Marks "are the elements with which the drawing is made.

    Mark-making is  the broad term used to include all marks that

    are made visible as a manifestation of applied or gestural 

    energy.  It is the gestural language of drawing and marks are

    the components marks within it. There are an infinite number

    of marks possible, and our nomenclature for them is very 

    limited - lines, dots, dashes, smudges, etc., It is difficult to

    refer to specific marks, and know that the term adequately 

    communicates its intended meaning."

    From: Maslen, M. & Southern, J. (2011). Drawing projects: An  

    exploration of the language of drawing. Black Dog. (see pages

                                                      28-33,  emphasis added).

Mark-making (PACEY)

It is only gradually that children early marks transform into early marks and signs that they use to communicate their emergent thinking -  for their early drawings, maps and writing and in contexts that may be understood as mathematical.

The following examples show some of this development:

Taxonomy: categories

The taxonomy