Key Principals: Drawing and Language

"A drawing is simply a line going for a walk." Paul Klee

Drawing work by hand is an important element when exploring and creating new ideas, also tying in heavily with the development of visual language, which can both even incorporate a third key principal of utilising the creative right hemisphere of the brain in coordination with the more structured left side successfully. 

Drawing allows a bridge for mental ideas to be conveyed into a visual form, which is a completely alternative process from a textual representation, photographic or digital. The freeform and personal potential of drawing enables conceptual things to be noted and developed. Working in other mediums such as photography, like mentioned before, you are limited, and thus cannot explore the true potential horizon of your thoughts.

"A drawing is always dragged down to the level of its caption."
James Thurber 

Illustration also allows the right, and left hemispheres of the brain to work collaboratively. When drawing to perform tasks such as problem solving, the right brain is able to be creative in the problem solving process 'thinking outside the box', which is then backed up by the rationality and structure of the left brain. When this equilibrium is transferred to a drawing, sculpture or another freeform creative medium, that thought becomes apparent to others as it is easier to understand and easier to develop since it is more tangible. Thus the transfer of right and left brain coordination to visual form shows drawing to be an effective way of thinking, creative a solid set of start points and not just pictures. 

This process is evident in the work of Leonardo da Vinci's intention sketchbook pages, where he is 'thinking through illustrations', along with brief annotations for aid. Illustrating concepts can be far more effective and efficient than a written description, as one allows all information to be taken in at leisure, where as the other requires the reader to form a mental image based on the description. Together though, they form a perfect balance. The intention of his sketches were invention/problem solving based with an audience of fellow inventors, engineers and academics, hence the level of detail in his more refined designs such as the water screw to the left. Initial designs though, appeared most likely for his own use, simply experimenting with his rough thoughts. 

Even in the 14th century Leonardo said "Oh, ye seekers after perpetual motion, how many vain chimeras have you pursued? Go and take your place with the alchemists", showing that his illustrated designs had lead him to believe this was an impossible feat. 

Illustrating ideas as a result of problem solving isn't all drawing is good for though. It is also extremely useful for developing more personal and creative things such as the forms of a cartoon characters in concept stage. This sketching allows illustrators to work with designers, in creating basic yet thorough ideas of the potential. As can be seen in the images below, each subject has been sketched using quick pencil marks in a range of postures, actions and expressions (even interacting with other objects). This puts the subject into context, using the gestured pencil lines as ambiguity, or space for development (and imagination) rather than one set style. If these conceptual sketches were done in a more precise medium such as more detailed and precise pencil/ink lines like da Vinci's, then it is likely the development process wouldn't feel so open.  

Another advantage to drawing your thoughts freehand or via other practical creative media, is subsequently developing a visual language (another key principal). This can be seen in mind maps, a method of visual organisation such as the one to the right. Here the audience is preferably the creator to help them remember certain points as they chose imagery they felt would help them. Despite this, it would be possible for other viewers to understand and get to grips with the visual language they have used. Mind maps originally originated from medieval ages where people would have a very small capability to read. In solution things would be written on an illustrated tree as to help them visualise it all. This method was also used when symbolising 'family trees' and still is the method. Quite simply, it represents the family either growing or narrowing down to one person through several bloodlines. 

The key to visual language is for it to be coherent to the message you wish to convey; therefore if you wanted to display the colour 'orange' you may draw an orange, or by representing 'music' with a clef note. If the symbol, or sign, does not denote the subject then it is irrelevant and useless. This contextual message encoding is the core principal of developing a visual language. The beauty of a visual language is that it forms an fluid link in global communication. While ideas can be conveyed in conceptual illustration, visual language also forms a basic language that can be understood globally. For example in the pictograms to the left, which are various symbols/signs to denote various things extremely efficiently. This is because while textual languages' vocabularies are different throughout the world, the object those words describe remains the same. Therefore, building an archive of obvious images to represent things can establish a universal visual vocabulary. 

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In the game 'Pictionary', you must draw something that is on a given card as quickly as you can, so that your partner can guess what it is. This forces a simplified drawing technique often made from sign mixing as this is often the easiest method. See if you can guess the picture to the right. As can be seen, this sign combination is an effective way at problem solving/conveying a message through message encoding.

Below is a set of three posters designed to advertise Pictionary, depicting a hugely detailed drawing being 'beaten' by a very rough sketch showing that in this medium, it is content over surface aesthetics. This combats the many negative self- consciousness associations about drawing, which as a result limits us.

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