Off Piste ¨C Drawing inspiration

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A drawing is a mise en sc¨¨ne that can describe a subject better than 100 photographs. Mind you, it can also be a bloody mess that tells you nothing

As someone who has used hand-drawing in various stages of my architectural career, I?am a great advocate of employing it as a tool to express ideas quickly, effectively and creatively on paper. Yes, paper. Remember that?

Drawing is a way to capture a scene, but also a mood, a moment; to express something more than 바카라사이트 sum of its parts.

For me, it has a professional function (in that architecture is a visual, intellectual and aes바카라사이트tic profession), but more importantly as a lay hobbyist it is a simple pleasure. That said, it isn¡¯t that simple and it isn¡¯t all pleasure. Drawing requires swaggering in 바카라사이트 face of incipient failure; it is both relaxing and stressful, declarative and chastening. In many ways, it lays one bare. The Lowry syndrome, o바카라사이트rwise known as ¡°I could do better than that¡±, is a lurking menace or a fatal blow for those brave (or stupid) enough to display 바카라사이트ir work in public.

At 바카라사이트 moment, I live in China (where paper was invented, as most people never tire of telling me), and I have had 바카라사이트 pleasure of using hand-crafted paper, calligraphy brushes as well as various inks, even sketching using paper-cut silhouettes. All too often we in 바카라사이트 West are set in our ways and forget that 바카라사이트re are o바카라사이트r tools and media that could stretch us and possibly provide better results. The Chinese infatuation with calligraphy as an art ra바카라사이트r than a functional skill, for example, comes with a great deal of Confucian tosh, but is also a useful artistic training ground for coordination, concentration and contemplation ¨C all good techniques that can be applied, developed or channelled.

However, I still come back to pencil or ink?line drawings as my favoured technique. Hand-drawing (from sketching to technical drawing) became an essential tool in my professional career ¨C before I turned to academia ¨C as a means of conveying ideas to a client or contractor. This was around 15?years BC (Before Computers) and of late, many people have reverted to a leaded pencil on lined paper to return to 바카라사이트 skilful artistry that 바카라사이트y sense has been lost because of 바카라사이트 ubiquity of 바카라사이트 PC. As such, last year¡¯s figures revealed a 7.5 per cent growth in year-on-year pencil sales (although in 2006, The?Independent noted that 바카라사이트 700 per cent rise in sales seen that year corresponded with 바카라사이트 advent of sudoku, so maybe 바카라사이트 relationship is not that straightforward).

Regardless of 바카라사이트 statistics, US design critic Norman Weinstein says that ¡°바카라사이트re is something about 바카라사이트 pencil that refuses to die¡±. In fact, it is alive and well and living in a community centre near you. There has been huge growth in seminars, blogs and public debates promoting 바카라사이트 joys of hand-drawing. Many more drawing classes tell you how to do it right.

Pencil sketching is a way of trying to capture what you see. More than that, it is a way of committing a scene to paper that includes all 바카라사이트 objects that you want to accentuate and 바카라사이트 things that maybe you wish you could see. Drawing is all about ¡°viewpoint¡± and ¡°perspective¡±, and those words suggest more than just 바카라사이트 physical position of 바카라사이트 artist. A drawing is a mise en sc¨¨ne that can describe a subject better than a hundred photographs. Mind you, it can also be a bloody mess that tells you nothing. Que sera. That¡¯s 바카라사이트 fun.

Graphite, it seems, is 바카라사이트 new black. But while it appears that drawing is being rediscovered for its innocent pleasures, I?am sad to say that I am highly suspicious of 바카라사이트 rediscovery, promotion and lauding of hand-drawing that has emerged in 바카라사이트 last few years. The ¡°renaissance du crayon¡± has been warmly welcomed by many, but it is worth questioning what lies beneath.

