The Complete Guide to Children's Drawings: Accessing Children‘s Emotional World through their Artwork
The key to diagnosing through colors is to look beyond the drawing. That is, ignore the drawing’s structure and elements such as house or tree, and focus on the dominant color. Nevertheless, you must beware of attributing far-reaching personality or behavioral meanings to the colors without cross-checking additional indicators. For example, the color green in figure 2-1 must not be ascribed emotional meanings because the use of green in this case is natural when drawing the ninja turtle figure.
In addition to the cross-checking of additional indicators in a child’s drawing, another important prerequisite is the amount of drawings analyzed – 25–30 will provide a good basis for a comprehensive analysis. If you observe recurring and dominant use of the same color in many of the child’s drawings, you may reach conclusions about his personality and difficulties based on the meaning of this color.
Furthermore, when you see a dominant color in the child’s drawings check with his parents whether this color was the only color available for drawing at the time. If the child had no other alternative, I don’t recommend reaching any conclusion about his inner world based on the meaning of colors.
This explains the meaning of colors in children’s drawings and their relationship with various personality traits. The choice or overuse of a certain color can help us arrive at conclusions about the child’s life.
In the following review of the various colors used in children’s drawings, I offer various examples of overuse. On the other hand, the two drawings below are examples for balanced color use. When color use is balanced as opposed to imbalanced, the emotional meanings detected through the colors will tend to be positive. Nevertheless, such tendencies alone cannot support emotional conclusions unless backed by other graphic indicators.
Figures 2-2 & 2-3: Examples for balanced use of colors in different ages
Red
This is one of children’s favorite colors. In fact, in most cases, it is the first color which comes to our mind when discussing colors. Because of its dominancy and attractiveness, you may find it in traffic lights and life-saving vehicles, but also in fast food restaurants. As red refers to guilt and sin, you may see examples of it in fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood, who paid a heavy price for her “red” curiosity.
In history, red was used as a symbol of courage and bravery; hence it was included, even in ancient Rome, in warfare-related objects. In ancient Egypt, people used to paint their body red to demonstrate their power. In India, red symbolized lust for power and materialism.
In China, red has a positive connotation and is a symbol of luck. Therefore it is used in celebrations and wedding ceremonies, where brides traditionally wear red dresses. In addition, the ceremony in which a newborn is named is called Red Egg.
Red has a stimulating effect on our nervous system and exposure to it increases the breathing rate and blood pressure (Ritberger, 2009). This is why red is associated with aggressiveness and competition.
In nature, it was found that red causes seagull nestlings to excessively search for food. It was also found that among European robins red triggers aggressive behavior.
Red has other meanings in our life, such as the power of life and inner energy, as well as survival. Max Lüscher – Inventor of the Lüscher Color Test – referred to red as symbolic of activity and leadership, as well as life’s pleasures and success motivation. Goethe referred to red as a noble and graceful color, which symbolizes monarchy and sanctity, but when used in an exaggerated proportion might cause anxiety. Kandinsky agreed with him and thought of red as a color which is in constant movement and therefore causes restlessness.
Following its historic and cultural meanings, in children’s drawings red is considered dominant and impressive. It is related to activity and doing. Children who constantly use red are often characterized as dominant and extrovert. These children like to be at the center of social attention. They like competition and challenges and prefer, of course, to be the winners. They are willing to invest great effort and energy to become leaders. Socially, they are direct and willful, so they know how to get what they need, without giving up to other children. Excessive use of red is common among aggressive children.
In the following drawing, it is possible to see excessive use of red. The girl who made this drawing did not try to document reality, but preferred red over other colors.
Note that when observing colors in drawings I recommend focusing on the amounts of color used, in order to differentiate between balanced and exaggerated amounts of color.
Figure 2-4:Excessive use of red
In general, when the color is used in a reasonable and balanced way, you may tentatively conclude that the child’s is balanced with positive “red meanings” such as active, enthusiastic and having a strong desire to be in the social center. However, when the page is swamped with red, my tentative conclusion would be that the child is attempting to compensate for contents and traits he lacked. Warmth will be replaced by aggression, hastiness by disquiet and the desire to be in the center by an existential need to be popular.
In this case, when the child is not at the center of attention, she behaves as if exposed to an existential threat, and reacts with nervousness and temper tantrums. All this may be concluded from her overuse of red. Nevertheless, as mentioned above, you must cross-check the information gleaned through colors with other graphic indicators in the child’s drawings. Some such indicators are pressure, line drawing style, subject, and figure drawing style. These indicators will help you make a comprehensive and quality analysis of the child’s drawings and determine whether the use of specific color is balanced or exaggerated.
Orange
Kandinsky liked the power of orange – the combination of red and yellow represented, in his opinion, balanced emotions and closeness between people, each remaining aware of his own powers. Like red, orange belongs to the warm color family and as such symbolizes energy, enthusiasm and doing. Children attracted to this color tend to be creative and optimistic. They are willing to dare and join new adventures, out of curiosity and a desire to experience independently and achieve their goals. A child who likes to draw with orange does not obey rules easily, but demands explanations for most requests. He often exhausts his parents with long verbal discussions, in which he usually prevails.
Figure 2-5:Excessive use of orange
Nevertheless, the combination of yellow and red which produces orange somewhat moderates the emotional meanings we associate with red. Thus, children who use this color in an exaggerated way will be assertive rather than aggressive, enthusiastic rather than overeager, etc. When orange is used too intensively, it means the child sees pragmatism and creativity as important elements in his existence. Note that as a rule, orange stands for quality and represents ambition, health and also good communication with the environment, even at high doses.
Yellow
Similarly to red, yellow also symbolize caution and thus appears in many warning signs. Yellow is traditionally associated with jaundice and cowardice, as well as with aging, for both people and objects. In ancient Egypt it was used to mark criminals’ and traitors’ doors. In the Middle Ages, yellow costumes were used as the sign of the dead. In India yellow robes are often worn by Hindu swamis and Buddhist monks in their schools and during the spring festival. In Russia, yellow represents romantic breakup. Finally, we all remember Dorothy’s Yellow Brick Road.
For Lüscher, yellow is a sign of lightheartedness, joy and comfort, which are felt after escape from restricted situations. Moreover, it symbolizes diligence which is not stable or consistent. Often, yellow symbolizes a conflict one must resolve. In the positive aspect, it represents a child’s ambition with the ability to manage others in order to reach his goals.
Goethe