I N REPRESENTING THE P I L O T IN THE TRAIN DRAWINGS

( 1 ) The p i l o t

i s r e p r e s e n t e d as a round c i r c l e

with steam c y l i n d e r s and h e a d l i g h t . indistinguishable,

but a r e

combined

The three are at

represented

by a s i n g l e

pendage with a c c e s s o r y l i n e s on the f r o n t of

first ap-

the locomo-

99 tive unit. (2) Pilot wheels.

is shown over the two forward

smaller

(3) R e p r e s e n t e d b y slanting lines somewhat

resem-

b l i n g a bell. (4) S e p a r a t i o n from headlight and steam cylinder.

(5) Pilot

lines diverging

is r e p r e s e n t e d as a series of

from the b a s e of the locomotive

It sweeps the track,

(fi) Better p r o p o r t i o n with

to the whole drawing. flattened

boiler. reference

(7) More h e a v i l y shaded, m o r e d o w n -

ward slant, resembles a broom. tracks.

slanting

(8) Flattened top. (9) B o t h

top and flattened p r o j e c t i n g b o t t o m just

(10) D r a w i n g s of i m a g i n a r y p i l o t s on

above

"Trains

of

the Future. " H o s t of this d e v e l o p m e n t

takes place b y the end of year

four, the time w h e n the drawing of the pilot becomes quite stereotyped.

O n l y steps 9 and 10 come after this p e r i o d .

OTHER EQUIPMENT

Similar

studies c o u l d p r o f i t a b l y be made of the e q u i p -

ment on top of the locomotive,

the smoke stack, the bell,

the steam dome as well as the steam cylinders on the

front

of the locomotive. These parts, however, are more difficult to identify in Charles' early drawings. T h e equipment on top of a standard locomotive v a r i e s

in

location depending on the model. Sometimes the bell is just behind the smoke stack, sometimes just in front of the cab; at other times it is placed on the very front of the locomotive over the headlight. In addition to the smoke and b e l l o n top o f

the l o c o m o t i v e ,

as well as safety exhaust

stack,

there is a sand

dome

valves.

Young children usually make the bell and smoke stack prop o r t i o n a t e l y large. T h i s is natural since these parts

are

associated with noise and movement, and consequently attract more attention than other parts. A disproportionately bell is found in C h a r l e s ' early drawings.

large

VI

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES The Driving Mechanism, Wheels, Cars T h e indispensable components of the propelling mechanism in t h e s t e a m locomotive are steam c y l i n d e r s , p i s t o n s driving

rods. S i n c e

the o p e r a t i n g m e c h a n i s m

is

and

clearly

visible, any drawing of the steam locomotive is incomplete and inaccurate to the extent that these parts are not properly shown. In the typical steam locomotive there are two types of driving rods: (1) The side rod which connects all the driving w h e e l s in tandem, a rigid, o n e - p i e c e

rod in

locomo-

tives having two driving wheels or less, a jointed rod for m o r e w h e e l s . This rod is c o n n e c t e d

to e a c h d r i v i n g

wheel

by a plate connecting the driver to the center of the wheel, iriiich turns all the driving wheels simultaneously.

(2) The

rigid main rod connecting with side rod and steam cylinder. The end of the m a i n rod attached to the side rod

rotates

the a x l e connecting the side rod w i t h the d r i v i n g w h e e l s t h r o u g h a 360 degree cycle. The other end of the main rod c o n n e c t s w i t h a piston w h i c h m o v e s back and forth in the steam cylinder. The side rods always remain horizontal

in

their o p e r a t i o n , but rise higher or lower as the d r i v i n g wheels

rotate. The side rods are n e v e r

found at an angle

to the b o d y of the locomotive. An upper piston and smaller rods operate the reverse. Figure IV shows clearly the relation of driving rods to wheels and steam cylinders. T h e b e n d i n g a c t i o n of the m a i n rod in r e l a t i o n to the straight

side rod m a k e s the latter appear

c r e a t i n g an o p t i c a l

to b e n d

illusion. T h i s i l l u s i o n

also,

illustrates

the p h e n o m e n o n of what is known in the psychology of perc e p t i o n as " a p p a r e n t movement. " Judging from his drawings

101 Charles " fell for" this driving rod illusion just as an older person does. It would be virtually impossible for anyone to draw a steam locomotive showing the driving rods correctly without close observation of the driving mechanism at rest and in motion. Few persons,-adults, to say nothing of children,have this understanding, hence in the typical amateurish drawing of a locomotive the drivers are omitted or very sketchily shown. Charles' parents report that, aside from watching the whole fast moving train, nothing fascinated the boy more than the driving mechanism in operation. He showed through the questions he asked a great deal of curiosity about the flashing rods, and eagerly drank in the explanations his father gave him. The representation of the driving rods and their relation to driving wheels and steam cylinder gives the best single index of maturity in drawing a locomotive realistically. That Charles was more mature than most children in this respect is shown by comparing his drawings with those of typical public school children. The following tabulation from a recent unpublished study shows the number and percent of Norfolk, Virginia children who showed driving rods in any fashion on drawings of trains and locomotives. Any suggestion of driving rods was liberally interpreted as such. There were 247 drawings in the entire tabulation. The data were furnished by Miss Linda Carter of the Norfolk Schools. Age Level

Driving Rods Shown

Years

Percent of Cases

4

0

5

0

6

9

7

19

102 Age Level

Driving Rods Shown

Years

Percent of Cases

8

25.7

9

44

10

45

The ten year old children tended to be a relatively dull group. Most of the rods were indicated in these drawings by straight lines joining wheels, in a few cases connecting with a clearly indicated steam cylinder. A very few showed jointed rods, suggesting that the children only partially mderstood the function of the rods. In comparison, Charles' locomotives showed driving rods in all the age levels represented here, and he drew jointed rods very early. II. In only one picture at two years is there anything that suggests driving rods. In 11-22 a curved line passes over the wheels and connects with the partially detached forepart of the locomotive. Such a line does not reappear in the Two Year Level. III-6• The bent line connecting the forepart of the locomotive with the wheels unquestionably represents the the main rod. III-7• An improvement over the preceding drawing is shown in this next picture. Here the main rod appears to connect with the long side rod, and the main rod is clearly shown operating from the steam cylinders. In several subsequent drawings many more lines are drawn making it more difficult to identify the drivers. 111-20. Here the steam cylinder is shown and several lines, jointed, that connect with the wheels off-center and with the steam cylinder. I11-21. Confused drawing of driving wheels, side rod and steam cylinder.

103 III-24.

Driving rods are shown here, but are somewhat

confused with other lines. Here there is the first suggestion of a straight main rod definitely

connecting

with the side rods at an angle. During this year the drawings vary considerably in detail. Often in the locomotive drawings no drivers at all are shown. IV-1,3,4.

The driver is shown as one long line across

wheels connecting with steam box. The same arrangement in IV-4. IV-5•

The driving rods appear to be connected to wheels

off center from hubs by auxiliary frames. The steam cylinder is round, scarcely differentiated from a wheel. IV-6•

The drivers are more complicated than heretofore.

They are shaded, giving an effect of strength and thickness. They are connected with wheels off-center, but do not bear any close representation to actual drivers. The whole mechanism is over-elaborated. IV-8.

Here there are distinctly two sets of drivers

connecting with the steam box. IV-9.

One long driving rod similar to those shown in

earlier drawings. IV-10.

A single jointed line represents the driving

rod. The steam box is clearly drawn. IV-16-

Complicated driving rods, intricately connected

to the wheels. There is a double connection with the steam box. Connections to the wheels are off center. In Year Four, in contrast to Year Three, nearly every locomotive shows driving rods plainly. A simple straight line usually represents the drivers, but often there is more elaboration. V-1,2,4. V-8.

Drivers much as in previous year. In this heavy, many-wheeled locomotive the driving

rods are complicated. The short auxiliary frames joining

the d r i v e r s clearly

to the wheels as in a c t u a l

shown.

Connections

There i s however,

little

are

locomotives

invariably

are

off-center.

resemblance to the a c t u a l

driv-

ing mechanism on the heavy type locomotive. Short d r i v i n g

V-10.

rod connecting c y l i n d e r

and

first

d r i v i n g wheel. The f e a t u r e s here are:

y-11.

l a r g e steam c y l i n d e r , superfluous

c l e a r cut,

proportionately

rods connecting with c y l i n d e r ,

rods not connected as in

real

many

locomotives,

connections with wheels o f f - c e n t e r . S t i l l more complication in the d r i v e r s of a heavy-

V-12.

type locomotive. first

wheels back of

the

Main rod connecting side rod at an angle.

V-13.

During to

D r i v e r s connect a l l

two. this year

represent

t h e r e was an i n c r e a s i n g

tendency

the rods with more than a s i n g l e l i n e ,

to show more d i s t i n c t l y

and

the connection with the steam cy-

l i n d e r s and the wheels. A tendency to over-draw the d r i v e r s

VI-2. similar

drawings

i n Year F i v e .

No r e a l l y

A s l a n t i n g main rod c o n n e c t i n g

VI-3• tached

to wheels o f f - c e n t e r

comparable to new

feature.

the s i d e

i s more c l e a r l y

rod

at-

shown h e r e

than p r e v i o u s l y . D r i v e r s are s t i l l

VI-4.

show the c h i l d ' s

not

represented c o r r e c t l y ,

increased understanding of

their

but func-

tion. The b o y ' s

VI-13.

f a n c y here a p p a r e n t l y i n v e n t s an o r i -

ginal

conception of

right

a n g l e s a r e a new f e a t u r e .

the c o m p l i c a t e d d r i v e r s .

Drivers

with

Long and s h o r t main

rods

connect with the steam c y l i n d e r . The r i g i d

VI-16. wheels

is

connecting and i t

here with

falls

t o two w h e e l s

locomotive.

the l a r g e

very d i s t i n c t l y .

the c y l i n d e r

i s attached

an actual

s i d e rod c o n n e c t i n g

indicated

below

rather

driving

The main the

side

than one,

rod rod,

as

in

105 VI-18-

Here is the closest approximation so far to the

Correct representation of driving rods. The main rod joins the long side rod connecting all wheels, at an angle. Axles to which the side rod is attached are offcenter. This year represents vast improvement in understanding of driving rod performance, but frequently the rods are over-complicated and do not approximate very closely the actual function and operation. The criss-cross effect Charles so often showed is the general impression one gains from watching a locomotive in swift operation. VII-3,4.

A main rod is shown connecting with the side

rod, but it connects with rear wheels rather than middle one. However, the boy shows in these drawings that he has the correct principle in mind. VII-7.

Pegression to single line, sketchily drawn to

represent driving rod. VII-8•

Clear cut and correct representation, except

that side rod should be horizontal for a locomotive with two driving wheels. In succeeding drawings in this year the drivers are more correctly connected to wheels when there are no more than two wheels. The drawing of drivers in this year is simplified compared with representation in previous years. Driving rods are similar to those shown in

VIJI-1.

drawings near the end of the preceding year. VIII-2•

More elaboration for a heavier locomotive.

No new feature in this year level. IX-2.

Shaded drivers suggest their weight and importance.

IX-7.

Here the connection of main rod and steam cy-

linder is only suggested. The elaboration in drawing the rods in this picture is fanciful, similar to that in Year Seven.

106 X-l.

This departure

from c o r r e c t

t h e d r i v i n g rods may be i n t e n t i o n a l .

representation

of

The l o c o m o t i v e

it-

s e l f r e p r e s e n t s a combination o f new and old

features.

X-3. C o r r e c t r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f d r i v e r s in a l o c o m o t i v e w i t h two d r i v i n g wheels,

t h e type C h a r l e s so

frequently

saw. X-4. The locomotive with t h r e e d r i v i n g wheels p r e s e n t s a problem i n c o n n e c t i n g

the d r i v e r s

t o the w h e e l s

that

t h e boy has s t i l l not solved. T h i s c l o s e - u p view shows t h e d r i v e r s

XI-1.

p r o p o r t i o n , but the d e t a i l s a r e not a l l

in

good

correct.