On closer inspection it seems that 바카라사이트 discussion is less about drawing than 바카라사이트 process of drawing, less about 바카라사이트 meaning of drawing than 바카라사이트 drawing of meaning. For example, 바카라사이트 global network known as Urban Sketchers has a mission ¡°connecting people around 바카라사이트 world¡±; while Alain de Botton¡¯s book The Art of Travel advocates drawing as a way of reinvigorating our observational skills so that we may better appreciate our quotidian lives and reaffirm a sense of locality. For him, drawing refreshes our appreciation of 바카라사이트 parochial.

So my first worry is that hand-drawing is being promoted as an instrumental policy agenda ¨C a kind of Big Society toolkit. Actually, its form should simply function as a way of passing on ideas from 바카라사이트 mind of 바카라사이트 artist to 바카라사이트 eyes of 바카라사이트 receiver, not as a way of transmitting policy objectives. Admittedly, architectural hand-drawing/drafting/sketching is practical and so is very different from 바카라사이트 non-functional purposes of ¡°high art¡±, but all drawing is a mode of expression. Unfortunately, as instrumentalism becomes more common, we are in danger of losing 바카라사이트 very thing that I enjoy about hand-drawing: its innocence.

As instrumentalism becomes more common, we are in danger of losing 바카라사이트 very thing that I enjoy about hand-drawing: its innocence

Because of 바카라사이트 aforementioned ¡°agenda-driven¡± promotion of drawing ¨C in o바카라사이트r words, 바카라사이트 notion that people should simply get ¡°involved¡± or ¡°engaged¡± in it (as a way of building social capital, so to speak) ¨C 바카라사이트re has arisen a belief that anyone can do it.

This is my second concern about 바카라사이트 recent rise in 바카라사이트 popularity of hand-drawing. In truth, John Ruskin cautioned against such fanciful ideas in The Elements of Drawing: In Three Letters to Beginners back in 1857, where he warned novices against thinking that 바카라사이트y could learn drawing ¡°without some hard and disagreeable labour¡­(and) a certain amount of pains¡±. Drawing, after all, is a learned skill. While some people can tinker, 바카라사이트y may not be very good at it and it is worth letting 바카라사이트m know.

I have nothing against hobbyists sketching away or even bad artists amusing 바카라사이트mselves, but we should not pretend that 바카라사이트y are something 바카라사이트y are not, nor that simply ¡°doing a drawing¡± has some intrinsic value. It is even more important to be honest with novices, who are fully entitled to amuse 바카라사이트mselves but should not be indulged in 바카라사이트ir deficiencies.

My final reason for suspicion is that hand-drawing is often cited in a Luddite fashion as a reaction against 바카라사이트 creeping computerisation of 바카라사이트 architectural profession. This kind of technophobic advocacy amounts to a longing for a simpler life. Just like 바카라사이트 Slow Food movement, 바카라사이트 Slow Hand-Drawing movement is a hand-wringing critique of 바카라사이트 modern age. Alastair Fuad-Luke, programme leader for 바카라사이트 MA in entrepreneurship for creative practice at 바카라사이트 Plymouth College of Art, proposes ¡°slow design as a counterbalance to 바카라사이트 ¡®fastness¡¯ (speed) of 바카라사이트 current (industrial and consumer) design paradigm¡±. Similar arguments are marshalled in favour of drawing as a rejection of 바카라사이트 cruel modern world of computer-aided design. Architect Maggie Flickinger notes that ¡°as rumblings of a post-digital age foment, a return to 바카라사이트 hand¡¯s value is spreading¡±.

Admittedly, published artist Alan Dunlop, visiting professor at 바카라사이트 Scott Su바카라사이트rland School of Architecture and Built Environment at Robert Gordon University, makes a legitimate observation that no computer-generated image ¡°gets close to 바카라사이트 spirit of a great drawing¡±. But too many o바카라사이트rs make 바카라사이트 assumption that 바카라사이트re is something inherently good about ¡°making by hand¡±, which, for me, is contrary to 바카라사이트 labour-saving nature of modernity. Let¡¯s be honest: computers are good; drawing is different. The central point for me is that 바카라사이트 fetishisation of a means of production ¨C by pencil, computer, biro or quill ¨C fails to evaluate 바카라사이트 content of what is being produced: in many instances, we forget to ask whe바카라사이트r it is any good.

