Writing on Drawing: Essays on Drawing Practice and Research

191 Pages·2008·13.975 MB·English

by  Garner, Steven William

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and drawing researchers that reveal a provocative agenda for the field, Pra D
analyzing the latest work on creativity, education and thinking from a ctic ra
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drawing research and practice. An essential resource for artists, arc
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scientists, designers and engineers, this volume offers consolidation,
discussion and guidance for a previously fragmented discipline.
Steve Garner is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Design and
Innovation at the Open University. He is Director of the international
Drawing Research Network.
‘This is an impressive achievement. As an academic who wishes to explore
drawing as a cognitive process and as an artist working in the mass
mediated world where the language of drawing has found a vital role,
this book will be invaluable for me and to my students.’
Professor Mario Minichiello, Birmingham City University
‘The past decade has seen a change of attitude towards drawing.
Its importance as an element in human intelligence is now widely
appreciated. However, there has not been a clear picture of research
in the field or an agenda for future investigation. Writing on Drawing
fills this gap. It gives an insight into current work and it is clear that a
paradigm shift is underway. Drawing is of course strongly identified with
art and design but it is now being seen in a much broader context. The
contributions to this book give a new insight into this fascinating activity.’
Professor Ken Baynes, Loughborough University
Supported by:
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Readings in Art & Design Education Edited by Steve Garner
www.intellectbooks.com
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Writing on Drawing
Essays on Drawing Practice
and Research
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Writing on Drawing
Essays on Drawing Practice
and Research
Edited by Steve Garner
Series Editor: John Steers
(cid:94)(cid:99)(cid:105)(cid:90)(cid:97)(cid:97)(cid:90)(cid:88)(cid:105) (cid:55)(cid:103)(cid:94)(cid:104)(cid:105)(cid:100)(cid:97)(cid:33)(cid:74)(cid:64)(cid:16)(cid:56)(cid:93)(cid:94)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:92)(cid:100)(cid:33)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:54)
First Published in the UK in 2008 by
Intellect Books, The Mill, Parnall Road, Fishponds, Bristol, BS163JG, UK
First published in the USA in 2008 by
Intellect Books, The University of Chicago Press, 1427 E.60th Street, Chicago,
IL60637, USA
Copyright © 2008 NSEAD
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
written permission.
Series: Readings in Art and Design Education
Series Editor: John Steers
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover Design: Gabriel Solomons
Cover Image: Plan de Dessin, 1 st Edition: Autumn 2006. A drawing of the Bigger Picture of
Drawing by Stephen Farthing. Graphics: Dennis Mariner.
Copy Editor: Holly Spradling
Indexer: Sue Vaughan
Type setting: Mac Style, Beverley, E. Yorkshire
ISSN 1747-6208
ISBN978-1-84150-200-7
EISBN 978-1-84150-254-0
Printed and bound by Gutenberg Press, Malta.
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C
ONTENTS
Acknowledgements 6
Preface 7
Foreword – Re: Positioning Drawing 9
Anita Taylor
Introduction 13
Steve Garner
Chapter 1 Towards a Critical Discourse in Drawing Research 15
Steve Garner
Chapter 2 Nailing the Liminal: The Difficulties of Defining Drawing 27
Deanna Petherbridge
Chapter 3 Drawing Connections 43
RichardTalbot
Chapter 4 Looking at Drawing: Theoretical Distinctions and their Usefulness 59
Ernst van Alphen
Chapter 5 Pride, Prejudice and the Pencil 71
James Faure Walker
Chapter 6 Reappraising Young Children’s Mark-making and Drawing 93
Angela Anning
Chapter 7 New Beginnings and Monstrous Births: Notes Towards an Appreciation
of Ideational Drawing 109
Terry Rosenberg
Chapter 8 Embedded Drawing 125
Angela Eames
Chapter 9 Recording: And Questions of Accuracy 141
Stephen Farthing
Chapter 10 Drawing: Towards an Intelligence of Seeing 153
Howard Riley
Chapter 11 Digital Drawing, Graphic Storytelling and Visual Journalism 169
Anna Ursyn
Notes on Contributors 179
Index 183
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A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The chapter by Angela Anning contains material first published in Anning, A. & Ring, K. (2004)
