As a culture, we are in the midst of a great technological upheaval, and the design profession is being redefined as much as any industry today, with all the implications of the digital revolution still to be played out. But the further I go into this profession, and the further into technology (and please understand, I love new technology, to the point of distraction - I will follow a digital will-o-the-wisp all day), the more convinced I am that experience with a pencil and paper is fundamental, even primal -
- not a waste of time;
- the secret to everything.
And that is not going to change in our lifetimes.
Here's the thing about drawing -
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| Cherry Tomatoes, black and white pencil on toned paper, 2015 |
We don't see the world around us in a flash; we construct our perceptions through a series of darting glances at interesting bits and parts - we see the world initially as a series of 'details' that attract us. We must, however, consciously teach ourselves to see the whole forms, the big picture, the larger composition that the details sit believably within.
In our drawing classes over the next three years we'll draw observationally much of the time - primarily from the human figure - and this is invaluable, fantastic exercise, like jogging every week; it is guaranteed to make us better people. But the primary use of drawing for a designer is to draw what's not yet observable, since we, by definition, create things that don't exist yet - our drawings show our collaborators what will be in the future. So our objective while drawing observationally is to help us draw the figure when there's no figure, and the space when the space isn't before us, and the light when it isn't shining.
And we begin by learning to see through methodical observation. Really really really understanding what it is you're looking at.
That this may be intimidating to some is understandable, but you will resist the voice in your head that thinks maybe you can slide by and be a non-drawing designer who manages with computers and assistants to avoid ever picking up a pencil. It is possible to design and not draw in just the way it's possible to live in Germany and not speak German - you can manage to get by if people are polite to you and help you, but you're not really living there fully and independently.
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| Wayne Thiebaud, 'Slice,' etching, 1965 |
One thing I have learned after teaching drawing for a number of years is that everyone, literally everyone, secretly fears in the center of their heart that they don't draw as well as they should. I feel this way, often; I think Da Vinci did. That this feeling is universal should give some comfort - you're not at all alone. And wherever you are in your development is where you are - you will be drawing at a higher lever at the end of your first year through your practice and continual thoughtfulness about drawing, and after three years you will be AMAZING (take a moment to visualize the wonderful artist you will be in three years, how expressive and alive your drawings will be, bursting with ideas and energy). So the first step is not to compare yourself with everyone else - easier said than done, I know, but try. This is all about You advancing from point A to point B in your development as a designer.
The history of painting, in oil, watercolor, gouache, acrylic, what have you, has been about creating ‘extremely persuasive illusions’ (I’m quoting the writer D. B. Dodds here). That sense of believably recreating the visual effects of the real world has been taken up by photography, cinema, and now virtual reality. “Those are all about specialized training and equipment, and often require access to concentrations of wealth: court painters and blockbuster film directors have some things in common” (D. B. Dodds again).
But drawing is an older human activity, and is more symbolic. It can create illusions of reality, of course, but at its basis it is about communication, with simple means. You just need a pencil and paper, or a stick dipped in a dark liquid and any surface, to convey ideas.
Maybe the earliest use of drawing was in drawing maps - using a stick to make lines in the dirt to show where the stream was and where the deer were this morning. And the idea of drawing as mapping is a useful one. You can think of a design drawing - say a costume sketch - as a map for one’s collaborators in the creation and use of the costume. What are the parts, how do they fit together? It’s there in the drawing.
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| Rembrandt, Men and hat studies, pen and ink and wash, 1650s |
This way of looking at drawing takes aesthetics out of the equation, mostly. One can judge the usefulness of a drawing by how much information it contains as opposed to its level of aesthetic beauty (remembering that aesthetics themselves are information).
We're dedicated, here at NYU, to the idea of drawing as an act of seeing. You draw to discover. You don't know what the drawing will look like when you start off. Maybe no one else ever sees it. But moving that pencil along the paper connects you to the world.
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Edward Hopper, notebook sketch 1910 |
Your Mission
Draw something, literally any natural form, like a tree branch or a head of lettuce or a red pepper - anything you can put on the table in front of you and draw.
Use a pencil (maybe an HB pencil) and a nice piece of paper (perhaps vellum bristol, not lined notebook paper rudely torn from a pad).
Think of the point of the pencil as being the tip of your finger, and each line is your finger moving over the form. Let the drawing go where it will.
Leave out any ’shading.’ Draw to show me what makes this tree branch this particular tree branch.
Is there some quality of this object that can’t be conveyed with your line? Add a note somewhere describing the color or texture or something.
Listen to what you think as you draw. Quiet the voice that says 'I don't know what I'm doing. It already looks terrible. There are children better at this than me" - you know that voice. Instead, I want you to concentrate and think, 'All right, this goes Here, and then this line curves like so, then jogs a bit, then connects to that right here. And this bends out like so - or, better, like So, then it is a bit bumpy, and then smooth." Describe to yourself, forcefully, what everything in the drawing is Doing.
I really am asking you to drown out your self-critical voice with the wiser voice that's engaged in the task.
By Saturday July 21, send me the drawing, as a scan or a digital photo, and your thoughts about it, here:
and I will respond.
We're off and running.
Regards,
Chris
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