A Developmental Model of Artistic Giftedness in Middle Childhood

Abstract

Artistic giftedness in 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-year-olds was investigated from a neo-Piagetian perspective, which articulates the increasingly complex structures for representing spatial relations in drawing during middle childhood. Composition, color use, and competence in human-figure drawing also were studied. Gifted young artists structured the spatial relations in their drawings, composed their drawings, and used color in a fashion similar to average children. However, they often used these variables in a flexible way, resulting in distinctive drawings. Their drawings were distinguished by graphic competence and the degree of elaboration in their human figures, skills that appear to be less constrained by developmental factors. Artistic giftedness may be demonstrated by the flexible and elaborate way in which gifted young artists use their structural capabilities and by their advanced mastery of specific artistic skills.