XI-2. A s i m p l i f i e d r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f d r i v e r s . In summary: D r i v e r s were f i r s t

shown in c o r r e c t mechanical

o p e r a t i o n i n year seven. E e f o r e t h a t a p p r o x i m a t e d but not a t t a i n e d . was l i t t l e vious

types.

improvement,

time c o r r e c t n e s s was

From y e a r seven on,

and l i t t l e

The o v e r - c o m p l i c a t i o n

variation

there

from p r e -

t h a t appeared

earlier

r e p r e s e n t e d the g e n e r a l i m p r e s s i o n the c h i l d had g a i n e d o f d r i v i n g rod o p e r a t i o n , tion.

r a t h e r than a r e a l i s t i c

representa-

The problem o f d r i v e r s o p e r a t i n g a l o c o m o t i v e w i t h

two d r i v i n g wheels was c o r r e c t l y s o l v e d , but not t h e problem p r e s e n t e d i n a l a r g e r since

locomotive.

the boy's observation

of locomotives in

was l a r g e l y confined to the smaller

line

running a c r o s s

several

intended

as a d r i v e r

stages

in

representing

( 1 ) A curved or

wheels.

( 4 ) Overlapping l i n e s

ing c o m p l i c a t e d i n t e r - c o n n e c t i o n s o f the d r i v e r s . shown.

( 6 ) Main rod

line

square suggest-

( 5 ) Wheel separate

( 7 ) O f f - c e n t e r hub c o n n e c t i o n with wheel.

S h a d i n g o f rods to s u g g e s t

s t r e n g t h and

( 9 ) C o r r e c t m e c h a n i c a l c o n n e c t i o n s o f rods, wheels.

line

( 3 ) The

connected with a c i r c l e or

c o n n e c t i o n s more d i s t i n c t l y (8)

straight

(2) A straight

s u g g e s t e d by a x l e s .

r e p r e s e n t i n g the steam box.

from s i d e rods.

operation

type.

The s u c c e s s i v e d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e the d r i v i n g rods were as f o l l o w s : w i t h wheel c o n n e c t i o n s

T h i s was n a t u r a l ,

importance.

cylinders

and

107 WHEELS It is customary in railway parlance to refer to the sire and type of locomotive by the number of wheels it has. The four-eight - four type, for example, would refer to a large locomotive having two small wheels on each side in front, four driving wheels on each side and two smaller wheels on each side under the locomotive cab. The number and size of the wheels varies with the type and size of locomotive. The largest locomotives have as many as six driving wheels on a side operated by two sets of steam cylinders. In a typical modern locomotive the front wheels are smallest, the drivers largest and those under the cab middle-sized. The front wheels tend to be about half as high as the driving tfieels. In describing Charles' drawing we shall indicate only the number of wheels on one side of a locomotive. Thus a " one-two-one" style would mean that in the drawing one wheel shows under the forepart, two larger wheels are shown and one smaller wheel under the cab. Charles never showed in any drawing all the wheels or even parts of all the wheels under any car or locomotive. All his drawings were side elevation representations or front and side elevation combined. Fairly early Charles drew wheels with good spacing on the sides of the locomotives or under cars as they actually appear. The wheels shown on the sides of locomotive or car units were until near the end of the series invariably transparent. The number of wheels varied with the type of locomotive Charles was drawing, and the differentiation in wheel sizes tended still more to differentiate locomotive type. II. In the earliest Two Year drawings there is nothing that can be positively identified as wheels, but what appear to be wheels are simply smaller circles within a

108 larger circle.

There i s a l s o a rough i n d i c a t i o n o f spokes

on a s i n g l e c i r c l e w i t h i n a l a r g e r c i r c l e

representing

a c a r or e n g i n e . These " s p o k e s " a r e v e r y roughly drawn. 11-4,5.

C i r c l e s on t h e rim o f a l a r g e c i r c l e

suggest

wheels. II-6.

One wheel w i t h s p o k e s w i t h i n

each of

several

car units. II-8.

In a l o n g s t r i n g o f

w i t h i n each c i r c l e

" c a r s " t h e r e i s one

representing a car u n i t .

circle

T h i s may be

a wheel or window. 11-11.

Irregular

circles

on l o w e r b a s e

l i n e of

car

within

the

units. 11-12.

Shows t h r e e ,

" sausage l i n k " c a r s .

f o u r or s i x c i r c l e s Some f a l l

to t h e b a s e o f the l i n k .

Windows and wheels begin to be d i f f e r e n t i a t e d . 11-13. largest

Shows f i v e c i r c l e s on the rim o f t h e f i r s t

and

unit.

11-15.

Seven c i r c l e s on the rim.

11-16.

Wheels a r e beneath t h e main u n i t on a b a s e

in a f a i r l y s t r a i g h t

line

row. F i v e wheels are i n d i c a t e d .

11-17.

Wheels o v e r l a p

11-18-

Clear cut wheels c o r r e c t l y p l a c e d .

11-19.

Spokes are shown.

11-21.

One or two wheels a r e shown under the engine and

car units.

tracks.

The w h e e l s o f

the locomotive are

differen-

t i a t e d in s i z e . 11-23. nitely

The f i r s t

size differentiation

appears here.

i n wheels

A 2 - 3 plan l o c o m o t i v e with

defifour

wheels under the tender. Among o t h e r fragmentary drawings i n the complete t i o n t h e r e a r e a few wheel " s t u d i e s , " - c i r c l e s spokes drawn at random on a page,

collec-

containing

apart'from train

units.

Wheels drawn during t h i s year cannot e a s i l y be i d e n t i f i e d . For the most part wheels are crudely made.

109 III-3.

The two differentiated

smaller

front

wheels

seem to be shown upside down, or perhaps they represent equipment on top of the locomotive. III-4. Conventionalized spokes on two wheels. III-6. Large circles in a straight row represent powerful driving wheels. 111-8,9•

Spokes represented in a conventionalized way

as a cross. Irregular wheel sizes in wheels shown side by side. Ill-10. Spokes show variation from conventional crosses. Wheels are not true circles, but a combination of circle and square. 111-11. In this drawing there is apparently an attempt to show the wheel trucks. 111-15.

Locomotive of

" T w o - T w o " type. Wheel

size

differentiation clearly shown. Multiple spokes. Ill-16. Wheel trucks. 111-17.

Train units in straight row and wheels appear

in a more even row than formerly, more regular with respect to track. 111-19. Wheel trucks are very distinctly shown, transparent. 111-20. Locomotive wheels are differentiated in size. 111-21.

Wheels under

freight cars,

four or

five in

number. Ill - 22,23,24•

Multiple spokes. Wheel axle hubs dis-

tinctly drawn. 111-27-

In the drawing of the

front elevation of the

locomotive, the wheels are attached as circles to the side of the larger circle representing the front of the locomotive boiler. This represents a change in point of view to show more than would have been possible otherwise. The locomotives drawn during this year tend to have three or four wheels on a side, occasionally five or six. The cars tend

to have

two to four wheels on a side. The

freight cars have four.

larger

110 During t h i s year and f o r t h a t

t h e w h e e l s were o f t e n s k e t c h i l y

reason were d i f f i c u l t

t o count.

always shown as e v e n l y drawn c i r c l e s , squared.

Gradually

but o f t e n were

t h e y came t o be p l a c e d more

row and were more r e g u l a r l y

b e n e a t h the t r a i n u n i t s .

Spokes at

and w e r e

straight

lines

more numerous. but

spokes

axles.

represented crossed.

are not

transparently IV-1.

in

always car

this

many w h e e l s

elliptical

in

on t h i s

Wheel truck i s shown. Proportionately

small

Good w h e e l Some o f

Wheel trucks are

size

become

this

year,

through

invariably

the

shows

locomotive each

are

other.

proportion-

cab.

differentiation.

the wheels

"Two-Three-

wheel.

are v e r y

sketchily

drawn.

suggested.

Wheel s i z e s d i f f e r e n t i a t e d Both t h e c i r c l e

locomotive b o i l e r wheels l i e 1V-16.

short

Wheels o c c a s i o n a l l y have rims.

IV-12,13•

view of

drawn

large

T w o " t y p e . Rim i s s u g g e s t e d on f r o n t

IV-15.

roughly

two

spokes in

f r o n t wheels;,

a t e l y l a r g e wheels under l o c o m o t i v e

IV-12.

as

shape and o v e r l a p

IV-4.

IV-11.

year

shown l a t e

locomotive

IV-3.

IV-8.

were v e r y

accurately

or

spaced

through the w h e e l s .

The

sometimes

Later

The a x l e hub i s

The b o d y o f

first

schematically

partly

accurately

in a s t r a i g h t h o r i z o n t a l drawn

drawn,

They w e r e n o t

representing

and the c i r c l e s

a t t a c h e d s i d e by s i d e ,

the

effectively. the

front

representing

of

the

the front

seen from a b i r d ' s - e y e

tracks.

The f u n c t i o n o f

the l o c o m o t i v e wheels w i t h

res-

pect

t o the d r i v i n g mechanism becomes more d i s t i n c t

this

time.

IV-18.

Clear

cut

showing d i f f e r e n t The

driving

wheels.

drawing

sizes

wheels

are

of

the

locomotive

appropriate distinct

Spokes and rims are shown.

to t h e i r

from

front

at

wheels, function. and

rear

Ill During this year in most instances simple circles represent wheels. When they are hastily made as is often the case, they tend to become elliptical or angular in shape. The developments during this year were: increased tendency to differentiate wheel size, better understanding of the function performed by the locomotive wheels, more even drawing of spokes within the circles representing wheels, wheels more regularly spaced in straighter horizontal rows. More wheels tend to be shown with each locomotive unit. Cars almost invariably have four wheels on a side. Transparency in drawing wheels is still the rule, but the wheels are tending more and more to be placed beneath rather than on the sides of cars and locomotives. V-l.

Wheels are still more even in size and regularly

spaced. Three or four wheels appear under car units. V-2•

Eight wheels under a car unit. Wheel trucks are

more frequently shown here. V-4.

Good separation of different type wheels in large

locomotive. All regularly and evenly drawn.

"Two-Five-

Two " type. V-7. Rims, spokes and axles are clearly shown here. V-9.

Large driving wheels lift front and rear loco-

motive wheels off the track. V-10.

Eight intersecting lines make the spokes for one

wheel. Locomotive of two-two-one type. V-ll.

Locomotive of two-two-two

type. Front

wheels

spaced

farther apart more as in an actual locomotive.

V-l2.

Characteristic long series of locomotive wheels

uniform in size. V-15.

All four wheels show on the front elevation view

of each automobile at the railroad crossing. The tendency during

this year is to draw wheels more

regularly, to continue differentiation in size and type, to

112 show more numerous wheels on car and locomotive units. In these drawings, wheels are still very sketchily drawn in most instances, as though putting on the wheels was a chore to get done with as soon as possible. The rows of wheels almost sides

invariably of

trains,

are with

shown beneath the b o d y

rather than o n

showing

through

the

trans-

parently. VI-J. under

" P a c i f i c " type

locomotive.

Ten

large

wheels

the locomotive boiler. Two smaller wheels under

the steam cylinder, two under the cab. V.T-2. A contrast two that

to the foregoing drawing, a two-two-

locomotive with the front and

the d r i v i n g w h e e l s made so

large

rear wheels are hoisted high in the

air. VI-3.

Driving wheels are round;

elliptical.

This

tends

p o r t a n c e of

the d r i v i n g

front and rear wheels

to e m p h a s i z e wheels.

the relative

It may mean

im-

that

the

w h e e l s seen in the periphery of vision were seen as elliptical, which would be the actual situation in observing a large

locomotive.

VI-5. O n e - f o u r - o n e wheels VI-7. six

type locomotive. Cars have

three

each. The drawing of spokes has become formalized

to eight intersecting lines within the circle

as

rep-

resenting the wheel. VI-16. four

" P a c i f i c " type locomotive having six

large w h e e l s .

Two

wheels

slightly

small,

smaller

than

drivers under cab. VI-17. Wheels tend to be elliptical in shape. VI-18.

Wheels are quite regular, uniform in size and

shape. VI-19.

In this bird's-eye view the front of the loco-

motive boiler lies flat on the tracks and suspended it are the two front wheels.

from

113 During this year locomotives of the two-three and twothree- two type are most common. There are usually two to four wheels under each car unit. The representation of wheels as circles or elliptoid shapes is still typical. There is little change from the previous year except that the locomotives tend to be even longer and consequently to have more wheels. V I I - 1 . A locomotive with four wheels on a side. No spokes or axle shown. Three to ten wheels under a work or equipment car. VII-2This drawing shows much improvement in placing and spacing of wheels. Less transparency. The whole representation is more realistic. Adjacent wheels tend to be joined in pairs. VII-3• Two to three wheels under cars. Two wheels under car units, a conventionalized VII-5. representation. Locomotive wheels are differentiated even in the miniature drawing. VII-6•

The four automobile wheels are shown.

