Evaluation of graphic-pictorial characteristics and contents in the representation of legality

The present study examines how child drawers selectively use a set of potential expressive strategies in accordance with the nature of the topic being depicted. The phenomenological and psychodynamic method in the evaluation of drawing activity may thus be a particularly appropriate way to find interesting relationships between the variables considered. People leave in a world of signs and symbols that are verbal or gestural or, of a variety of other modalities, graphic. Through drawing, it is possible to represent memories, events, propositions, ideas, plans and also properties of the habitus or of the ethos. Several authors have proposed that children’s drawings are often based on schemata, which seem to relate to the typical representation of the topic in question. This study lies within broader research into the perception of legality and into the relative effective communication modalities. Primary school pupils, aged 7-9 years, took part in the study to assess the graphic style, quality of shapes and colours, and the graphic accuracy of drawings focusing on the representation of legality.