Drawing: See, Study, Show: a Text for Beginners

This text was initially inspired by a need for a live/online companion to assist faculty and students in a beginning drawing class. The current version has been adjusted to encompass both online and face-to-face classes. In its current edition, it cannot be effective without regular meetings with students. It makes little difference whether those meetings are face-to-face or in a virtual meeting. The one advantage that comes with the physical, in-class meeting is that the instructor can see the students at work and encourage or correct issues as they come up. The virtual meeting must wait for students to complete the assignments before the class can critique results. The instructor still leads the class in their learning. The critique is an essential component of the course. Introductory classes should aim to not only provide a foundation for learning to draw, but also add value to the process of thinking and seeing in new ways. 

Reading allows us to understand ideas that are held in the mind of the author. Drawing allows us to see many things that we may not ever have noticed and to understand things in new ways.

In this text, the assignments are meant to build a foundation for understanding the translation of what we see into a drawing that can be shown to others. It relies on critical thinking and visual communication.

Starting with basic concepts, such as a picture plane, figure/ground interplay, and compositional structure, students will build a new vocabulary and learn to observe what they see with a critical eye. Each lesson is designed to be included in future assignments. The criteria will always be built on the previous mastery. So, it is assumed that a picture plane makes for consideration of composition and negative shapes are always important. The “rules” are arbitrary but essential. My experience has led me to believe that the clearer I can make the criteria, the more students get out of the content. Criteria is certainly not unbreakable. But the “rule” that we must always have a picture plane is to remind students to think about the negative spaces in a picture. I do not allow students to use pencils in my class, not because pencils are bad but the habits many of us develop around the use of pencils are contrary to the objective of careful observation. Medium is important, so this text keeps it simple. The first assignments can be done with black markers, then vine charcoal for the rest. Vine charcoal is chosen because it is so forgiving of mistakes. With a kneaded eraser, the charcoal can be lifted away. Tones for values can be built with careful application. The drawing can appear loose and expressive or as smooth and tightly constructed as glass and metal. Neither perspective drawing nor figure drawing is attempted in this text due to the levels of complexity involved.

So much for foundations in drawing but what about the student who signed up for a Humanities credit? What will they get out of this class? Is it ever a bad idea to learn new ways of thinking about things? Is critical thinking useful in other academic pursuits? Can the development of more precise skills of observation be detrimental?

Drawing from observation is not doodling. It is analytical. It involves a translation from what is observed in three dimensions and translated to a flat surface or two dimensions. That is an intellectual challenge!