VII-8• Wheels on tender and cars are paired. Wheel trucks are shown. V I I - 9 . A six-wheeled locomotive, two-three-one wheel arrangement. The two front wheels are the smallest, the three driving wheels largest, wheels under cab elliptoid shape nearly as high as driving wheels. Two to three wheels under cars not joined in pairs. V I I - 1 1 . Locomotive with three wheels on a side. Two wheels under cars. During this year the problem of differentiating wheel sizes without lifting the small wheels off the track was not yet completely solved. The elliptoid shapes suggest the child's effort to solve the problem. Wheels with rims and spokes are less common in this year as though these details were no longer considered very important. The whole trend is toward simplification, and

11U this is reflected in the schematic drawing of wheels as unadorned

circles, and the noticeable tendency to make

fewer wheels than formerly.

In the more carefully drawn

pictures there is a decided advance in realistic placement of the wheels and accessory car chassis parts. VIII-1. Here there are more numerous wheels under cars, usually joined schematically in pairs. Still some elliptoid tendency in drawing locomotive wheels. VIII-2.

Interesting variation in the number and ar-

rangement of wheels beneath car units. IX-1. Novel arrangement of wheels under Future. " T h e

" T r a i n of the

rear wheel of one unit is joined

to the

front wheel of the following unit. IX-2. Wheels slightly elliptoid in locomotive rounding bend. Car wheels joined in pairs. IX-3. Perspective is shown as the wheels on more distant cars become smaller. IX-7.

Engine

with one small wheel in front and

six

larger wheels, one wheel under cab. The two new features in this year are the fanciful arrangement of wheels in the imaginary train, and perspective shown in wheels. X-l.

Bending

the track beneath

the driving

wheels

h e l p s to solve the problem in drawing different

sized

locomotive wheels. X-2. Making the two front wheels solid is the convention adopted here to draw the front wheels more realistically. X-3• The same wheel arrangement in a streamlined

train

as seen in Year Nine. I'nioue, three dimensional drawing with both wheels of the front pair partially shown. Transparency is avoided

in drawing

these front wheels

but

not in the others. X-4.

Representation similar to X-3. Here the problem

involved in showing the wheel under the cab in its right

115 proportion is

s o l v e d by b r i n g i n g down a p a r t o f t h e

lo-

comotive c h a s s i s to meet the wheel. Automobile wheels a r e shown b l u r r e d j u s t

X-8.

a r e in p r o f e s s i o n a l c a r t o o n s ,

to i n d i c a t e g r e a t

as

Two f r o n t wheels and two d r i v e r s shown in

XI-1.

correct

s p a c i n g and p r o p o r t i o n a s i n an a c t u a l l o c o m o t i v e . a r e c l e a r l y shown i n c e n t e r o f wheel, off-center

they

speed.

Hubs

and a u x i l i a r y hubs

t o which h e a v i l y shaded d r i v i n g rods a r e

at-

t a c h e d . The two f r o n t wheels a r e made s o l i d as they appear in

typical

spokes,

locomotives.

T h e r e a r e no

conventionalized

but wheels a r e more r e a l i s t i c a l l y drawn. Two lower l o c o m o t i v e s

XI-2•

rim on wheel under c a b .

show s o l i d

front

The steam c y l i n d e r s and

b e n e a t h c a b r e a c h down f a r

enough t o permit

r e a r wheels to be drawn in a p p r o p r i a t e s i z e . are of

several

three-one. drawing,

types:

two-three,

Transparencies

particularly

wheels,

still

chassis

front

and

The e n g i n e s

two-two-one characterize

and

two-

t h e wheel

the l o c o m o t i v e d r i v i n g wheels

n e c e s s a r i l y e x t e n d well above t h e lower frame o f the

that lo-

mot i v e . Progress

in drawing wheels showed the f o l l o w i n g

( 1 ) C i r c l e s w i t h i n c i r c l e s not w h e e l s o r windows.

(2)

t o main u n i t .

o f wheels and windows,

of w h e e l s

in r e l a t i o n

in number o f w h e e l s , b e t t e r drawn,

e.g.

size

spokes.

tailed,

(5)

and s p a c i n g . better

as rep-

Differendrawing

Differentiation ( 6 ) More

( 7 ) Improvement in a l l

more a c c u r a t e l y and c l e a r l y drawn. simplification

(3)

( 4 ) More c o r r e c t

t o main u n i t .

s i z e and function d i f f e r e n t i a t e d , greater

stages:

differentiated

B e t t e r placement of c i r c l e s

r e s e n t i n g wheels i n r e l a t i o n tiation

clearly

detail, respects,

proportion,

details

( 8 ) Two d i v e r g e n t

trends:

in the l a t e r

years;

r e a l i s t i c drawing in c l o s e - u p views.

and more d e -

116 WINDOWS In the earliest drawings it was impossible to discriminate between wheels and windows. During the three year level, the boy adopted the schematic convention of marking the square or rectangle representing the window into four equal-sized panes by drawing two straight lines at right angles to each other. This does not represent what the child actually saw when he looked at cars or engines, but the convention was retained to the end of the series. Windows in passenger cars show the following development in serial order; (1) Found, indistinguishable from wheels. (2) Square. (3) Panes simply represented by two lines intersecting at right angles. (4) Frames. (5) Upper oval, separated from two lower square panels. (6) Differentiated sizes and types of windows. TYPES OF CARS DRAWN Charles drew a great variety of freight and passenger cars. Some of these were imaginary or had his own creative details to distinguish them. Others imitated closely the cars he was accustomed to see. In the Hrawings it is difficult to distinguish at times what represents a new type of car and what is only a variation, a lapse or stage of improvement in a car previously shown. The types of cars drawn became more varied as Charles' experience and understanding widened. From the time the drawings are clear enough so that different car types emerge, the following can be distinguished: (The list is not arranged in the order in which the car types first appeared in the drawings.) (1) Caboose. (2) Flat cars. (3) War tank mounted on flat cars. (4) Oil tank cars. (5) Box cars. (6) Produce and refrigerator cars. (7) Coal cars, dump cars. (8) Mail cars. (9) Stock cars. (10) Work cars, repair cars as in VII-1. (11) Equipment mounted on flat cars. (12) Passenger cars, some with open, some with closed vestibule.

117 REPRESENTATIONS IN THE DRAWING OF PEOPLE. ANIHALS AND IMAGINARY CREATURES Charles was never so much interested in drawing people as trains, nor so much interested in drawing people as other children usually are; but occasionally he drew human figures in connection with the trains, often with considerable display of humor. When the figures appear in train drawings they assume their appropriate places as passengers or workmen. In the train series it is difficult

to

identify the earliest drawings in which people appear. II. In Year Two there is nothing that can be definitely identified as a person in the train drawings. During this year however, drawings of people were sometimes made separately. III-3. Circles within circles in the cab may represent heads. III-4. Circles in the passenger car windows are probably meant to be heads. III-6. Here the engineman's head is seen in the cab and heads in car windows. III-8. Man in cab of locomotive. III-9. Profile of a man's head in cab. III-20. Suggests man in cab. III-23- Suggests man in cab. 111-24. Head of engineman appears in cab. III-25. Man is shown full length on top of freight car. IV-9.

" Daddy's " head and shoulders in passenger car

window. IV-20. Passengers appear in the car windows. At about this time Charles showed a falling off in interest in representing people within the trains and a gain in interest in lettering and the operating mechanism.For a year or so the engineman's head does not reappear in the cab window.

118 It seems remarkable that from Year Four on, though there is increasing activity and movement shown in the train drawings, people rarely appear. The trains seem to move in a tenantless world. VI-25.

Man shown full length in cab of

VI-18.

Engineman's head in cab, three men on top of

locomotive.

the flat cars, faces in each car window. VII-6.

Heads of passengers are shown in the automobile

approaching the track. VII-7. Man in the work car, middle row. VII-13.

Bird on top of the train.

VIII-3.

Human and other figures in right-hand side of

the drawing representing Page One of a Train Book. VIII-7.

Heads in the car windows from which various

comments issue. IX-4.

Death's head, skull and crossbones,

shown in

connection with track layout. IX-5. Head, lower right, and odd creature in the center. X-7. Thirteen humorous human figures and a bird. X-8•

Eleven humorous human figures and several

funny

animals. XI-1.

Renewed interest in the human figure appears. A

workman on the side of a locomotive,

a repairman

or

cleaner. A signal man on front of locomotive back of headlight holding a flag. XI-2.

A man running along the track following a train.

XI-4.

Humorous figures, some imaginary creatures in a

drawing of a " T r a i n of the Fu tu re " ope r a t ed by solar power. Face on headlight,

funny creatures everywhere.

Some of the creatures appear to be part animal, part human. Until

these imaginary drawings are reached,

there is

nothing in the series depicting an animal, except the bird on top of the train in Year Seven.

VII

CHARACTERISTIC FEATURES P i c t u r e Composition, Fhythm, Humor, Movement, Graphic Narration P r o f e s s i o n a l a r t i s t s compose t h e i r p i c t u r e s . That i s , they do not s e t down the elements e x a c t l y as in n a t u r e , but rearrange them to produce the most a e s t h e t i c a l l y s a t i s fying r e s u l t . T h i s i s the f e a t u r e t h a t most s u r e l y d i s t i n g u i s h e s g r e a t from n o n d e s c r i p t p i c t u r e s . A p i c t u r e i s well composed when i t shows balance and symmetry, dynamic a l l y related l i n e s , emphasis, coherence, unity and rhythm. Charles was not t r y i n g c o n s c i o u s l y to produce a work of a r t ; he was t o t a l l y n a i v e and untutored with r e s p e c t to composition r u l e s . Yet he had a natural feeling for balance, p r o p o r t i o n and rhythm that made h i s p i c t u r e s s a t i s f y i n g c o m p o s i t i o n s . We see in s e v e r a l p i c t u r e s , rearrangements and a l t e r e d proportions that were variations from the actual s c e n e s he w i t n e s s e d . As the m a t e r i a l included in any one p i c t u r e increased in amount there was more opportunity for p i c t u r e c o m p o s i t i o n . Though some of t h e s e p i c t u r e s were crowded, good b a l a n c e and arrangement were m a i n t a i n e d . The e a r l i e s t drawings c o n s i s t e d s o l e l y of the engine or t r a i n . Gradually scenery and background were introduced, but throughout the s e r i e s the background never dominated. The t r a i n and tracks and accessory equipment were always f o c a l . Apparently at f i r s t the background was not considered important at a l l . L a t e r i t was introduced apparently to give a more r e a l i s t i c e f f e c t , or because more c r e a t i v e r e s u l t s could be attained by including i t , or because the background d e t a i l s themselves held new i n t e r e s t for the c h i l d . 111-12111-14.

T r a f f i c signal i s introduced. An i n t e r e s t i n g composition.

120 III-17. C o m p o s i t i o n s enriched by the addition of land* scape detail. Year IV-15 shows an effective composition, also IV-18, 19, 20 and 21. Good arrangements are found in V-5, V-13, V-14. In V - I S b a c k g r o u n d appears. There is an effect created with horizontal angles,

a d r a w i n g w i t h the

interesting

and v e r t i c a l l i n e s

and

" S c o t c h p l a i d " arrangement

of which artists think so highly. Year VI-6, 8, 11, and 12, 18 are good c o m p o s i t i o n s , also Year VII-2, 3, 4 and 13. VII-5.

A lively

composition

in

" IJphill D o w n

Dele"

effect. VII-6. to

A c o m p o s i t i o n that is the most varied of all up

this p o i n t .

Train,

automobile,

shed,

station

with

clock, airplane are all shown. VII-7.

The page becomes crowded as more trains and ac-

cessories are added. VII-23.

A superior

composition.

b e l o w the m i d d l e of the p i c t u r e .

T h e train is p l a c e d Sun in the sky to

right center, b a l a n c e d by plane and birds In Y e a r E i g h t , n u m b e r s positional IX-3•

to the

the

left.

1, 2, 3, 4 a t t a i n good com-

effects.

Scene at the station with one train cm the curving

track. A change from the more usual horizontal

position.

X-l. A good composition showing variation and interesting arrangement. X - J . A combination of vertical and horizontal in domin a n t lines. The

" c o m i c s " show some system and

organization. X-4,5.

