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BASIC DRAWING FOR DESIGNERS H Kumar Vyas; Dhimant Panchal Chapter 1. Introduction 1.0 What is drawing?

Why draw (if at all)? Every one of us at one time or the other has attempted some kind of drawing. For many of us drawing is already an integral part of learning. In fact drawing as a human activity has since long represented a dynamic-and creative-aspect of our visual environment. So much so, that we naturally take it for granted. And yet, when asked to define what drawing is, one gets many answers, most of which raise further questions. The answers may range from it is a kind of skill (you mean, like knitting, magic trick or somersaulting?) to, it is natures rare gift (meaning, if I do not have it, might I as well forget it?) Let us take the first answer, which seems to suggest that being a skill, one can acquire it if one has an inclination for it. There may be some truth in this suggestion, but only half-baked. Because ability to draw goes much beyond the conventional image of a skill that is, either an acquired dexterity or a mesmerizing sleight of hand. On the other hand the last answer surprisingly comes nearer the truth except that it is not such a rare gift. In fact besides being a skill, drawing, just as the human language ability, is an inborn ability available to all. This is all very well but we can accept the above definition only after we get answers to the further two, directly related questions. First, if it is an ability, what is its precise nature? And second, if it is inborn, at what stage of human evolutionary process could it have been born? The answer to the first question can emerge as an attempt toward a proper definition of drawing. It would read somewhat like this: Drawing is an inborn human ability to create figures or configurations on a ground by means of drawn graphic elements that are mostly linear in nature. The word configuration here means formation or arrangement of several figures at a time. These figures never remain isolated from one another but there exists a definite relationship among them. It is the nature of this relationship that always makes the whole (that is the configuration) more than the sum of the parts (in this case figures). This has been explained further in Fig... The second question, though it may not seem so, is closely related to the first one. This is because its answer, besides explaining the genesis of this ability, also explains why one draws.

Being an age-old ability, the birth of drawing takes us a long way back in the history of human kind. But not more than say fifty thousand years, which, compared to the birth of human intelligence (more than two million years ago) is a short period. By that time fire was already tamed and humans could communicate by means of spoken languages with almost same proficiency as we are doing now. On the other hand, this was many years before the birth of agriculture and the dawn of great civilizations on earth which happened in comparative terms, quite recently. The earliest evidences of drawings or drawn configurations, to use the right word, have been found as cave drawings. Cave drawings exist in many parts of the world. The better known and much discussed cave drawings found at Lascaux in south France and Altamira in Spain are approximately thirty thousand years old. One thing is certain. There must have been a definite urge even a pressing need, that made the humans at this particular juncture in history to awaken and put to use this inherent, dormant ability of creating drawn configurations. We must remember that we are thinking of the time when whole of the humankind was made up of hunters-food gatherers moving in groups from place to place. Human settlements did not exist and the skill of cultivating land to grow food was still to be born some twenty thousand years hence. On the other hand, the tool-making and language abilities of humans had reached a fairly high level of sophistication. As far as one can judge, the primary need of the human groups at this stage must have been for a tangible means to a create visual record of the thoughts and ideas that till then were communicated only through the medium of speech. Such records being permanent in nature could then be seen (and read) by other persons or groups at any other time later on. Thus the human ability of making drawn configurations began its life quite modestly as an extension to the spoken language. It goes without saying that one of the most crucial conditions for creating these configurations was that they have a clear semantic basis. That is, they must mean the same to those for whom they were made as they were to the makers of the configurations themselves. Though it certainly was a kind of communication quite different to the one that employed spoken language, the ultimate message must be the same. It is important that we appreciated the compelling need that eventually led to the birth of this form of communication and the various uses it could be put to. Because only then can we also appreciate the fascinating developments that soon followed. These developments were indeed fast and were almost from the beginning divided in two main streams. One stream led to the development of pictographs, ideographs, hieroglyphs and eventually to the birth of many scripts in which human languages are written today. The second stream progressed further leading to the concepts of drawing as we know today. Initially as a means to represent the elements of natural and human

environments, it eventually flowered into a method of pictorially representing how the human mind thinks and feels, and how it solves problems. Let us sum up. Firstly, to configure graphically is an inborn human ability. Secondly, it is this ability that alternately manifests itself as either of the twin skills of drawing and writing. And thirdly, it traces its origin to the two primordial human abilities; ability to communicate through speech and ability to make and use tools. Here is a further proof of it being an inborn ability. Even today in many non-urban and particularly so called tribal regions of the Asian, African, Australian and Latin American continents, unlettered people (an unfair misnomer, if ever there was one) draw with tremendous love and incredible facility. It had been like that in the West till the end of the Renaissance time. This also brings us to the kind of Eurocentric prejudice that has existed among us and which makes us (especially the students of design, art and architecture) think of drawing as only a skill and not an inborn human facility that might be waiting to be rekindled. 2.0 What does one draw? And to what end? The education system in India, in the same way as in many other countries makes sure that children are taught drawing at a fairly young age. Drawing as a rule is not a required or compulsory subject like language, mathematics or science but extracurricular (the modern usage co-curricular meaning exactly the same). It suddenly turns compulsory when one decides to enter one of the special schools of higher learning such as plastic arts, engineering, architecture or design. Now imagine that you are in the conventional drawing classroom of a primary or secondary school or in the drawing studio of a college of art or design. And then you pose a rather obvious question, what do you draw? The answers would obviously vary. But most of the times you will be told, I draw what is there (meaning, whatever I have been asked to draw). Later, when you have time to think it over, it almost sounds like, I am a camera But now and again you may get an answer that is different. I draw what I see. This also is an answer many an accomplished artist would give. Interestingly, the more one emphasizes the second I (just before see), the more individualist would be the persons approach almost to the point of being an egocentric. This emphasis on I may mean, not just what I see but the way I see. It may also indirectly suggest, not necessarily the way the others see or would like to see. And you should be really surprised if you get a totally different and rather longish answer to your question; somewhat like this: First, I concentrate on what I see so that it sets off images in my mind. I select and draw the one that communicates the

