THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE

(Jeff_L) #1

THINKING THROUGH DRAWING: PRACTICE INTO KNOWLEDGE 9


Angela brew, michelle Fava, Andrea Kantrowitz

crucial need for practitioners to understand where
they are, how they are moving, and how to respond
to sensations: “tactile and visual cues are used to
produce accurate, economic movement with two
hands simultaneously in three dimensions”. Discus-
sion relating to the physical movements of drawing
enables them to further contextualise their work.
Cognitive scientist David Kirsh describes sketch-
ing as a mode of thinking with our bodies, inviting
analogies with the process of “marking” (a pared-
down form of practice) in dance. His observational
study of dancers explores how marking can enable
an economy of movement towards efficient learn-
ing. Shah and Wright are able to relate these find-
ings to their developing ideas about how drawing
may be able to assist training of surgeons. Angela
Hodgson-Teall’s drawing performance explores a
different sort of interplay between medical practice
and drawing, using splenic palpation in conjunction
with drawing to heighten tactile sensation, aware-
ness and empathetic response.
Teaching Drawing: Several contributions illus-
trate the applicability of insights from cognitive
sciences to the teaching of drawing. Chamberlain
and Riley’s work uses artists and art students as a
resource for cognitive inquiry, while using cogni-
tive models of perception to inform the teaching
of drawing. Similarly, Geer shows how her under-
standing of novice students “stumbling points”
benefits from a knowledge of perceptual processes.
Our own research also demonstrates ways in which
cognitive research can be a rich resource for educa-
tors. Brew’s presentation also demonstrated that
cognitive research can be a rich resource for educa-
tors. Her drawing instructions apply recent findings
about expert drawers’ eye movements, aiming to
facilitate skill acquisition through greater aware-
ness of eye and hand movement. Fava’s research
utilizes methods from cognitive sciences to make
an inquiry into cognitive aspects of drawing which
is mindful of these poten-
tial applications. Taking a
broader perspective, Kan-
trowitz’s teaching is informed
by her own cognitive analysis
of artists’ thought processes,
focussing on the transfer-
ability and wider benefits of
drawing and other art-mak-
ing processes.


Manifestation and Invention
Drawing offers an extension of memory and
a place to generate and play with ideas. Tversky
describes drawing as “the manifestation and exten-
sion of internal thought processes” reminding us of
the primacy of gesture, not only in communication,
but also as a tool for thought. She writes:

These cognitive artifacts, externalizations
of thought, expand the mind. They enable
thought, guide variations, allow play, dis-
covery, and invention. They seem to be
uniquely human.

Moore’s drawings demonstrate this. He
describes how ideas emerge through the drawing
process. Likewise, for Fitch drawing “fleshes out
thought”, it is a way of “seeing things that don’t exist
yet”. Wright, Tversky, Moore and Fitch all highlight
drawing’s ability to respond, to offer something
back, to have a conversation with the drawer.
The generation, articulation and development of
ideas can be considered in relation to the creative
process as a whole. Kozbelt offers a fresh perspec-
tive on creativity. He describes the development
of artists’ ideas and techniques as analagous to
embryological development, emphasizing the role
of process in the origin of ideas and the nature of
creativity.

Connections
Drawing, whether from life or from memory,
involves relationships, articulations, connections.
Following from movement, the temporality of
drawing process features strongly. Rhythm, timing
and patterns of perception are recurring themes.
Of particular note is Shah’s subjective sense of an
expanded time during pauses, when concentrat-
ing on surgery. Fine-grained temporal and spatial
analyses were also made. Coen-Cagli dissects the
Free download pdf