Curvilinear

compositions.

internal

121 X-7, 8. Many features are combined in single pictures, but the whole has the effect of balance and proportion. XI-4• The composition is interesting and unique. It is astonishing to see what the boy was able to express with a few simple forms, repeated

in the same drawing:

circles, ovals, squares and rectangles, trapezoids, and groups of divergent lines giving the effect of triangles. The variation he achieved with his single train theme is also remarkable. CREATIVE IDEAS IN DRAWING Drawing is a creative and inventive experience for most young children. They do not attempt to set down on paper solely what they have observed, exactly as they have observed it, but they modify and rearrange in harmony with their own creative ideas. Although Charles drew his inspiration from the rich visual experience he enjoyed, he was continually re-creating the material actually perceived. He constructed pictures from memory that had no counterpart in nature, and enriched his compositions with details he had invented. His vivid' imagination produced these creative effects spontaneously. Even the exaggeration and distortion that

frequently appears resulted

from creative

effort.

These fanciful features did not always contribute to artistic effect anymore than the " funny paper" can be considered essentially artistic, but they did lift the accomplishment far above the ordinary copyist level. Originality was shown in the way the boy composed his pictures. He had no model pictures from which he could possibly have copied the ideas he incorporates in his drawings. Creativeness was shown in the train books and their organization; in the track plans all of which he invented. Much of the mechanical apparatus in the train drawings represented his own inventions. It does not always represent standard equip-

122 ment, even when ineffectively or schematically drawn. The multiple tracks and trains were creatively assembled. Infinite variety was introduced imaginatively in drawing and assembling freight cars. Charles showed creative ideas as early as the Four Year pictures. In year IV-18 is seen the imaginative drawing of a war tank. Creative ideas appear more frequently at the seven year level, in the story of the train wreck and other highly imaginative scenes. VII-3. An original composition. VII-S. A train game giving a new compositional effect. VII-13. An imaginary scene. VIII-7. A page from a newspaper announcing a contest. IX-1. Train of the future gives a new effect. IX-5,6. Train games with interesting arrangement. X-l. Old and new-style features in the same locomotive. X-7. Comic features. House supported in the air by many balloons. TNT transportation with electrical connections. Imaginary creatures. X-g. fan floating in the air supported by a rocket. XI-3. Train catalog. XI-4• Here Charles reaches the height of originality. This is the drawing of a train operated by " Solar Power. " Creative

imagination

reflected in the drawings de-

veloped appreciably during the Ten and Eleven Year levels. Gradually, imaginative writing tended to supplant drawing for creative effect. RHYTHM Rhythm

Is a basic elementary feature in all art

forms

whather they are primitive or sophisticated. There is satisfaction in the ordered movement the child feels when he

123 expresses himself rhythmically. Even though Charles did not make any conscious effort to use rhythm artistically in his drawings, rhythm is obvious in many of the pictures just as it is in most untutored drawing work children do. Rhythmical effects are shown chiefly through repetition and

spacing

or arrangement. These rhythmical effects in the drawings often haa no counterpart in the trains actually observed. Symmetry, a variant

of rhythm, appears in many pictures.

The following pictures suggest a rhythmic effect: II-2- Concentric circles. 11-7• Equally spaced vertical lines. 11-8. Repetition of similar units in a row. 11-10. Pulse beats are suggested in the jagged lines representing smoke. These suggest kymograph records of heart beat or the eye movements in reading, the rhythmical deflection of the recording needle. 11-18. The orderly procession of car units. II-25. The spaced windows. III-2.

The regular wheels and wheel connections,

arrangement

having no counterpart

in actual

an

trains.

III-6. The vertical cross ties. 111-11. Regular windows and imitation lettering above. ILL-14. Concentric circles. 111-17. Equally spaced circles representing wheels. III-27.

Cross ties before and behind the locomotive.

Spacing of lettering and marks along both sides. IV-7K

Patterned cars, wheels and steps, jagged

IV-10- Repetition of

smoke.

"Erie."

IV-11. Repetition of types of freight cars. IV-12,13. Jagged lines representing siding on flat cars. IV-14. Projecting lines from tops of cars. IV-15.

Duplicate

tracks. Eoually spaced

IV-20. Procession of wheels.

cross-ties.

12V

V - l . Duplication of wheels and windows. V-3-

Pear h e a d l i g h t s on cars w i t h r a d i a t i n g l i n e s

indicate

lights

flashing. Duplicate electric

to

contact

brushes. V-5. Horizontal track duplicated.

V-10.

Pepetition of " T o o t Toot T o o t . "

V-12.

Horizontal lines on engine and car.

V-13,

14.

Sense of rhythm c r e a t e d h e r e b y

duplicated

units and repeated details of units.

V-16.

R e p e t i t i o n in air pipes and e l e c t r i c a l

connec-

tions.

VI-I.

R o w of locomotive wheels and rhythmical

exhausts

from valves above.

VI-2.

J " k y line representing smoke.

VI-3.

Elongated wheels.

Vl-5.

Similar sized wheels under locomotive and cars.

Patterning in windows.

VI-7.

E q u a l sized d r i v i n g w h e e l s w i t h u n i f o r m

repre-

sentation of spokes.

VI-8. VI-9.

Repetition of " C h o o C h o o " and " T o o t

Toot."

R h y t h m and b a l a n c e in the c r o s s - p i e c e s o n work

car.

VI-JO.

Duplicate trains.

VI-12.

Duplication of criss-crossed siding on flat cars.

VI-15.

Repetition of " T o o t Toot Toot Toot. "

VI-16.

R h y t h m in decorative effect at top of drawing.

VI-18.

Repetition of figures on bottom cars.

VII-3.

Duplicate rows. Spacing and repetition of central

car units in middle row.

VII-5.

Duplicate rolls of smoke, rhythm in the circular

movement in the rolls of smoke.

VII-8. VII-13. units.

Wheel patterns in center of the page. R h y t h m in the sun rays and in the u n i f o r m car

125 VIII-2• Identical brushes repeated on tops of cars. VIII-3• Arrangement of vertical tracks. VIII-4. Repetition of "Bronx Park." VIII-5. Repeated wavy lines. IX-1. Repetition of articulated car units. IX-6• Succession of circles on cross lines. X-l. Window arrangement in Albany station. X-2. Circular lines for smoke. X-4. Duplicate trains on curved tracks. X-5. Concentric tracks. X-6. Spacing of transformer blocks, rhythmical track arrangement . X-8. Rhythm in the patterned cars and repeated window arrangement, the four similar trains facing in the same direction. XI-1. Duplicate patterned wheels. XI-2. Patterned car and window arrangement. HUMOR Charles delighted in humorous incident. Sometimes he exaggerated for fun, at other times the juxtaposition of parts within a drawing or the addition of funny objects gave a humorous touch. Although the child often put in humorous touches intentionally, it is difficult to detect unintentional absurdities or contradictions. The tendency to include humorous features increased throughout the series as the child's ability to depict comic incident grew. Expressing his ideas humorously has always been a characteristic trait. VI-18. Funny men on top of cars. VII-12.

" H a Ha Ha, " the label •• good" and the air-

plane all indicate a sense of humor. VII-13. Bird on top of fast moving train, airplane moving parallel to the train above.

126 IX-5. X-l.

Death's head or funny face. Humor shown in smoke stack, apparent intentional

exaggeration. X-7,

8. Entire pictures

full of humorous

incident.

These comic pictures are well-organiied and interestingly arranged. XI-2.

A boy running after a train.

XI-4.

Faces on headlight of the locomotive and in the

sun. Odd, amusing creatures. The balloons

supposedly

operated by solar power.

REPRESENTATION OF MOVEMENT AND ACTION IN THE DRAWINGS Children have different naive ways of expressing movement in their drawings. The most primitive method is to repeat over and over in the same picture the part that moves or changes, keeping the rest of the picture constant. Luquet found some evidence of this method in Simonne's drawings. We find some evidence of this tendency in diaries' one set of miniature drawings made in series like a motion picture film, (not shown or described here). Usually he represented movement symbolically, as mature professional draftsmen do. Certain features in the drawing were made to " stand movement, lowered

for"

for example, the curling smoke, and steam, the

semaphores, the position of the driving rods, (in

moving or " standing-still" position), pushing the top part of the locomotive forward to suggest its appearance while moving at high speed, drawing and placing people in such a way as to suggest action, bringing together several features in a picture such as automobile, trains, block signals, to suggest activity going on. Art structures nominated by unsupported diagonals make the object drawn appear to be in motion. Action was portrayed even, more clearly when written composition began

to supplement

the drawings.

At

first

action words alone were used in the drawings, and later sen-

127 tences,

finally

full

the a c t i o n t a k i n g The t r a i n s in a c t i o n , drawings.

t e x t in the form o f a s t o r y

place.

t h a t C h a r l e s o b s e r v e d e v e r y day were

and a s p i r i t e d ,

The wheels seem t o t u r n , forth,

always rays,

alive quality

finally,

that

in

the

the pic-

a c t i o n . Things happen u n m i s t a k a b l y . the e n g i n e s plunge ahead,

p e o p l e go b u s i l y about

streaming and

usually

appears

In some i n d e s c r i b a b l e way we f e e l

t u r e s e x p r e s s movement, pours

explaining

forth,

t h e i r work.

headlights

Smoke

a l w a y s show beams

whole e p i s o d e s o f

p i c t e d in a s i n g l e p i c t u r e .

the smoke is or

railroading are

de-

A dynamic q u a l i t y p e r v a d e s

the

whole s e r i e s from b e g i n n i n g to end. C h a r l e s e x p r e s s e d t h i s f e e l i n g f o r movement in h i s own b e h a v i o r as he drew t h e p i c t u r e , that

went

into

the drawings.

in the energy and e n t h u s i a s m Ke was

" steamed u p " o v e r

them as he worked. L a t e r as h i s imagination developed and he c o u l d s i m u l t a n e o u s l y e x p r e s s h i s i d e a s both i n drawing and writing,

t h i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c movement appeared in both draw-

ing and w r i t i n g . formalized

His drawings never f e l l c o m p l e t e l y i n t o

stereotypes

characteristic

C l i c h e s do not appear t o any e x t e n t . tive,

dynamic

stylized

as i t

and

imaginative.

might

o f many

the

children.

His approach was c r e a -

Even

the

e a s i l y have b e e n ,

smoke was

not

but e x p r e s s e d

the

c h i l d ' s v a r i e d c o n c e p t i o n s o f smoke in motion. In t h e Two Y e a r drawings smoke and steam a p p e a r , dicating

the t r a i n

Headlights flash

in m o t i o n o r g e t t i n g

from Year

r e a d y t o move.

11-24.

O f t e n t h e e n g i n e appears t o be p l u n g i n g forward, I I I - 6. a l s o Y e a r Year I I I . III-8,

III-7.

Block

signals

n e c t e d with the l o c o m o t i v e appear very e a r l y , Ill-14.

in

con-

in the cab,

cars.

Shows movement o f

b i r d ' s - e y e view.

Year

go up o r down

20, 25. Men a t t e n d a n t s doing v a r i o u s t h i n g s

on top o f f r e i g h t

in-

the t r a i n

at

round

house,

128 IV-5. intended

Locomotive seems to plunge

forward,

the lines

to outline the front of the locomotive

slant

forward. IV-7. Train has the appearance of dashing through space. Cbntrast with train in IV-8 which seems to be moving more slowly. Headlights flash all the while. Steam and smoke stream out. IV-9. Smoke and steam. IV-11.

A rapidly moving freight train. Locomotive here

appears to be plunging forward. This forward push of the upper part may have been accidental or unintentional. The locomotives that lean backward or are strictly vertical do not give the same effect of rapid movement

through

space. The characteristic drawings in the latter part of Year Four in which tracks each with trains intersect, give the impression of busy activity. The approach of two trains that must inevitably meet soon gives the effect of plot and suspense and suggests complicated action. V. Movement is expressed in V-1 and 2, with the locomotives lifted off the track and in V-9. Year V-10

"Toot

Toot, We're o f f " appears in writing. Here is additional proof thdt the picture was intended to represent movement. People in the locomotives and trains give the suggestion of movement and action. Contact brushes as in V-10 suggest movement. V-13, 14. 15• Busy, hustling scenes. V-15. The semaphores are down, signalling " Go. " All the diagonals in the picture help to produce the illusion of action taking place. At about story-telling

the age of in words,

six C h a r l e s relating

began

to do m o r e

to trains and

their

movements. At this age he first related to his mother the story of the great train wreck, his own invention.

129 VI-5. Semaphores down indicate " G o . " T h i s is symbolical drawing. VI-8. Flashing headlight, smoke, noises of moving locomotives shown in writing,

" Choo C h o o " and " T o o t

Toot"

on smoke stack and steam dome. Trains passing each other in two directions. VI-12.

