Why draw? (ITAP 1)

Drawing is a way of life. Its a way of thinking, communicating, and showing our ideas. Its a connection between your hand, eyes and brain. At 12 to13 months of age, once a child has developed muscles in there hand to grasp a pencil they will start scribbling, excited that they can make a mark on a piece of paper. 

Even in prehistoric times there was art. In 2006 archaeologists found a 27,000 year old drawing of what looks like a face, in Angoulėme, France. This activity of drawing has been achieve with under developed brains. They would draw with a technique called stump drawing, which means using their fingers or a piece of hide. 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2006/jun/06/art

Drawings have also been very useful in recording information, especially when cameras where not around. Prehistoric cave drawing have helped us understand their lifestyles. We know that animals were extremely important, as many of their drawings were based on animals. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/aqa/evolution/evolutionrev1.shtml

Another example of science using art to record information is Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution. When he traveled to the Galápagos Islands he didn’t have a camera. He had to record the differences he saw in his finches by drawing them. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/leonardo/gallery/heart.shtml

Another famous man who used art to record and think was Leonardo de Vinci. He was a scientist and engineer who used drawing to think and develop his ideas. As an engineer he wanted to know how joints and limbs worked together. In these drawing of hearts you can see he has spent a lot of time observing and record what he sees with the use of drawing. Around he has labeled and written idea he has had. This is a very busy piece of work. Then when explaining to others about his ideas he could show this piece of work. You can never truly explain a new idea to someone else and make them fully understand without anything visual to look at. With just speaking your ideas and trying to describe the image in your own head, the other person could be imagining something completely different. Also when he studying hearts, hearts themselves where not permanently available. He would need a very clear and detail way of remembering what the heart looked like. 

Drawing is also a way of problem solving. Before a product or a piece of art work is created, a lot of planning is involved. This prevents wasting money, materials and time. Leonardo also did this as he was hired by the Duke of Milan to create weapons for war. 

The brain is an organ which is key when we draw. We have a left and right brain. The right side of the brain is the creative side. The side that allows us to throw paint onto a canvas without us caring where the paint specifically lands. The left side however is the complete opposite. This side deals with organising, editing and classifying. The left side of the brain is studying the paint the right side has just placed and is criticising it. 

This doesn’t mean that in art that the right side of the brain is better. We need both, and our work gets better as we learn to use and turn off either sides at the correct times. When Leonardo was creating his weapons of war his right brain drew the drawings then the left side became involved writing notes on how to improve it and make it better. 

http://www.mi-zo.com/?n=portfolio&c=art&id=39&s=0

This piece of photography by Zoren gold and Minori is a perfect example of using both side of the brain. They have used their right side to experiment and bring in all sorts different props together and place them. Then the left side is included to help develop the image by standing back and criticising parts and rearranging. They would have needed to use both of their brain continuously and like a cycle. Going from right to left right to left. Experiment, criticise, play, organise, until the perfect image for them has been created. Until the left side of the brain can’t no longer see any faults. 

When developing our magazine for our project, we will need to use both principles and drawing and the brain to create it. We need to use drawing to plan the magazine. Sketching out many different layouts for the pages themselves, and using drawing to experiment with compositions in illustrations and photography. We need to use both side of our brains. The right to be creative and experimental with out layouts, photography, graphic designs and illustrations. Then we need to check everything using out left side of the brain. Continuously questioning ourselves that the magazine is hitting all our targets and making sure it is for our selected audience.