Thinking through drawing

«This essay is a praise for drawing as a form of thinking. Particularly, to project-driven drawing: the kind that we do when we are searching for a form of something to-be. We will talk about that exploratory activity that allows us to solve problems, trying to reach a conclusion through searching for it in the traces that a pencil leaves on a sheet of paper. The process is very similar to writing an essay, in the way that it is the choosing of words and sequencing of sentences, and their constant checking and reviewing, in order to reach a final form. A goal is to be achieved, while certain constraints are to be attended to. In the end, a result will arise, a result at which we arrive by writing / by drawing.

Although it would make perfect sense to begin this essay without knowing exactly where it would end, we should lay down some ground rules as to what is the subject, the extent and the purpose of these pages — even if only to sparkle the thinking process. In a broad sense, what we’ll be talking about is the thought connected to the act of drawing, and concentrate on a particular kind of drawing. In terms of the thinking involved in it, drawing could be classified in terms of its purpose: what you are aiming to do when you’re drawing, and the means you have, or are willing to provide, for it. Roughly, there’s the kind of drawing you do when the object you are drawing is in front of you and you’re interpreting it, the kind of drawing you do when you’re picturing something in your head and trying to transfer it onto paper, and a kind of exploratory drawing, which is widely used in the applied arts, in which you are trying to discover, through drawing, the shape of something that doesn’t yet exist — either in reality or in your own head — as a finished object.» […]

Keep on reading at: https://confia.ipca.pt/files/confia_2018_proceedings.pdf (pages 290-297).

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *