Princesses and pirates (an investigation into gender differences in the drawings of young children for the practicing artist)

The drawings of children have had a profound influence on the visual arts, especially in the past 100 years. They have been seen to offer the practicing artist alternatives to the restrictive nature of a purely visual reality when the artists aim has been to represent that which is beyond what she/he can see. Also, clear gender based preferences present in the drawings of children may indicate fundamental differences between females and males in their vision of the world, their art making and beyond, and a recognition and use of these differences may consequently allow the artist of either gender to suggest an emphasis towards masculinity or femininity in their work. However, because of our own complex nature and the questioning nature of art, the use and manipulation of such a gender toolbox remains subjective and vague. This study outlines those differences found by psychologists and educators in the drawings of children and investigates their possible uses and the limitations of those uses by the art historian and, more importantly, by the practicing artist. These findings are then placed within and applied to the context of the body of work specifically created for this thesis and to the authors practice as an artist/printmaker generally