THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE

THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE 31

simon betts

surgery, forensic art, facial reconstruction, archi-
tecture, ceramics, dance and choreography, and
performance. The work demonstrated that drawing
is indeed “common property”, and that at its core
drawing’s physicality, range and inventiveness make
us alert to drawing’s democracy of communication.
The aims and distinctiveness of this new MA
Drawing course signal its intent, and it was of criti-
cal importance that these aims built upon the Uni-
versity’s Level 3 qualifications I have just described.
In linking these two levels of qualifications in terms
of a drawing pedagogical philosophy, we are clearly
aiming to build a sequential and integrated pathway
of drawing education from school and further edu-
cation, to Masters level and in time PhD level.
At the heart of the one year MA drawing course
is practice and the understanding of practice. That is
to say, drawing will define the students’ own work.
As the handbook states, “The course promotes
drawing for a purpose and cross-disciplinary dia-

logues. It focuses on process and ideas that centre

on communicating ideas to an audience, client or

user.”(Farthing, n.d., p. 6). The course provides a

framework for each student to critically articulate a

personal view or idea. Specific workshops on mate-

rials and technologies support the students’ investi-

gation into defining a personal methodology.

The course handbook un-ambiguously states the

course rationale from the start: “The course aims to

bring together a range of disciplines where common

territories can be explored through the use of draw-

ing. These disciplines reflect the STEM subjects of

science, engineering, mathematics and technology,

and wider subject disciplines such as choreography

and dance, architecture, archaeology, medicine, art

& design may be included. This cross-disciplinary

approach will encourage you to critically develop

new methodologies and approaches to your draw-

ing” (Farthing, n.d., p. 7).

A central plank of the construction and design