A tremendous amount of activity is symbolized

here. The more material Qiarles put in a picture the more active it seemed. The more crowded scenes appear to be busier. VI-14. The text tells of the intended movement.

"Train

leaving Terminal at Night. " VI-15.

" T o o t toot toot toot." The man in the cab sug-

gests action. VI-17. This also is an action picture. Story of trains moving faster and faster, then wrecked. VII-5• This picture seems full of movement and action. There is an increased amount of smoke, the trains roll up and down hill, with the effect of plunging along. VII-6.

Car at crossing,

train running past

station,

plane overhead, clock indicating time. VII-7. Suggests a great deal of action. VII-9,

10, 11, 12. Story of a train. One train pushed

another train off the track, went speeding on, struck an open switch and " cracked up. " All this is told in writing accompanying the drawings. No attempt actually to draw a picture of this collision

and

fatal ending. All

very

vividly and realistically told. VII-13. An airplane and bird on train with tail feathers flying, suggests fast movement through space. IX-1. All is action and movement. Movement is expressed in the " p o e m " accompanying the drawing of the train in mot ion. IX-3.

Swinging curve with train rounding bend.

and steam suggest movement.

Smoke

130 X-l,

2- T h e s e p i c t u r e s

are

full of action.

Smoke,

steam, noise, train passing station, running through a large city. X-3. Trains appear to be rushing toward each other from different directions. X-4.

Curving smoke lines parallelling tracks give the

effect of great speed. X-7, 8. The humorous pictures in this year level suggest a dozen different things happening at once, even the arrival of parachutists. XI. The action shown in these pictures includes:

Boy

running after train along track. Men in action on locomotives, one man cleaning or repairing the locomotive; the other standing on the pilot with flag in hand. GRAPHIC NARRATION Drawing is story telling for most children. From the time of his earliest drawings Charles appeared to be enjoying and reliving vital experiences. Drawing was the first means at his command

for recreating the impressions he had gained

from observing

railroad

trains,

for summarizing his ob-

servations in story form. We have already emphasized were dynamic

rather

the fact that his drawings

than static, they showed

movement,

activities going on. His railroad scenes were busy, hustling,

full of action.

In each drawing he had a story to

tell, with variants of the same dominant theme repeated over and over. The boy's development in picture story telling was closely associated with language development. The two tendencies matured simultaneously. Both developmental trends reflected heightened perceptual powers and a maturing mind. Language development apparently aided the storing up of the visual and auditory impressions gained

from the railroad

scenes.

131 No doubt he could remember better as he verbalized effectually. played "Now

He often engaged

in autistic speech as he

train, for example at age two years, my engine,

more

four months:

I suppose you go here on the

floor."

The evidence that Charles was attempting to tell stories in his drawings rather than simply drawing an object as an end in itself is as follows: In the first place, his earliest interest even before he attempted to draw, was hearing stories about trains. Secondly, he acted out train episodes with his kiddie car and bicycle. Third, his drawings have narrative characteristics; narration symbolized by movement and action in the pictures described in the foregoing section: details added to the trains and locomotives that suggest stories, people, and the like; scenery such as station and crossing detail; arrangement of the pictures so as to suggest a story, e.g.

several trains converging as in a

wreck; several different things going on in a picture at once; the train-books with series of drawings showing more than one episode; the writing that was introduced more and more

frequently

to supplement

the drawing,

added

story

The occasional descriptive and narrative writing

gives

interest and detail. clues that substantiate the impression that the child was earnestly attempting

to tell a story. The books

Charles

made were sometimes successive drawings of action taking place concerning some one theme. Beyond

a certain point Charles did not elaborate

his

narratives through more and more complicated drawing, but by reducing the drawing and increasing the amount of written description.

As he became more fluent in expressing his

ideas in writing, the train drawings were increasingly supplemented

with w r i t t e n

stories.

emerged as the more prominent train drawings

Gradually

the

writing

form of expression until the

finally became simply illustrations

stories and poems.

for

152 When Charles got to the point where he wanted to get on with his graphic story more rapidly he began to reduce the non-essentials, to eliminate shading, and other details. Luauet (15, 16) discusses graphic narration at length. He distinguishes four methods used in children's drawings: (1) Repetition, (2) juxtaposition or successive pictures, (3) type d'Epinal,5 (4) symbolical. In the first two types the child represents narration graphically either by repeating a motive to suggest that events take place in time, or including several different objects or motives as separate items within the same pictures In the third method, type d'Epinal,

the child draws a

succession of pictures on the same page, marked off from each other as in the " funny paper. " A series of motion picture film frames appearing in succession suggesfs this type of drawing which children frequently do, making a certain number of drawings each showing related scenes. The fourth type represents picture narration such as the mature artist would achieve, - a picture that shows through certain symbols, gestures, arrangement, and the like, what is supposed to be happening, e.g. Charles' drawing of the semaphores with arms down symbolizing " Go. " Luquet comments that symbolic narration rarely appears in children until the age of 11 or 12. The type d'Epinal becomes prominent at age eight or so. A study of Charles' drawings proves that he reached these narration stages several years earlier than typical children if Luquet's statement of normal tendencies is reliable. Before age six Charles showed symbolical narration, and his first train book at age four suggests narration of

the

type d'Epinal. 5. Imagier d'Epinal was a maker of naive, but expressive woodcuts printed in color, probably the forerunner of our modern " funnies. "

133 Evidence o f g r a p h i c n a r r a t i o n drawings:

is

found i n t h e

III-12-

Semaphores or c r o s s i n g

Ill-14.

Pound house p i c t u r e .

111-17.

S t a t i o n or c o t t a g e shown.

III-22.

F i r s t written story:

" In t r a i n daddy. "

IV-9.

following

signal.

"Toot

Toot."

T h i s theme i s both w r i t t e n and

illustrated. " W a r tank Ipped ( l o o p e d ) o n " i s t h e s t o r y

IV-18.

told

in drawing and in w r i t i n g .

IV-17,

19,

20,

theme which l a t e r

V-10.

"Toot

21.

Trains intersecting

suggest

i s e l a b o r a t e d with s t o r i e s o f

a new

wrecks.

t o o t , we a r e o f f . " A i r p l a n e shown overhead.

V-13.

E l a b o r a t e s e r i e s o f t r a c k s and t r a i n s .

V-14.

Suggests a t r a i n

V-15-

Block s i g n a l s ,

story. sun i n sky,

station,

help to

tell

the s t o r y . There was more tendency from Year F i v e to draw fewer single

engines,

more t e n d e n c y

t o show t r a i n s

of

cars

p u l l e d by a locomotive. From Year S i x t h e r e i s more e x p r e s s i o n o f a v a r i e t y o f ideas through more v a r i a t i o n in the drawings.

VI-2.

" T o o t T o o t " h e l p s to t e l l the s t o r y .

VI-5.

B l o c k s i g n a l semaphores

M

down" suggest

narrative

symbolically.

VI-14.

"Train

Leaving Terminal

t o l d both with drawing and w r i t t e n

VI-15.

is

description.

" N e w York C i t y . " " T o o t

h e l p s to express the i d e a s o f the

at Night. " S t o r y T o o t . " The

writing

story.

A t r a i n book with subway and " L " t r a c k s was done a t s i x years of age. book,

At age s i x he a l s o w r o t e a t e n

a s t o r y o f t h e f e r r y boat

took a c r o s s the Hudson R i v e r . f o r t h i s book.

trip his class He made ten

at

page school

illustrations

13U At age six Charles described graphically in writing an imaginary wreck of two trains. He said that the trains were going at about 1,000,000 miles an hour when they crashed. The train wrecks he attempted to tell about both in drawing and writing were not based on direct observation, but were wholly imaginary. VII.

From this time on there was a tendency to include

more trains in a single drawing in various relationships. Their relationship(in a picture suggests a story or episode. The drawing of longer trains was associated with train wreck stories. VII-5.

The " U p hill and down dale" picture has story

suggestions, through symbolical narration. VII-6.

This composition is similar to, but a great im-

provement over V-15. The same theme is represented in both pictures. VII-7.

Also suggests a narrative symbolically.

VII-9,

10, 11, 12. The first long story written by

Charles to accompany his drawings. VII-13.

A vivid picture of a race between a stream-lined

train and an airplane. From age seven written stories with a train theme increase in length and number. IX-3. The story is told jointly in drawing and writing. At age nine the boy made a book of 19 pages all filled in with pictures and text. This was illustrated, labeled, completed and bound with string. X-l.

Here fancy plays free rein. Old fashioned locomo-

tive, noises indicated; skyscrapers and Albany station side by side. X-3.

Suggests that a wreck may be imminent.

X-4.

Possibly a race between two fast trains or express

and local.

135 XI-J.

Story told is of the workers on the locomotive.

XI-4•

A story full of imaginary incident.

TRAIN DRAWINGS MADE BY OTHER CHILDREN Comparatively

few children spend their time drawing

trains. Just six trains are shown in the six hundred drawings made by Simonne Luquet between the ages of four and eight, that are reproduced in Luouet's monograph. (14) Miss Eng's niece Margaret apparently seldom made trains. Only one is reproduced, drawn at the age of VI-2. Margaret more frequently drew trams. Several are reproduced, made at the ages of II-7 and II-8. Ballard (3) reported what London children like to draw. The order of frequency for boys was: ships, various objects, plant life, houses, human beings, vehicles, animals, weapons, landscapes. Trains were no more frequently represented than other vehicles. Sully (24) found the horse a popular subject with London children in the '90's. McCarthy (17) reported the following frequencies of train drawings for various age levels in her collection. Total number of drawings collected: Ages four to eight, 31,239. TRAINS Boys Gi rl s

AGE LF.VFL

TOTAL

4

5

6

7

8

59

126

116

81

20

402

11

11

21

20

0

63 Total

465

This total, 465, is approximately one and a half percent of all the drawings made. Boys showed much more tendency to draw trains than girls. Miss McCarthy's material obtained through the International Kindergarten I'nion was collected in 1919-1922.

136 Most research workers report that the human figure ¿9 the most popular subject with children at all ages up to ten years. Miss Linda Carter, who in 1939 collected

approximately

800 free drawings from kindergarten and first grade children in Norfolk, Virginia, found

very few train drawings. There

were, however, many street cars, airplanes, boats and automobiles. This is different

from the proportion McCarthy

found, and may be due to actual change in children's experiences and interests within recent years. Miss Carter's study was limited to one eastern city where boats play as large a part in transportation as trains. The earlier study covered many inland cities where boats are seldom seen. Miss Carter's study suggests that for modern children, buses, airplanes and automobiles compete in interest with trains. The proportion of train drawings in Charles' collection is therefore far greater than that reported in other studies of children's drawing for similar age levels. Except for Simonne's brief series of train and tram drawings there is no other series reported in the literature that can be compared with Charles' drawings. Like Charles, Simonne's train drawings were inspired by frequent trips to the railroad station in vacation time. At age IV-3 Simonne's train consists of two sausages with round windows, six in one " c a r , " four in another, a locomotive with one circle for a wheel or window and a wavy line for smoke. At age IV-3 there is another train drawing. Three humps above a straight line with a tail or shorter line. The engine is a circle with a black spot and two circular appendages. At age V-2 square cars are shown, engine with smoke stack and bell. Man in engine, perhaps.

Squarish windows, with a head in

each. One wheel for each car, a cross in each wheel meant for spokes. More mature drawings appear successively at ages V-11, VII-8,and VIII-8. At age VII-8, the train at the railroad station has a locomotive that resembles a quadruped.

137 Simonne's train, drawing No.1680»

at eight years-eight

months was represented above the tracks. Charles' drawings freauently showed

this arrangement.

Simonne showed

the

entire figure of the engineman; so too, did Charles. Both Simonne and Charles drew locomotives with faces on the side of the headlight. Her other drawings were more diversified than Charles'. She made pictures of children, houses, trees, dogs, furniture and household

articles,

streets and vehicles,

as well

flowers, birds,

gardens,

as a whole m e n a g e r i e

of

animals. Obviously C h a r l e s and Simonne developed ways and at quite different

in different

rates. Simonne was apparently

more influenced by instruction. We have difficulty judging her work because there are so few train drawings for the age range covered. Nevertheless, the same characteristic growth features appear

from level

to level. The

developmental

sequences are very similar. Simonne attached pictures drawn

" l e g e n d s " or stories to two of her

at age IV-7 before

she could write.