most. Obviously, such person would not immediately go to work and start drawing. He/She would like to spend few minutes; to do what? To contemplate not only on what is there but to experience it in form of so many images in minds eye. However, what is important here is what happens in the end, which is communication. To paraphrase what the person is really saying; I draw the image/s that communicate the most not just to me but to all to whom I want to communicate while emphasizing those aspects that are otherwise likely to go unnoticed. 3.0 How many kinds of drawings? This particular human ability to make configurations using linear elements, which we call drawing, has, since its inception made great strides. Today it serves many areas of human endeavors; not just plastic arts and design but also science and technology. Hence it is natural that the concept of drawing as it exits today has developed into several branches or categories. Let us take two examples at random. A painter draws; and so does an engineering draughtsman. But you will notice that these two employ two different kinds of drawings. Not only that, each can carry on for the rest of the working life doing just one kind of drawing. Among all these professionals who employ drawing of one kind or the other as means of communication, a designer seems to be an exception. He/she is expected to employ several kinds of drawings at a time. We often see a designer employing these various drawing skills in succession, often mixing one with the other. So as a student of design, how many kinds of drawings are you required to learn and be proficient in? At the latest count, at least seven. May be more, but not less. Given in the next section are short descriptions of all of them. Of course one does not learn all of them at a time. And yet, the basics of most of them do form an integral part of your initial learning in design. Also, though the learning need not occur strictly in the order shown here, a prior knowledge of certain kinds of drawing does make the learning of the others easier. The actual stages of learning a part of a detailed discussion later. There is something of vital importance which you should know before we go further. This in fact is the fundamental and obligatory condition every student must fulfill before even thinking of learning any of the seven kinds of drawings. It is very much like undergoing a rigorous training to ensure your fitness for the real works that lies ahead that is, learning drawing. That is why the first few days you acquaint yourself with the basic elements better known as the basic building blocks of drawing. This can be learnt only by actually doing certain drawing exercises and practicing continuously. All this is meant to help you firstly, to understand the functional and structural (that is, mainly geometrical) peculiarities of these elements. And secondly, to control and employ them to generate the intended configurations.

4.0 The kinds of drawings a designer should know Now is the time to enumerate and describe the seven kinds of drawings mentioned earlier. i. Freehand drawing This particular kind of drawing is known to most of you; especially to those who had an opportunity to attend drawing classes before. This is where you learn how to create configurations freehand. These configurations in fact are the drawn images that represent the real (meaning physical) world around you that as a rule, consists of both, the natural as well as the manmade environments. You are encouraged to employ the method of freehand drawing to make studies of the forms and spaces from your immediate environment; that means all kinds of objects, the human, animal and vegetation forms and the interior spaces and the exterior landscapes. There exists in a typical art school situation sharply defined divisions like still life, nature study, figure drawing, landscape drawing etc. In a school of design the dividing lines begin to get blurred and the divisions happily merge into one another. ii. Orthography When you begin to learn the second kind of drawing, it seems to demand that you look at the world around you in a rather strange way, How? You look at it from several points of view simultaneously. Because that is the only way you can enter the world of orthography. Orthography is in fact a method of drawing that teaches you to describe, explain and represent with great accuracy the designed forms and spaces in our environment. As such it is the best available method to communicate the exact shapes, sizes and proportionate scales in the finest details with all required measurements and in all necessary views. Many a time it goes under the name of technical drawing which is a rather limiting description. iii. Axonometry and isometry One of the reasons why orthography makes you to look at the world from unusual and multiple points of view is that it deliberately wants you to avoid the third dimension. It is true that the first kind of drawing that teaches you the freehand depiction of the natural and manmade environments does assume a certain feeling for the third dimension. But it is the third kind of drawing called axonometry that will formally and systematically introduce you to the right way to construct the three dimensional pictorial drawings of forms and spaces. Isometry is the most commonly practiced branch of axonometry that in the same way as orthography helps you to know the precise size and scale of the drawn form or space.

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Perspective drawing The forth kind of drawing will teach you how to create an illusion (a photographic illusion would be the proper word) of real spaces and forms. This you can effectively do by learning the method and conventions of perspective drawing.

