Dear Drawing Researchers
Those interested in observational drawing might wish
to take a look at my Ph.D. (accessible via
inter-library loan). Reference and abstract below.
All the best
George Whale.
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Reference:
Whale, G. (2006). An Investigation of Spatial Strategy
in Observational Drawing. (Ph.D. dissertation.)
Loughborough, UK: Loughborough University.
Abstract
The problem of pictorial representation - how it is
that marks on a surface can stand for configurations
in the real world - has vexed theorists for centuries,
but rarely has the problem been approached
empirically. This dissertation describes an empirical
investigation of the nature and consequences of
cognitive strategies used by artists to establish
spatial relationships in observational drawing. The
main part of the investigation was a studio-based case
study in which each of five experienced (adult) fine
artists drew a still life scene and reported the
process retrospectively. For four of the five cases,
video recordings of drawing activity and audio
recordings of verbal reports were analysed
thematically to yield rich descriptions of spatial
methods and strategies.
The study revealed that artists' visual determinations
of locations of elements of the scene were made
relative to other, spatial-frame-defining elements
('referents') of many different types including
points, edges and 'virtual' shapes. Most importantly,
the study discovered that where located elements were
themselves used as referents for locating other
elements, the resulting frame-hierarchical structures
of referent/element relations differed in each case,
being more or less distinctively linear, treelike or
network-like in character. It is claimed that these
conceptual structures of spatial interrelations
(termed 'dependency structures') attest to the
non-arbitrary locating of parts according to
generalizable principles, and are manifestations of
strategy.
Separate analyses of movement around the drawings
(termed 'inter-element switching') discovered that
rates of switching can vary greatly during drawing
activity, and that sometimes for extended periods
switching is restricted to particular regions or to
particular object or part representations. It is
claimed that these spatio-temporal switching patterns
and the dependency structures together offer a
different view of observational drawing process than
has previously been presented.
In the minor part of the investigation, a simple
computer model was developed to test the assertion
that different strategic approaches, as represented by
different types of dependency structures, have
specific consequences for the structures of drawings.
In the model, chains of dependency were found to
permit misjudgements of distance and/or angle to
accumulate; structures in which located elements were
close to their respective referent(s) were found to
minimize distortions arising from certain kinds of
angular inaccuracies; and network-like structures were
shown to be prone to producing multiple
edges/contours.
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George Whale
GSM +358 (0)50 571 5133
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