This test is built on the real method of Sidney Levy, the Levy Animal-Drawing-Story Technique (LADS), published in 1958. His original instruction: "Draw an animal. Any animal you like." The full protocol then asks you to invent a story, something we don't reproduce here given the brief nature of this test; we keep the graphic part.
The appeal of drawing an animal instead of a person: projecting yourself onto an animal would allow more emotional distance, making it easier to express content that would otherwise stay more guarded.
How the report works
It uses 9 indicators: 4 are measured directly on your canvas (size, placement, thickness, shading) and 5 depend on you telling us what you drew (type of animal, aggressiveness, disparaging tone, whether you erased anything, perspective). Unlike other tests on this site, there is a real study with data from 149 children (Ballús, Barbosa, Sales, & Gómez, 2020) comparing adopted children, non-adopted children, and children in psychological treatment: some indicators showed real differences between groups, and others didn't.
A canvas drawn with a mouse will never capture the nuance of a real pencil stroke, but it does capture magnitudes (size, position, thickness), which is exactly what we measure. We're not claiming diagnostic precision, and neither does the original test.
Sources
- Ballús, E., Barbosa, P., Sales, A., & Gómez, A. (2020). Adoption and projective techniques: a comparative study using the animal drawing test (LADS). Psicopatología y Salud Mental del Niño y del Adolescente, 35, 69-81.
- Levy, S., & Levy, R. B. (1958). Normative data, frequencies, and symbolism in the drawing of an animal, based on a sample of 7,346 drawings, cited in Ballús et al. (2020).
- Hammer, E. F. (1958). The Clinical Application of Projective Drawings. Charles C Thomas.
- Maganto Mateo, C. (1990). Test Gráfico del Dibujo de un Animal. TEA Ediciones.
- Motta, R. W., Little, S. G., & Tobin, M. I. (1993). The use and abuse of human figure drawings. School Psychology Quarterly, 8(3), 162-169.
All possible results
Your Animal Drawing Report
Nine real indicators from Levy's method, each one connected to what you drew: what he and later researchers claimed about that specific value, and what the scientific evidence says today, including a study with real data from 149 children.
Read more about Your Animal Drawing Report
Sidney Levy published his technique in 1958. A 2020 Spanish study, with children across three groups (adopted, non-adopted, and in psychological treatment), tested several of its indicators against real data (Ballús et al., 2020): the result is more nuanced than for other techniques on this site, with some indicators showing real differences and others showing none. This report exists to show the real method, with the same rigor used to study it today, not to diagnose anything about you or evaluate any child.
Frequently asked questions
Is this test a psychological diagnosis?
No, not under any circumstances. Even the original LADS test, applied by a trained clinician, isn't considered a reliable standalone diagnostic tool today. This report is informational: it shows the real method alongside the real scientific evidence about its validity.
Why does it ask you to draw an animal instead of a person directly?
Within this tradition, it's been argued that projecting yourself onto an animal allows more emotional distance than projecting directly onto a human figure, making it easier to express content that would otherwise stay more guarded.
Is it true there's a real study with data backing some indicators?
Yes, and it's unusual for this site: a 2020 study of 149 children found statistically real differences between a group in psychological treatment and groups without treatment in small drawing size and in shading. The type of animal, its aggressiveness, and the drawing's perspective, on the other hand, showed no real difference.
Can I retake the test?
Yes, as many times as you want. We don't save your drawing or your previous answers.
Is it free?
Yes, it's completely free: no sign-up or payment needed to take the test and see your result.
How long does the test take? How many questions does it have?
You draw an animal, then answer 5 short questions about your drawing. About 3-4 minutes in total.