ACT OF DRAWING

This is an excellent and concise meditation on the act of drawing:

“Drawing is…at its most basic the product of no more than a pen or pencil taken to a sheet of paper. Any material that may make a mark or leave a trace may be used. Any support, from manifold varieties of paper to the wall of a room, may sustain the act of drawing.” p50.

The above passage works on so many levels.  It states that drawing requires something that leaves a trace on a piece of paper.  It qualifies that drawing can be supported on paper, walls, plastic, etc.  And the passage ignores the computer.

The only thing that I would add to this is that drawing records the physical movement of the body.  Although probably implied, it might be helpful if there is an acknowledgement of the link between a human brain, a human hand and something that leaves a trace on a piece of paper.

And it is important to understand that if any one of these ingredients is absent, then it is not a drawing.

For more, see ANALOGUE DRAWING, PAPER TRANSPARENCY, AND DRAWING NOT DRAWING.

1.  Garrels, Gary.  Drawing from the Modern 1945-1975.  The Museum of Modern Art:  New York.  2005.