Making Sense of Children’s Drawings, Buckingham: Open University Press. The material is
reproduced with the kind permission of the Open University Press.
Use of the Lucebert image ‘Zwevende Boer’ (Floating farmer) in Deanna Petherbridge’s chapter
by kind permission of Tony Swaanswijk-Lucebert and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Richard Talbot acknowledges the financial support of AHRC in this research and Newcastle
University in paying DACS’ visual creators for the use of their artistic works.
Terry Rosenberg thanks John Rhys Newman for allowing access to his ‘fictions’ and allowing a
selection to reproduced.
Angela Eames acknowledges the time and enthusiasm of Michael Kidner in the research for
her chapter.
Anna Ursyn thanks her students for the artwork used in her chapter.
Steve Garner
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P
REFACE
This book is the sixth in a planned series of anthologies dealing with a range of issues in art
and design education. The previously published titles in the Intellect ‘Readings in Art and Design
Education’series are:
Critical Studies In Art & Design Education
Art Education in a Postmodern World
Histories of Art and Design Education
The Problem of Assessment in Art & Design
Researchin Art&Design Education: Issues and Exemplars
Further titles are in preparation.
This book departs from the format of earlier books in the series where the source of chapters
was predominantly papers originally published in the [International] Journal of Art & Design
Education.The chapters of this book are all previously unpublished.
The National Society for Education in Art and Design is the leading national authority in the
United Kingdom, combining professional association and trade union functions, which
represents every facet of art, craft and design in education. Its authority is partly based upon
a century-long concern for the subject, established contacts within government and local
authority departments, and a breadth of membership drawn from every sector of education
from the primaryschool to universities.
Moreinformation about the Society and its range of publications is available at www.nsead.org
or from NSEAD, The Gatehouse, Corsham Court, Corsham, Wiltshire SN13 0BZ, United
Kingdom. (Tel: [phone])
John Steers
Series Editor
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F – R : P D
OREWORD E OSITIONING RAWING
Anita Taylor
Drawing is a central and pivotal activity to the work of many artists and designers, a touchstone
and tool of creative exploration that informs visual discovery and enables the envisagement
and development of perceptions and ideas. Often categorised as a lesser activity than the main
artefact or product, or otherwise remaining an intimate element of art practice, drawing has
often been withheld from public viewing and the discourse in the field has often been marred
by romantic visions of what drawing could and should be and how it might or might not be
taught. Despitethis conjecture, drawing remains a significant and important activity to many, is
extensivelyencouraged if not taught in education and remains an important means of creative
development, exploration and achievement. With a history as long and extensive as the history
of our culture, the act of drawing remains a primordial and fundamental means to translate,
document, recordand analyse the worlds we inhabit.
There are distinct ways in which drawing functions as it distinguishes and aids us in
understanding our complex world. Through signs and symbols, by mapping and labelling our
experience, it can also enable us to discover through seeing – either through our own
experience of seeing, observing and recording or through the shared experience of looking at
another’s drawn record of an experience. Drawing may have a transitory and temporal
relationship with the world or it may provide a record of lasting permanence. It may be
propositional, preparatory, visionary, imaginative, associative, factual, generative,
transformativeor performative. Drawing as an investigative, transformative and generative tool
for the realisation and transference of ideas is at its best when the means of making are
harnessed to the realisation of ideas and concepts, when it is fit for purpose and inventive within
its means.
Tothis end, the viewer of the work benefits from a capacity to interpret and ‘read’ the drawing,
and to bring their own experience and understanding of language and perception to each
drawing they see, be it a measured objective or realist drawing, an invented scene of the