Drawing: The Basics

Introduction

I have often feared that drawing might be obsolete.  At one time I blithely imagined that to pocess the ability to draw was an unquestionable prerequisite for every sort of visual activity.  But over the years I have became aquainted with  with painters who, despite their facility in that medium, were dreadful at drawing, or computer animators who were brilliant but who couldn't really draw that well.  I altered my point of view to a more convenient stance: knowing how to draw well couldn't hurt anyone interested in a visual occupation.  In the rapidly conceptualizing art education establishment of the late twentieth century, some of my teachers and some of my colleagues in teaching actually declared that good drawing skills were an impedement to expression.  This seemed to cross a line and galled me.  Surely a facility to draw couldn't hurt?

I worked in the 2D animation industry for a couple of decades as a background painter.  Toward the end of the twentieth century 3D animation programs swept through and overtook the animation industry.  There were many reasons for the rout of 2D animation by 3D animation, not purely because of the spectacularly shiney and slick product provided by 3D programs.  Stock footage and sets could be easily stored on hard drives, and easily accessed and reused.  In the old world of 2D animation it would be warehoused, lost, damaged or sent oto landfill.  I still felt that it couldn't hurt to know how to draw, but more and more I had a growing fear that drawing might be becoming an archaic and anachronistic practice that was quaint but obsolete.

Experiences like the following that I will relate didn't help my lack of confidence in drawing.

About 15 years ago, I visited the tool and dye workshop of an older, highly skilled tradesman friend.  He was a patternmaker.  I didn't fully understand the process, but was mesmerized.  On his work desk was a model generated from meticulously drawn and read plans of the forward part of a jet engine that would eventually be manufactured. The model was made in constituent parts out of a composite 'wood' material, to microscopic tolerances and carefully assembled to reveal an exact replica of the engine to be.  As I understood it, this model, this pattern, would be used to create the molds for the metal parts manufactured for the final assembly.  It was a formidable piece of workmanship, something that the tradesman had worked on for about 3 months full time. Originaly, before the use of composites, the constituent pattern parts were made from extremely hard woods.  My friend was a woodworker, and his own home was full of beautifully tooled furniture.  As well as his hands-on abilities technical skills, he had the ability to interpret extremely complex drawings and the vision to take a two dimensional design and sculpt it into something three dimensional.

Within a 5 years his trade became virtually obsolete.  Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining turned his world on it's head.  Drawings or 3D program designs could now be fed directly into the operating systems of robotic milling machinary that required little skill to operate and rapidly made 3 dimensional models or finished products without any hands on-tactile activity.

Prior to my lifetime-and yours-there have been huge technological changes that have turned the working world on it's head.  For example, by the end of the 1920's the silent film was about to be replaced by the 'talkie'. Tens of thousands of piano players who provided soundtracks for the theatrical projections were working on borrowed time...

When the talkies replaced silent film at the end of the twenties and beginning of the thirties, in just a few short years those tens of thousands of accomplished musicians found themselves out of work.

Other examples of a rapid onset obsolescence in the 'arts' might be revolutionary changes to typesetting.  It was only just a few decades ago that some of the worlds major newspapers shed the old trades of manual compositing and typesetting of their pages.  Photo and digital typesetting and desktop publishing have revolutionized the print industry, eliminating much in the way of craft.

Many changes in technology involve eliminating the 'hands on', 'tactile' aspects of production; the 'craft'.  This is often a cause for celebration for those with a more cerebral bent, or those who are, or were, unmotivated to spend the countless hours developing  tactile skills.  And a cause for a sense of loss amongst 'crafters'. 

Over the years doubts about the relevance of drawing skills continued to creep into my mind.  This hasn't stopped me from drawing or maintaining an interest in the activity, but I feared that it might be becoming in some way obsolete along with many other activities that involve tactile hands-on skills. 

However, a recent conversation with a young architecture student has helped renew my confidence that drawing will remain a valued visual activity...