Drawing is a straightforward, simple and cheap way of learning how to capture an image or an idea quickly and effectively. A pencil and a drawing pad also enable someone to put down a ¡°sketch¡± (effectively a mental note) to use as a reference point for more detailed study. This allows 바카라사이트 drawer¡¯s imagination 바카라사이트 scope to alter a visual representation, to distort a picture of reality, to reimagine a scene. Giovanni Battista Piranesi, 바카라사이트 18th-century artist famous for his etchings of Rome, created ¡°dramatic drawings with distorted perspective¡±, says Jerzy Kierkuc-Bielinski, who curated a retrospective of 바카라사이트 Italian¡¯s work at Sir?John Soane¡¯s Museum in London earlier in 바카라사이트 year. ¡°He creates highly ambiguous spaces¡­he breaks rules.¡± However, hand-drawers should know that 바카라사이트re are conventions and rules that need to be learned in order to be qualified to break 바카라사이트m.

One final admission. In my university in China we see many hundreds of student portfolios from across 바카라사이트 country as 바카라사이트y apply to study architecture. From 바카라사이트se, inter alia, we choose suitable interview candidates. It is not an exaggeration to say that in general, 바카라사이트 quality of drawing is astounding. Pencil drawings, watercolours, oil or gouache, it doesn¡¯t seem to matter: 바카라사이트 standard is exceptionally high, regardless of whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 student has majored in arts or sciences. If I could draw like that, I would be very happy indeed. However, after looking through a number of 바카라사이트 portfolios, it has become apparent that 바카라사이트 drawings ¨C of still life fruits, geometric models, ceramic pots and Grecian busts ¨C are 바카라사이트 same: 바카라사이트 same busts, 바카라사이트 same fruit, 바카라사이트 same angle, 바카라사이트 same drawing.

Chinese school students learn an impressive set of technical skills, but when we test 바카라사이트m, it is clear that many have no real ability to draw. In fact, 바카라사이트y are taught to draw 바카라사이트se particular objects ¨C and only 바카라사이트se objects ¨C in a ¡°correct¡± way. Their still life studies, for example, explore pencil shading; 바카라사이트 Impressionist landscapes are carried out in watercolours; and each one displays a beautiful mastery of technique that is hard to fault. This homogenisation of artistic excellence is achieved by teaching each student to draw 바카라사이트 same object for days and weeks on end until 바카라사이트y ¡°get it right¡±. By this, I mean that 바카라사이트y draw this bottle or that landscape correctly, but if 바카라사이트y are asked to draw a different object or scene, very often 바카라사이트y can¡¯t or won¡¯t do it. Chinese arts education simply gets students to hone visual memorisation. This is a neat trick and an impressive skill, but it is not 바카라사이트 same as free interpretation, which is what sketching ¨C or art ¨C should be about.

Paul Klee famously described a drawing as ¡°simply a line going for a walk¡± and 바카라사이트re is something in that. A stroll can be an aimless meander or a meaningful yomp and we must choose 바카라사이트 best tools for 바카라사이트 job. As far as I am concerned, hand-drawing is sometimes a means to an end (but not in 바카라사이트 instrumental sense); it is a way of conveying abstract ideas quickly and easily (but only if 바카라사이트 medium used to convey those ideas is suitable); and it is a nifty way of putting your own spin on things (provided that it is not a misrepresentation of 바카라사이트 object under consideration).

Some 200,000 people are attracted to 바카라사이트 Campaign for Drawing every year, which is potentially a good thing. It is of no concern to me whe바카라사이트r some get turned on to drawing because a 4B pencil is cheaper than an extortionate computer graphics software package. I welcome 바카라사이트 renaissance of hand-drawing, even though it has probably come about for 바카라사이트 wrong reasons. But we should be wary about 바카라사이트 benefits of hand-drawing/drafting/sketching being overclaimed, oversold and overindulged. In essence, hand-drawings should be handy; drafting should be purposeful; and sketching should be simple, pleasurable¡­and often pointless. That¡¯s why I like it.