The

imitation-writing was done in scribble style. Simonne resembled Charles in her attitude. Luouet

says

that Simonne applied herself conscienciously to this game. She "prend

ce jeu, comme

les autres,

au sérieux.

"There

are marked similarities in the two series, though Charles reached the same developmental stage usually from a year to two years earlier than Simonne. In her last two drawings at ages seven and eight Simonne still shows no conception of the locomotive mechanism, the function of steam cylinders, driving rods and wheels. In this respect her train drawings resemble more closely those of typical children her age. Miss Eng shows one train made by her niece Margaret at age VI-2. Three " trams" are also reproduced. The train locomotive more closely resembles a house than a train. Heads of passengers are shown in the single passenger car and

the

338 smoke i s featured more prominently than anything e l s e .

There

i s no s u g g e s t i o n on the l o c o m o t i v e o f o p e r a t i n g mechanism. The drawing i s s t e r e o t y p e d and c o n v e n t i o n a l i z e d . represented them,

exactly

Spokes a r e

as C h a r l e s and Simonne f i r s t

- simple c r o s s e s w i t h i n the c i r c l e s

showed

representing

the

" turned o v e r "

the

wheels. Margaret

and Simonne o c c a s i o n a l l y

o b j e c t s they drew. Charles did the same thing when he placed the

front

view of

his

locomotive

flat

on t h e

railroad

tracks and then l a i d the wheels along s i d e . All

the c h i l d r e n went through the i m i t a t i o n - w r i t i n g

stage,

making separate strokes to represent separate l e t t e r s ;

later

making a few l e t t e r s a c c u r a t e l y , but r e t a i n i n g some s c r i b b l e tendency u n t i l

they were nearing school age.

An examination o f

the t r a i n drawings shown in these pub-

l i s h e d reports and a study of several C a r t e r ' s Norfolk c o l l e c t i o n

t r a i n drawings in Miss

indicate

that C h a r l e s was not

o n l y advanced beyond the average c h i l d in the age at which certain characteristic

f e a t u r e s of h i s t r a i n s occur, but h i s

drawings

life,

showed more

understanding,

more d e t a i l ,

more

l e s s tendency to s t e r e o t y p e s ,

technical

to

distortion,

The N o r f o l k drawings show that most c h i l d r e n

succumb t o

incompletions and a b s u r d i t i e s . stereotypes Charles'

earlier

than C h a r l e s or Simonne Luquet.

Even

four-year drawings were more mature in o r g a n i z a t i o n

than those done by t y p i c a l c h i l d r e n in N o r f o l k ,

aged six and

seven. We cannot

generalize

from C h a r l e s '

drawings.

about It

typical

is

age-sequence

apparent

advanced in drawing t r a i n s than Simonne though these c h i l d r e n

appear

that

o r Margaret

t o have been

than the average c h i l d of comparable age. reached each

stage

earlier

f a r more

than the o t h e r

c o u l d be e x p e c t e d

to a t t a i n

even gifted

Although C h a r l e s children,

appear t o have gone through simmlar developmental Few c h i l d r e n

norms

he was more

at

all

stages.

any age

the

139 ultimate maturation level displayed in this series, because few would have similar interest, motivation, opportunities or mechanical insight. Chronological age is an unreliable predictive indication because individual children show the same variation in drawing development

that they show in

psycho-motor skills such as walking or talking.

VIII

PSYCHOLOGICAL Although represent not

the t r a i n drawings d e s c r i b e d i n t h i s one c h i l d ' s

furnish a l l

plete

highly specialized

the c o n t e n t

psychological

many p s y c h o l o g i c a l in drawing

c u s s e d a r e as

in

interpretation

of

from t h i s

the order

childish

and do

drawing,

development

sequential

series.

i n which t h e y w i l l

t r e n d s in development;

2. The tendency t o draw t h e whole Growth

interest,

be

dis-

follows:

Evolutionary

3.

monograph

t h a t would be needed f o r a com-

p r i n c i p l e s underlying c h i l d

can be d e r i v e d

These p r i n c i p l e s

1.

INTERPRETATION

through

increasing

t h e growth c u r v e .

structure. differentiation

in

the

drawings. 4.

How k n o w l e d g e

of

function

5.

Perception.

6.

S y n t h e s i s i n t h e drawings.

7.

S u c c e s s i v e stages in

8.

The s i m p l i f i c a t i o n

EVOLUTIONARY TRENDS

The

stages

Chapter

III

the

thinking.

IN DEVELOPMENT

suggested

the

outlined

evolutionary

at

t h e end

character

of

of the

The growth p r o c e s s i n spontaneous draw-

e a r l y c h i l d h o o d may be c h a r a c t e r i z e d

moving s e r i e s o f c h a n g e s , development.

drawing.

tendency i n drawing.

in drawing p r o g r e s s

drawing development. ing in

influenced

analagnus

as a

to organic

forward

evolutionary

In t h i s drawing s e r i e s t h e r e was a continuum o f

dynamic growth through l e a r n i n g and r e a d j u s t m e n t as each new p r o b l e m was met and s o l v e d . heterogeneity

The i n c r e a s i n g

complexity

and

shown in s u c c e s s i v e drawings were comparable

to c e l l d i v i s i o n and d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n

in organic

structures.

In t h e drawings t h e undeveloped " w h o l e " was t h e r e

from t h e

lkl beginning;

growth proceeded not through simple addition of

d e t a i l s , but b y r e c o n s t r u c t i o n of the w h o l e d r a w i n g

with

each forward step. G r o w t h produced incessant change as the series advanced toward maturity. The developmental a p p e a r e d to be i n t e r n a l l y activated as well as

process

externally

stimulated and controlled. Luquet

found b o t h elements of stability and p r o g r e s s

in

his c h i l d ' s d r a w i n g development. H e o b s e r v e d that the new took

its p l a c e a l o n g s i d e

the o l d in the c h i l d ' s

drawings

without supplanting the old. Charles' d r a w i n g s showed this tendency. The " W h o l e " existed in the b e g i n n i n g and became successively complete through an allover developmental process. This growth took place so slowly that from day to d a y the c h i l d a p p e a r e d to be m a k i n g n o e s s e n t i a l progress.

In

Charles' case, growth m o v e d in two directions: (1) Retention of e a r l i e r that

forms that p r o v e d useful and, (2) m o d i f i c a t i o n

g r a d u a l l y p r o d u c e d new forms. T h e

stantly be distinguished

in the

" old " c o u l d con-

" new, " but

the

" new"

d e p a r t e d farther and farther from the " old, " as time went on. In the evolutionary process, once the behavior pattern of the o r g a n i s m has b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d ,

stereotyped

behavior

results w h e n there are no marked changes in the external or internal environment. The train drawing series showed analogous trends. The drawing patterns once established tended to persist. As Charles assimilated his environment,

it became

less novel for him each year and stereotyped behavior to the extent described in Chapter IV resulted. G r o w t h was systematic, continuous, sequential, stable and consistent in spite of the many variable

factors

affecting

the c h i l d and all the accidental circumstances that varied from day to day. D u r i n g the growth process the child apparently kept on an even keel; p r o g r e s s d i d not tangent or b r a n c h out in u n e x p e c t e d , Learning

fly off at a

unpredictable

to d r a w l o c o m o t i v e s was a gradual

though

ways. steady

11*2 process,

that

after

The y e a r - b y - y e a r

several

y e a r s was f a r

p r o g r e s s produced

from c o m p l e t e .

the smooth,

growth curve shown g r a p h i c a l l y in Chapter I I I .

continuous

There was no

marked s e p a r a t i o n i n t o d i s t i n c t drawing stages. The later

rate

of

years.

change i n growth v a r i e d At

first

from the e a r l y

growth was r a p i d ;

within

the

f o u r drawing y e a r s ( a g e s 2 - 5 ) C h a r l e s made f a s t e r

to

first

progress

than during any other p e r i o d . The growth curve not only shot upward,

if

growth

o n l y the number o f new d e t a i l s

took p l a c e o v e r

a broad a r e a .

s p e c t a c u l a r changes occurred much nearer the end of early time,

the s e r i e s ,

childhood.

take p l a c e , or

Negative

Although

set

growth

during

in a f t e r

this

and mental growth curves f o r human

refinement

i n drawing c o n t i n u e d

t h e r e were no fundamental changes i n

to

structure

form. These developmental

newer to

acceleration

but

dramatic,

the beginning than

j u s t as in p h y s i c a l

as in a l l p h y s i c a l

development.

i s counted,

The most

trends

in d r a w i n g c o r r o b o r a t e

f i n d i n g s i n c h i l d development

sequential

stages

in

language,

respect

psycho-motor

skills,

musical development and other phases of c h i l d growth. opment i s more r a p i d i n the e a r l i e s t six a l l

the

research with

years;

Devel-

by age f i v e or

the fundamental c o n t r o l s in many b a s i c s k i l l s

have

been achieved. THE TENDENCY TO DRAW THE WHOLE STRUCTURE FROM THE

The f i r s t totality,

drawings were c o m p l e t e u n i t s .

rather

miscellaneous at

a g g r e g a t i o n of

f i r s t vaguely,

difficult

than any s i n g l e aspect

i n the b e g i n n i n g of

the c h i l d has drawn. The f i r s t p l y as c i r c u l a r stood

parts.

crudely portrayed,

scribbles,

They

BEGINNING

symbolized

of

the whole o r a

These

" w h o l e s " were

so c r u d e l y that i t

the s e r i e s

is

to i n t e r p r e t what

t r a i n s were represented sim-

but t h e s e s c r i b b l e s

f o r the whole l o c o m o t i v e or t r a i n .

invariably

A p p a r e n t l y to the

1*3 child just emerging from babyhood the engine appears to be a large, round mass. The details are unimportant to him. These primitive drawing

" wholes" were just as truly complete

imits, susceptible to further development through enrichment and subdivision as the human embryo is an integrated unit capable of growth. The circles represented the whole object but in the most rudimentary way. According to adult logic the easiest thing for the child would be to pick out a small part of a whole object and draw that; for example, in the case of a locomotive, a wheel or window; or to draw several parts, unorganized. On the contrary, the child normally elects to draw the whole thing as a unit. He unconsciously safeguards himself against losing the whole in secondary detail. To grasp the whole without the detail fits the child mind. It results in economy of effort, mental efficiency. The child mind seizes first on the " grand total, " - in Charles' case the whole train in operation. The child can grasp the locomotive as a whole because he is a child. What confounds his elders is simple for him. The vague, undifferentiated mass is at first all he sees and all he needs to see for his own

satisfaction.

The child's normal beginning in drawing is always with total impressions, the whole " house, " " man, " " dog" or " tree" he is trying to represent. Miss Eng's niece and Simonne Luquet drew exactly in this way. Baldwin (2) observed the sane phenomenon. Children not only tend to hold to the unit in drawing, but at first they even bring exterior secondary or accessory parts within the unit. In children's drawings of houses the chimney sometimes appears within the block unit representing the house. Charles tended at first to put the wheels inside the round shape representing the train or engine. The " w h o l e " maintains supreme dominance. Attempts on the part of adults who are dissatisfied with the child's crude outlines to center the child's attention on details are disregarded or

rejected. The little children Luquet studied continued, even when corrected, to draw men without arms. Charles got the general form without correct secondary details for days on end. Pointing out the inaccuracies to him made no difference. The same principle is revealed in other phases of child development. The child first begins to walk and talk " all over. " H e does not single out some isolated psycho-motor skill involved in walking for special practice, nor particular words or sounds; instead he works on the problem at the outset as a total learning task. GROWTH THROUGH INCREASING DIFFERENTIATION IN THE DRAWINGS Children normally begin by representing the whole; during the developmental process they continue to draw the total structure but increasingly enrich the whole with appropriate detail. The young child has difficulty discriminating the particular object from others of the same species. To the young child all men coming down the street look like " daddy. " In his picture books a dog and a sheep are not easily differentiated. The finer distinctions are difficult to draw. Mental immaturity and lack of experience account for the young child's failure to differentiate in his drawings the specific objects within a given class. In Charles' drawings the important elements, primary structures, the basic things, appeared early, then the secondary and accessory. Through increasing differentiation the drawings came more and more to resemble actual locomotives and even to depict specific types. By this process the drawings gradually showed steady improvement in symmetry, squareness, roundness, balance, proportion, accuracy, fidelity to the thing the boy was trying to represent and an increasing amount of detail faithfully reproduced. As time passed the vague, undifferentiated whole became constantly enriched.