I have a nephew who is studying architecture, and he paid a visit, in part to practice his drawing with me and get some tips.  A professor had pointed to weaknesses in his drawing (primarily a lack of practice; one of the drawbacks of a more academic education) and indicated that he should work on improving it over the summer.  I was surprised and somewhat delighted that, in light of the fact that a large part of his work was done in 3D programs, his professor would put such emphasis on drawing. In a world where the clumbsy interface of mouse and screen were increasingly diminshing hands-on tactile creation, I had thought drawing was being relegated further and further towards the obsolete. I discussed at length with the nephew the idea of the machine replacing human tactile creation, and he reassured me it was not the case, and also put me onto an interesting little short film that we will view in class.  He, and the movie, presented some interesting ideas about the future of visual creation.  The short film is called World Builder by Bruce Branit and you can watch it again HERE.

stills from Worldbuilder by Bruce Branit 

The film posits a interface with a computer that no longer relies on the mouse and screen but rather allows a person to percieve that they have actually entered a program.  Work is apparently being done on this sort of thing.  Although the user might be actually standing in a room or pod with an odd suit on, he or she can percieve to be manually creating virtual form in a very hands on way.  The user becomes a cyber sculptor.  This is hands-on tactile creating of the sort that you will employ when sculpting...or drawing with a crayon on paper.

The young architectural student/nephew wanted to develop his drawing skills for a number of reasons.  One was that drawing and sketching are still a very useful and quick way to present and visualize ideas.  But he also felt it was a skill...a tactile skill that connects the eye, the mind and the hand...that will in the near future be useful for new and revolutionary interfaces between human and machine, the sort of thing that is being visualized in Worldbuilder.

Another interesting observation about the film is that the main character is using a program very similar to a relatively simple to use, downloadable and free 3D program called Google Sketchup. Watch the way the film character selects areas of a form and intrudes and extrudes that area into or out of the form and compare this to Sketchup.  I am not proficient in any way with Sketchup or any other 3D program, nor do I ever expect to be.  However, in this clas I will sometimes use Sketchup as a metaphor for ideas to do with drawing or sculpting. 

 Compare this Google sketch up screen capture to Worldbuilder

I think that visual artists of any age might beniefit from messing around in Sketchup and other 3d programs.

However, for younger persons interested in persuing some aspect of the visual arts, learning how to use a 3d program will be essential.  The sooner you learn the currnet 3D interface the better.  Architects use it.  Designers use it.  Animators use it.  Urban planners use it.  Medical illustrators use it.  Illustrators use it.  Engineers use it. Even geologists apparently use a 3D program that allows them to visualize layers and sediments in the earth's crust.  Don't let sitting at the computer interupt time spent drawing.  But if you can find some time to experiment with Google Sketchup in tandem with practicing your tactile drawing skills it might be time well spent.

In fact, I would like to think that the approach to drawing in general and in much of this course, the idea of using box-like modules for example, is very relevant conceptually to creating form in 3d programs.  I have deliberately emphasised drawing concepts that seem to parallel 3D modelling concepts.  Thanks to my nephew the archetural student I have been deeply reassured that the abiltiy to draw well is, in fact, a valuable asset for anyone working in visual art or design of any sort.

In this course, you will detect my renewed enthusiasm for the archaic act of drawing.  I still believe it is a viable and important means of visual expression.  I know for a fact that thousands of people work for a living drawing in the film industry; every scene in a live action feature movie, for example, is meticulously storyboarded as a drawing or sketch.  As well, vast quantities of 2D concept art is produced for even 3D and live action filmmaking.  Digital tablets might be used for the drawing, and digital paint programs for the painting, but the act is still identifiably a form of hands-on drawing and painting.  Someone who can draw well can still find a place in todays world and use the skill effectively. As many in the visual arts are distracted by technology and concept, drawing becomes, more and more, 'technical delineation of rare skill'.  Today and in the future there will be many skill sets required of someone working in the visual arts; drawing will continue to be one of them for the forseeable future. 

Class One