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Rendering The fifth kind of drawing is in fact a combination of the last three that is, orthography, axonometry and perspective drawing. This particular method of drawing is known as rendering. You learn rendering to allow you to represent most accurately and realistically your design solutions complete with the play of light and shade and the chosen colour scheme and surface finishes that may include surface textures and patterns.

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Production drawing It goes without saying that whatever you will design must be produced, and that too in repetition; that is, either in a large mass or in small batches. So the sixth kind of drawing is for this very purpose of production. Here you learn to meet the special and exact requirements for the repeat production of your design solution by making production drawings. A drawing of this kind would obviously reflect your extensive knowledge of materials and all relevant methods of production. A production drawing may range from a sketch, to an artwork, to a sample to a set of orthographic drawings with details such as assemblies, sub-assemblies and component parts.

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Drawing the design thoughts For a designer, the seventh and the last kind of drawing is decidedly the most important. Because it is here that you learn how to draw your design thoughts. Though its right name is design process drawing, it is also known by other names: process drawing, design conceptualization drawing, design visualization drawing, to name a few. Unquestionably, it is the design process drawing that rightly distinguishes designers and their method of solving problems from all other professionals who may, during their working life, use drawing of one kind or the other. Because of it obvious importance we should give a further thought on how one can learn it. First of all, by design thoughts what we really mean is the thoughts that arise in a designers mind while solving the problem of design. Of course you would be absolutely correct to point out that thoughts cannot be drawn. So what you really learn is how to translate in visual form the outcome of a designers that is, your

you soon learn that drawing alone is not enough. You realize that your design thoughts translated in the visual form are in fact drawings that continuously need a support from words. So what you end up with is a curious mixture of words and images. In fact, a kind of working partnership between fleeting images and evocative words, that helps you capture a design concept. Naturally, as this combination of words and images is a true reflection of your thinking process, it would happen with the same speed and in the same sequence as you think; which means, in a rapid succession and completely at random. So one thing you further learn is to find relationships and establish continuity among these drawn/ written design thoughts. This helps you arrange them in a logical order so that you can effectively communicate your concepts to others. 5.0 The four fundamental concepts Before embarking on a typical course in the basic drawing for designers, it would be necessary for you to know what we call the four fundamental concepts that will eventually govern your learning throughout the course. As you already know, a course in drawing of this nature invariables begins with specially devised exercises to acquaint you with the basic building blocks of drawing discussed earlier. In fact, the process of knowing and understanding the said four concepts remains an integral part of these very same exercises. So, what are these four fundamental concepts? i. The concept of delineation. A precise and more formal name for any act of drawing is delineation. You must notice that the word line forms an integral part of the name. Hence it suggests a linear process, the basic component of which is line. A special name for a line for this particular purpose, that is to draw freehand, and which is most frequently used by those who practice drawing is a stroke. The word evidently carries an image of a line in action. Of course it is true, and we all know from our first lessons in geometry, that a point is more basic than a line. But we also know that the first tendency of an infant is to produce configurations by means of linear elements, that is strokes. So what we are really concerned about here is the skill of stroke making. This skill can certainly be learnt with a conscious effort by means of a correct pencil grip and a right movement of hand that combines movements of wrist, elbow and shoulder. The concept of configuration You are already familiar with the concept of configuration which undoubtedly is the most important of the four fundamental concepts. Configurations are to be generated by employing line strokes of various sizes and shapes. This also helps you to create the required sensations of two and three dimensional forms and spaces. As your control on stroke making increases, the configurations can be allowed to become more complex. It is during this process that you learn the basic

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functions of point, line, mass, texture etc. all of which eventually lead you to conscious acts of patterning. These and similar terms are explained at length when the actual exercises are introduced. iii. The concept of measuring and proportioning. One of the first few things you learn at the beginning of the course is how to measure your drawing without a measuring aid. In other words, by using your eyes. The idea here is to train your eyes to serve you as a fairly accurate measuring instrument. You use your eyes to measure lengths, widths, depths and proportions while you draw. After gaining certain amount of confidence you move to the next stage and learn to make and use a grid. Though the conventional drawing and measuring instruments are always there to help you, you do come to appreciate a grid as an efficiency device of great value that also goes toward eradicating the conventional and rather artificial divide between the freehand and the drawing board methods. A grid basically is a network generated by means of intersected straight line strokes, to be eventually used for creating complex configurations. A beginner to the course as a rule would use a square grid for two dimensional and an isometric grid for three dimensional configurations. The concept of layout or composition. Though the actual objective of the initial exercises (related to the basic building blocks) is to make you proficient in generating drawn configurations, the very process is consciously and deliberately made to relate itself to the shape, size, edges and corners, and the material, of the surface provided for delineation. The surface in the present case is of course paper. Designers as a rule know this process as laying out or making a layout. The concept of layout should be taken as seriously as that of a visual composition. Hence an element of planning enters right from the beginning that makes you treat the layout of your drawing sheet as a well-throughout graphic composition aimed at achieving a harmonious relationship between the drawn configurations and consciously allowed spaces around and in-between. However, the ultimate objective of a well conceived layout still remains very simple: optimum communication.

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