1*5 The train drawing series did not begin with isolated elements that were later combined into wholes as an automobile is assembled in the factory. Growth did not proceed by an aggregation of details held together by " associationist glue. " Progress in drawing was not made by simple addition or juxtaposition, more and more details being added to an original detail or two, but by subdivision and differentiation the whole was transformed with the addition of new detail and became a new integrated structure. Details emerged from the total mass. The earlier structures disappeared and were replaced with new revisions. The series began with wholes which were subjected to analysis with succeeding trials. This was a discriminative process in which the parts were comprehended with relation to each other and to the whole structured locomotive or train. Differentiation and integration took place simultaneously, though logically these two processes are opposed. The tendency to progress from the vague, generalized structure to the more detailed whole increased rapidly with age. This growth process in drawing was analogous to building and furnishing a new house. The fundamental framework of the house and the most important furnishings, come first; gradually more is added, without the fundamental plan being changed; the whole is better assembled; the furnishings are enriched through the years, but the foundation structure remains unchanged. Each new accession assumes its proper relationship to the whole; the original whole becomes a recreated whole with each fundamentally new addition. The child does not proceed from wholes to parts, from total units to details by disregarding wholes and concentrating on separate parts. In spontaneous drawing he is apparently engrossed with the whole under normal circumstances, but his later " w h o l e s " are embellished, fully articulated representations that resemble more and more realistic pictures of the objects.

11*6 Differentiation took place in the train series without disruption of the whole. The train did not fly to pieces as the windows or wheels were added, but remained as solid and we 11 -articulated as ever. Furthermore, one part did not grow suddenly more refined at the expense of another part. Although, for example, the car windows show successive refinement

from year to year, this improvement

lelled by equally paced development

is paral-

in almost any other

feature examined, for example, the locomotive pilot. Again, this hierarchy in development does not accord well with adult logic. "The adult mind tends to think of the whole as a summation of parts. These separate parts properly assembled compose the whole. The whole was reworked time the child made a fresh start and progress

every

resulted

from sharper discrimination which produced subtle changes in the total structure. Luquet observed that we may infer the relative importance of a particular detail from the order of its appearance in a series of drawings. In Charles' drawings, from the time the pictures

could

first be recognized

as locomotives

and

trains, wheels appeared, but the number varied from picture to picture, as though the specific number shown was of no great consequence. Similarly with other detail. The order of appearance of detail in Charles' locomotive would accord very well with their

functional

drawings

importance

in locomotion. H O * KNOWLEDGE OF FUNCTION INFLUENCED THE DRAWING

The child's understanding of function determines in part what he represents in his drawings and how he organizes the content. Luquet (15) demonstrated sequential drawings of the human

that in children's

form legs come before

arms, because to the child they are more important tionally.

Luquet

func-

shows a child's d r a w i n g of u m b r e l l a s

carried by people, the umbrellas coming out of the tops of

147 their heads, the figures either with or without arms. To the child, the umbrella was something primarily to keep the rain off, rather than to be carried in the hand. Luquet also shows a child's drawing (age six) of figures throwing snow balls, all the boys having only one arm each. Eng's niece put an arm on the child in the swing but left them off the children waiting their turn. In Charles' early drawings lines were omitted, details were left out, not because the child could not draw them, but because they bore no purposeful relations to the whole as he understood it. The child's world is molded on the child's vague and partial understanding. His reasoning is incomplete, oversimplified. His logic shows serious short-comings. The child is illogical in his drawing for lack of knowledge. Charles' drawings showed inaccuracies and disproportion precisely because he was not logical. He was not making conscious judgments when he drew, but was representing as best he could what he understood of what he saw. Hence the discrepancies between true appearance of the thing drawn and the child's representation. Nearly all of Charles' trains and locomotives were drawn in profile because that is the way they functioned most meaningfully for him, - flashing by in a full side view. The front or rear elevation has little significance for the child. For Charles the locomotive moved just as well when it was a round ball with a wisp of steam or smoke as when it is more fully represented later as a mallet type locomotive. The child omitted the parts whose utility he did not understand. The new details appeared only when they appeared to be indispensable to the whole. Charles' gradual recognition of couplers and their use illustrates this point. As soon as he sensed the significance of the couplers he included them in the drawings. A still better

1U8 illustration is afforded in the driving rods. He could picture the rods and their action only when his mind had sufficiently matured to comprehend the mechanical principles involved and after he had assimilated his father's explanations regarding the purposes the rods served. For some time the appurtenances on top of the locomotive were apparently of secondary importance. The locomotive could still run without bell and whistle. The smoke and steam, however, must have seemed relatively essential, since they appeared early in the drawing series. Luquet observed that in children's drawings a hierarchy is found, arranged according to the importance the child attaches to various aspects of the thing drawn. Charles' successive drawings show the stages through which he went in acquiring experience about trains. THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

Several features of the visual perception process are characteristically revealed in the train drawings. 1. The child apparently perceived " wholes" rather than parts unrelated to wholes. His percepts were structured, organized, not isolated, meaningless fragments. 2. He did not see everything that was important in an absolute sense. 3. His feelings and emotions influenced what he saw. 4. His perception was governed by understanding. Meaning controlled what he saw. 5. He did not perceive trains and locomotives as adults see them or as photographs show them. 6. His perceptual development progressed from general to specific. The boy's percepts were preeminently autistic, that is, they were self-centered in a psychological sense; they were dominated by his personal feelings, his wishes and needs.

149 He perceived what he wished

to retain. Deep motivating

factors controlled what he observed. The psychologist Meumann observed that a child draws not what he sees but what he knows. Piaget concluded that the child sees only what he knows and what he anticipates. Ke copies only an " inner model. " When Charles drew pictures of trains he did not reproduce the scene or object realistically, but made over in his mind what he has observed. Although the child and adult receive identical

stimuli

through the sense organs when they view the same scene, a mental process of interpretation takes place in the mind which causes the child and adult to understand the scene in different ways. One can imagine how differently Qiarles saw the puffing switch engine compared with what the adult onlooker,

the engineman, the yard foreman, or the manu-

facturer observed. The difference in observation is due to difference

in

the meaning the scene has for the individual observer. The difference between Charles' early drawings and later ones is due to growth in understanding, not to any

fundamental

changes in the objects observed. Charles " s a w " with usual sense organs the very same scenes (or approximately the same) year after year, but what he perceived was radically different the last year as compared with the first. Only through a prolonged process of perceiving were the child's ideas modified, his " faults" corrected, the whole graphic representation improved. The trains and locomotives were not perceived as a conglomeration of heterogeneous elements, but as immediately fused, integrated structures. There was no chaotic, mentary perception;

frag-

instead mental integration produced

organized units. At first the predominant figures, the trains were represented quite independently of background. Only later did the background attain any significance. The locomotive was

150 saturated with interest, from the beginning; the background held little that was important to the child. Although later the background was included, it was always subordinated to the locomotive or train. The preeminence of movement in the scenes the child observed is noteworthy. Movement always attracted his attention more than still objects. The child drew

smoke before

he drew a smoke-stack. The train that moved was given selective attention in preference to the " still" background. SYNTHESIS IN THE DRAWINGS Synthesis consists in the appropriate combination of sepa-rate parts into a whole. Children's drawings are sometimes said to lack synthesis. Parts that belong with the whole stand apart from it or are not properly articulated with it. Luquet found the tendency to a considerable degree in his child's drawings. He ascribed to lack of synthetic capacity the child's Errors in orientation and erroneous

juxta-

position. The child could not understand the relationships that existed among the parts and consequently could not represent

them properly in drawing. Whether or not the

child's drawing be interpreted as syncretic or analytic depends on the point of view of the adult observer and is not necessarily an inherent quality of the child's response, as Margaret Curti has observed.® The tendency to synthesize such complicated objects as trains is a function of maturity as well as the conditions under which the drawings are rrade. Wide individual variations are shown among children. Lack of synthesis appears not to be a universal characteristic of young children's drawings. One child may show it to a considerable degree, another scarcely at all. The capacity to synthesize is apparently closely related to the meaning the whole has for 6. Curti, Margaret W. Child Psychology. New York: Longmans Green. 1938. Second Edition, p. 293.

151 the

individual

and

the understanding of

relationships

among the parts and to the whole. Bright children tend to show in their drawings more correct synthesis than others; older children more than younger ones. Children who are under external pressure to draw as adults dictate the subjects that adults assign, seem more prone to disintegration, lack of correct synthesis or totality in their drawings than children who do all their drawing spontaneously and hence more meaningfully. Children who are asked to copy models tend not to synthesize correctly. With maturity, children's perceptions tend to become more accurate, more impersonal, more organized, and these traits are reflected in their drawings. In Charles' drawings parts and details tended more often to be lacking than present in the wrong relationship. When the parts appeared, each took its appropriate position and was complete in outline; but each detail in itself, like the original whole, was incomplete. In the same way a normal child drawing a picture of a man spontaneously may omit hands,

feet and clothing, but when these additions appear

they are approximately correct in orientation,

although

they are incompletely represented in themselves. The average four or five year old's attempt to draw a house probably represents neither synthesis nor analysis, but both tendencies operating together. His mind is centered on the whole completed concept, but he is conscious, too, of the parts, and strives unconsciously to bring them into proper juxtaposition. We have little material to judge from in examining Charles' earlier drawings to determine whether he showed the lack of

synthetic capacity observed by Luquet.

In C h a r l e s '

drawings synthesis and organization were shown as soon as detail

appeared; but synthesis was crude,

rudimentary,

disproportionate, not always accurate. Charles showed not so much a lack of synthetic capacity as general vagueness in

152 the total drawing. The parts were not shown to any extent at

first, but when they did appear they quickly

assumed

their correct orientation with respect to the whole. There was not much detail to arrange or integrate in the earliest drawings.

SUCCESSIVE STAGES IN THINKING SHOWN IN DRAWING In Chapter III the principal changes the child's drawings underwent as he progressed from the first infantile circles to more realistic and naturalistic drawing were outlined. Is it possible to summarize these changes in terms of major stages in the thinking process, and if so, are these stages found to be universal in children's drawings? Luquet (14) distinguished four stages in Simonne's drawings which he found similarly to characterize the other child drawings he studied. These phases were: 1. Dessin involuntair. The child's tendency to draw without making any particular object, but often naming the result afterwards. 2. Drawing with

" l'incapacité

synthétique,"

that is,

wholly lacking in realism. 3. Réalisme

logique. Drawing a picture with all features

the object possesses shown, but without drawing naturalistically. 4. Réalisme

visual. Drawing the object more photographi-

cally, with increasing control over perspective and other naturalistic treatment. In summarizing the stages through which Charles progressed in his drawings, Luquet's listing is not very helpful. Eng (7) too, disagrees with Luquet's stages as a satisfactory statement of children's development in drawing. In Charles' series presented here the first of Luquet's stages was lacking entirely, though even before age two Charles may have done considerable drawing of the involuntary

sort.

153 Then again in Charles' series, the child tended to synthesize correctly, as we have already shown, more often than

to assemble his completed drawing incorrectly.

He

showed " logical or intellectual realism" to a considerable degree, but chiefly through schematic drawing. This Luquet says he did not

find to any marked degree in Simonne's

drawings, though Eng found it frequently erfough in Margaret's pictures. Finally, Charles seldom drew photographically even in his most mature pictures. He gained

some

slight skill in perspective, but was content with schematic drawing as a time saver. As his series closed, he was progressing more and more toward creative, imaginative drawing, using his habituated schemes, but constantly

introducing

original touches. These represented a wide departure from the photographic, but there were many realistic features. These results probably do not indicate any

fundamental

difference between the drawing tendencies of Charles and Simonne. Luquet did not have a long, continuous series on which to base his generalizations. His conclusions

seem

rather to represent speculation based on fragmentary data, supported by adult logic. The separate stages through which Charles progressed in drawing may be described somewhat as follows: 1. Drawing

the total mass impressionistically

with a

few lines, the intended objects being hard to identify. 2. Generalized drawings, the whole recognizable as the intended object, with some dettil, but not enough identify the particular

species of object

to

intended.

3. Drawing more realistically through addition of more specific detail. 4. Symbolical representation through the crystalization of schemas or patterns, the adoption of conventions to suggest various aspects of the subject drawn. resulted in a trend toward simplification.

