In any case, how sad is it to think that the majority of people don’t continue expressing themselves artistically in their teenage and adult lives. Most of this probably happens because of self consciousness…the realization that there are better artists in your class then you, so why bother? This idea is something art therapists always have to contend with when they are not working with children. Reintroducing the idea of art making is often met with “what is this, kindergarten?”

In terms of the photorealistic stage being the highest level of art making…I wonder what Lowenfeld and Levick would say about this. I think they might say that certainly, in order to produce a photorealistic piece one needs to be capable of a certain cognitive abilities that involve stuff like organizing/understanding space, organizing/understanding shadow and light, etc…But as you discussed in your post, one can hide behind making a pretty picture and not express what may really be going on inside. Many art therapists would refer an artist to seek psychotherapy treatment using another art modality (i.e.: dance, music) rather than art, for this very reason. For most people (because they stop making art at such a young age), it is difficult to manipulate the canvas in the same way you can manipulate words. Therefore, sometimes things pop up into drawings that are unexpected or surprising. Indeed, the art of art therapy is knowing when and how to address these unexpected symbols…and sometimes therapy is to brief to really get into unconscious symbolism.