This

15U 5. In the last stage, three trends taking place simultaneously: (a) Continued use of stereotypes, (b) Improvement toward photographic, realistic drawing through increased use of and better control over perspective, and addition of more significant detail. (c) Creative, original touches having no counterpart in nature, and not recognizable as stereotypes from earlier drawings. In the later drawing stages, all of these tendencies overlapped. They can scarcely be assigned any fixed chronological order in the series. THE SIMPLIFICATION TENDENCY IN CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS There is considerable evidence to prove that when the child is confronted with complicated situations too difficult for him to understand he does not turn away from the problem, but reduces its difficulty to his mental level. This tendency is shown in children's drawing. Eng (7) has described what happens when children attempt to copy patterns too difficult

for them to reproduce. Although the

children sometimes turn away and ask for an easier model, they more frequently reduce the difficulty to suit their level of understanding. I have observed the same tendency when children are asked to copy the figures in the Binet test. In attempting to copy the diamond, many young children below the mental age of seven draw a square, a rectangle, or a tangle of zig-zig strokes; they make an irregular shaped figure, or a rough outline and then add

" e a r s " for the

points of the diamonds. Although he was not copying from models, Charles showed this tendency in many instances. His drawings often showed unconscious simplification, varying in degree, depending on his degree of maturity at the time. His

immaturity

forced him to simplify what he saw. There was plenty of difficulty and complexity in the locomotives Charles saw. It was residual in every one, but

155 C h a r l e s was not aware of any complexity or else he unconsciously comment,

rejected it. At least he was never heard

" It's too hard.

I don't

to

see how this goes. I

guess I can't do anything so h a r d . " Instead, he whittled down the difficulties, discarded them to make the problem fit his mental grasp. Drawing schematically was one way this difficulty was met. Drawing the locomotive in profile apparently simplified the problem. No doubt, for the child, drawing

from memory,

in contrast

to drawing from models

helped to simplify the object drawn, for the memory stored up only the impressions the child could grasp and retain.

THE QUESTION OF TECHNICAL ADEQUACY The most frequent explanation given for the drawing inadequacies young children show is that they lack the physical skill, (coordination, strength and control) necessary to make better drawings. The question must be raised whether Charles saw more than he could draw, perceived more adequately than he could express his ideas in drawing. This seems doubtful because very early he had demonstrated his ability to make the fundamental lines that would serve to represent what he wished to draw;

for example,

circles,

rectangles, ovals, semicircles, squares and straight lines. This was all the equipment needed for representing any object the boy wished to make. It is common to over-rate eye-hand coordination,

sheer

physical manipulation as a factor in children's success or deficiencies in drawing. Charles never showed

physical

limitations in drawing, hence his immaturity in achievement in the early years cannot be attributed to lack of sheer physical control or adroitness. Even at ages Two and Three he had adequate ability to execute with pencil on paper. He had his pencil under control even from the earliest drawings, and was able to represent about what he pleased in the way he wished to show it. He was not maladroit

in

156 d r a w i n g n o matter how hurriedly he worked. If in the early drawings important lines or details were omitted, it was not b e c a u s e he was p h y s i c a l l y incapable of d r a w i n g them,

for

at all levels he had adequate physical strength and control at his command. In fact, from time to time the child showed that he had better control of line than he was

accustomed

to use. Not lack of drawing skill but immature m e n t a l i t y , perceptual ability, imperfect understanding and ideas, a d e q u a c y in thinking and knowledge made the child's

in-

early

p r o d u c t s appear immature. C h a r l e s d i d not omit p a r t s

or

avoid difficulties because he could not draw them, but because he did not perceive them as the mature person would. N o comment he ever made indicated that he p e r c e i v e d p a r t s too complicated to represent with his drawing skills. Certainly he never showed in his attitude any such uncertainty or

inadeauacy.

157 SUMMARY An a n a l y s i s was made of

149 t r a i n and locomotive

drawings

s e l e c t e d from a continuous s e r i e s of more than 2000 drawings made by one c h i l d between the ages of The

following

features

Schematic drawing,

of

two and eleven.

the d r a w i n g s

were

drawing in p e r s p e c t i v e ,

o r i e n t a t i o n and p r o p o r t i o n ,

and numbering in connection with the p i c t u r e s , in drawing

the d r i v i n g

mechanism,

locomotive cab and p i l o t , and

imaginary

ideas,

creatures,

rhythm, humor,

rods

and w h e e l s ,

picture

composition,

movement and a c t i o n ,

A comparison was made between the present published d e s c r i p t i o n s

trains

of c h i l d r e n ' s

process

in drawing

proved to be e v o l u t i o n a r y

invariably

represented

progressing the w h o l e ,

from year

the

animals

creative

graphic

tion.

developmental

writing

development

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of p e o p l e ,

other The

studied:

r e p r e s e n t i n g o b j e c t s i n three dimensions,

narra-

series

train

and

drawings.

locomotives

in c h a r a c t e r .

The

and child

the whole o b j e c t each time he drew, to year w i t h a l l - o v e r

and i n c r e a s i n g

refinement

differentiation

of

The growth curve was smooth and c o n s i s t e n t ;

the

of

parts.

there were no

s h a r p b r e a k s or

regressions.

tinuous process.

The most p r o g r e s s determined by c o u n t i n g

the new f e a t u r e s the f i r s t

that

four years,

The whole o b j e c t , s e n t e d by i r r e g u l a r additional

detail.

Growth was a g r a d u a l ,

appeared

each year

ages two to f i v e locomotive or circles,

and s e v e r a l

oval

train.

The oval u n i t s

short

was f i r s t lines

the c i r c l e s

u n i t s were

representing

i n c r e a s i n g l y squared or r e c t a n g u l a r

during

inclusive.

train,

with

Gradually

shape,

was made

con-

joined

repre-

suggesting

became o v a l to r e p r e s e n t

e n g i n e s or c a r s in shape.

In

in a

became

successive

drawings more d e t a i l was added which served to d i f f e r e n t i a t e the

parts

and i d e n t i f y

the

specific

train

or

locomotive

158 represented. The drawings became more realistic through the age levels, reaching a maximum in this respect at about six years. The child was better able to comprehend the parts in relation to the whole as his insight increased through added experience and mental growth. Evolution in perceptual assimilation apparently resulted from the fusion of external stimuli and inner maturation forces, both psychological and organic. The operating mechanism was more correctly shown in succeeding years, indicating the chiod's evolving comprehension of the principles of steam locomotion. The child showed precocious understanding of the driving rods and their functions, since the mechanism was shown early in the series and the rods and cylinders were drawn with increased precision and improved articulation at each age level. Knowledge and understanding of function governed the organization of the drawings. Accurate mechanical detail appeared in the order of its functional significance. The child showed more maturity in his drawings than other children who have drawn trains to the extent of two or three years in the various age levels. Beyond the first year or so his drawings did not show the incongruities and omissions characteristic of other children's train drawings. Outstanding features of the drawings were: the tendency to adopt schemes or patterns, symbolic conventions which tended to simplify and stylize the drawings; to draw solid objects transparently, to do relatively little drawing in true perspective even toward the end of the series. Spontaneous writing and numbering on the trains and locomotives appeared in all the age levels from three years. In the earlier levels illegible marks stood for letters and numbers. There was gradual improvement in indicating letter and number symbols from age three until clear cut lettering in capitals appeared at ages six and seven.

159 Later in the series a simplifying

trend in the

train

drawings was shown, detail was reduced, the drawings became more skeletonized as writing began to supplant drawing for narrative purposes. A decrease in the actual number

of

trains drawn each year as the child became engrossed

in

other activities was noted. The tendency to substitute written descriptions and stories for drawing emerged rapidly in the last four years of the series. Toward the close of the series there was more creative, non-realistic drawing, in which the stereotypes of earlier drawings less frequently appeared. Balance, symmetry and proportion in the drawings improved as the child matured. There was better control of line, firmer contours. An increased amount of writing and numbering appeared in the drawing series from year to year. More interest was shown in the landscape background surrounding the trains drawn in the higher age levels. Graphic narration was achieved for the most part symbolically by the arrangement of content within the story-telling pictures.

161

REFERENCES 1.

Anastasi, A. and Foley, J. P. Jr. " An Analysis of Spontaneous Drawings by Children in Different Cultures. " Journal

of Applied

Psychology.

20, 1936.

689-725. 2-

Baldwin, J. M. Mental Development in the Child and the Race. New York: Macmillan, 1895.

3.

Ballard, P. B. " What London Children Like to Draw. " Journal of Experimental

Pedagogy,

1, 1912, 185-197;

2, 1913, 127-129. 4.

Barnes, Earl.

"Children's Pictures and Stories."

Studies in Education, 1, Stanford University, 1896-97. Also: 2, Philadelphia, 1902. 5.

Brown, D. D. "Notes on Children's Drawings." Studies in Education,

2. University of California,

1897,

PP. 1-75. 6.

Burk, Frederick. " The Genetic Versus the Logical Order in Drawing. "

7.

Eng, Helga.

Pedagogical Seminary, 9, 1902, 296-323.

The Psychology

of Children's

Drawings.

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1931. 8.

Goodenough, F. L. The Measurement

of Intelligence by

Drawings. Yonkers: World Book Company, 1926. 9.

"Children's Drawings. "Chapter 14 in Murchison, Carl, A Handbook of Child Psychology. Worcester, Mass. Clark University Press, 1931. Also: "Child Development. "

Section IX. Drawing. Encyclopaedia of Educa-

tional Research. New York: Macmillan,1941, pp.157-160.

162 10.

Graewe, H. "Geschichtlicher Überblick über die Psychologie des Kindlichen Zeichnens. " Archiv für die Gesamte Psychologie, 96, 1936, 103-220.

11.

Hurlock, E. B. and Thomson, J. L. "Children's Drawings: An Experimental Study of Perception. " Child Development, 5, 1934, 127-38.

12.

Kerr, Madeline.

"Children's Drawings of Houses."

British Journal of Psychology, Medical Section, If,, 1936-37, pp.206-218. 13.

LcJwenfeld, Viktor. The Nature of Creative

Activity;

experimental and comparative studies of visual and non-visual sources of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture by means of the Artistic Products of Weak-Sighted and Blind Subjects and of the Art of Different Epochs and Cultures. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939. 14.

Luquet, G.-H. Les Dessins d'un Enfant. Paris: Librairie Felix Alcan, 1913.

15. 16.

Le Dessin Enfant in. Paris: Alcan, 1927. " La Narration Graphique. " Journal de Psychologie, 1924, pp.183-218.

17.. McCarthy, Stella A. Children's

Drawings; A Study of

Interest and Abi 1 ities. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1934. 18.

Piaget, J. The Language

and Thought

of the Child.

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1926. 19.

The Child's Concept ion of Physical Causality. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1930.

20.

Plärre, W. Die Darstellung der Bewegung in der Kinderzeichnung. Jena: Gustav Fispher, 1939.

163 21.

Probst, M. " L e s Dessins des Enfants K a b y l e s . " Archives de Psychologie, 6, 1906-1907, pp.131-140.

22.

Rouma, G. Le Langage Graphique

de l'Enfant.

Paris:

Misch et Thron, 1913. 23.

Stern, W. Psychologie der Früher Kindheit.

Leipzig:

Quelle and Meyer, Sixth Edition, 1930, pp.251-312, 322-23. 24.

Sully, James. Children's Ways. New York: D. Appleton, 1897, Chapter XII.

CHARLES Upper

left:

Aged one y e a r , eight months;

ri&ht:

two years,

at his

feet);

lower

ten m o n t h s left:

(notice

four years;

upper

catastrophe lover

si* years (ready for the run to Jersey City).

right:

@

©

i ifT^y

DApor N o t e ro U- I h o e E

you AM WA^PP ivTttr

r i u n i i > LULL

; jr.

V

orn

0 V« J ro a y dT R/^gga^g: 1 7 . , r ¡ T v > 0 | U fr ÌIMC Hífil i rc kk E A1 g i m c * ' t M A t x o M ß Uh ' -to PAT EIU -0Ai ft"» l T P U L , - E D t C < V -TMP ( v t uve. cìnr WAÌ0M-Lrtíé !rJr £N\JW*

Zr. N ^ . V f ;

r f wt f t tcK k ^ ö T ' ') ^ MUjfVULtSi f i O U R / T AA/V

(\CJ

n OUR

AAb C.RH*61'

IT /W

Up,

pA/P îtMF .

W E - r r 8cx)Ajt> r o A , „ . / " J , otTHF-JRacu,

\b Of*

b t feft&lftÉ t Ä i ^ O !. '' ^ »D l -^" m

IT

W A J ^ Ä ^

Ä

^

^

^-^TT^rrtîîT :-- ,

^ (W)