Drawing Connections

Rube Goldberg Inspired Inventions

2007-11-03T01:28:00.000-05:00

Industrial Design Patent Drawings

2007-07-27T01:32:00.000-05:00

Rex Marsh Atomic Pistol. Patent drawing from the US Patent office. True views.

Just for fun, visit the Patent Room: The Art of Industrial Design to see a growing archive of actual patent drawings, "...a collection of early 20th Century industrial design discovered in the U.S. Patent Office archives." It includes drawings from the 1920s-1950s.

Chuck Close: A Systematic Approach to Portraiture

2007-07-24T09:32:00.000-05:00

In this collage portrait of Phillip Glass, titled Phillip, by Chuck Close, one can see an overall structure of tonal values, whereby the artist successfully employs a full range in scale of white-to-black. Notice how values are placed according to similarity and proximity, and it is this carefully selected combination that makes it possible to render the portrait. Also, see how significant the grid system is in this piece, with incremental units evenly divided.

In order to create such a rendered composition, one must acutely observe the subtle shifts in light and shadow, form and volume. It is an organized, laborious, and systematic approach to constructing an image, and relies on the artist's ability to maintain extreme focus at every stage of the execution.

This can be seen in another Chuck Close example of a portrait, titled Georgia, which is constructed of handmade paper. Evident, as with so many incredible examples of his work, is his highly methodological, formal analysis of information.

"The remarkable career of artist Chuck Close extends beyond his completed works of art. More than just a painter, photographer, and printmaker, Close is a builder who, in his words, builds "painting experiences for the viewer." Highly renowned as a painter, Close is also a master printmaker, who has, over the course of more than 30 years, pushed the boundaries of traditional printmaking in remarkable ways.

Almost all of Close’s work is based on the use of a grid as an underlying basis for the representation of an image. This simple but surprisingly versatile structure provides the means for "a creative process that could be interrupted repeatedly without…damaging the final product, in which the segmented structure was never intended to be disguised." It is important to note that none of Close's images are created digitally or photo-mechanically. While it is tempting to read his gridded details as digital integers, all his work is made the old-fashioned way—by hand.

Close’s paintings are labor intensive and time consuming, and his prints are more so. While a painting can occupy Close for many months, it is not unusual for one print to take upward of two years to complete. Close has complete respect for, and trust in, the technical processes—and the collaboration with master printers—essential to the creation of his prints. The creative process is as important to Close as the finished product. "Process and collaboration" are two words that are essential to any conversation about Close’s prints." – via Chuck Close: Process and Collaboration

Links:
Chuck Close Exhibit at the Walker
Chuck Close Exhibit at the MOMA
Chuck Close Portfolio at Pace Prints
Self Portraits: Young Artists Create Oil Pastel Mosaics
Young Students Collaborate to Make a Portrait

Oskar Fischinger: Inspiring Motion Paintings

2007-07-24T08:38:00.000-05:00

Featured here is the admirable modernist creator, Oskar Fischinger (1900-1967), an abstract painter and avant-garde filmmaker, whose non-objective “visual music” paintings, films and stills have inspired many artists, including painters, animators and filmmakers.

According to Peter Frank, "we now understand Oskar Fischinger not only as a link between the geometric painting of pre-war Europe and post-war California but as a grandfather of the digital arts."

He was a true master, coordinating symphonies of musical notes with syncopating forms, lines, colors, values, light motion and time. His work, both easel paintings and animations alike, was concerned with spatial dynamics, conveying complex perspectives, orbiting planetary bodies, buoyancy, weight, dance, and gravitational pull. Optical depth, rather than perceptual flatness, was achieved through penetrations, pulsations, saturations and resonance. The following quote briefly describes the one of his animated works, Allegretto:

“In the 1936 short Allegretto, diamond and oval shapes in primary colors perform a sensual, upbeat ballet to the music of composer Ralph Rainger. The geometric dance is set against a background of expanding circles that suggest radio waves.” – via NPR.

“Fischinger’s influence on the development of avant-garde abstract films is profound, with the genius of his vision acknowledged by 20th Century luminaries such as Orson Welles, Wassily Kandinsky, Moholy Nagy, Lyonel Feininger, Leopold Stokowski and John Cage. Fischinger's artistic innovations in film, recognized in Hollywood where he moved to work in 1936, eventually evolved exclusively into painting. In that medium he distilled his ideas in non-objective abstraction, presaging and significantly influencing Los Angeles‚ contemporary hard-edge abstract painters.” – from Arts Cenecal

“Concerned with more than mere formalist issues, Fischinger like Bauhaus master PauI Klee whom he greatly admired, sought to invoke in his abstractions Nature's operative laws. As a result, his forms in the spirit of Klee's, maintain an aura of vital forces - of growing, maturing and evolving in emulation of the powers that animate the cosmos to enter a Fischinger painting is to transcend the restraints of particular tirrie and to touch upon universals. It is this voyage he offers the viewer, launching thought visions on the winds of galactic visions into transcendent flight, that Fischinger's achievement resides.” – Susan Ehrlich Ph.D. 1988

Now, four decades after his death, one can see a select collection of his musical animations, in a recently released DVD titled, Oskar Fischinger: Ten Films, which can be found at the Center for Visual Music. Learn more about the artist at www.oskarfischinger.org.

A portfolio sampling of Oskar Fischinger’s exhibition may be viewed at the Jack Rutberg Fine Arts gallery web site.
Jack Rutberg Fine Arts
357 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, California 90036-2517
Tel (323) 938-5222 Fax (323) 938-0577
E-mail,
Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 10am-6pm; Saturday, 10am-5pm

Hand-Drawn Lettering and Experimental Typography

2007-07-22T06:51:00.000-05:00

This beautifully hand drawn alphabet is by Blake E. Marquis.

Graphic designers take note, there is an interesting traveling exhibition, titled Alphabet: An Exhibition of Hand-Drawn Lettering and Experimental Typography, which can be viewed now in Orlando, coinciding with the AIGA Conference.

“Focusing on an ordinary subject that we see each day, often in the hundreds of thousands, Alphabet presents 26 letters as more than just shapes for conveying information. The 48 artists and designers in this show conceive and interpret the alphabet in surprising and inventive ways, ranging from graceful and polished to witty and unconventional. The 60 alphabets featured in Alphabet were created by artists in North America, Europe, and Asia, and represent work from well-known typographers and designers as well as rising artists and design students.” – excerpt from the exhibition website.

ALPHABET GALLERY
Below are selected samples of some of the alphabets shown in the exhibition. Complete character sets (A-Z) of each alphabet in the show can be seen in the exhibition catalog or at one of the exhibition venues.

ANDREW BYROM / INTERIORS / 2003
A set of 26 table and chair frames built from steel tubing, Interiors forms a lowercase alphabet when viewed from certain angles. While some of the letters such as the h, m, and b look like basic chairs or tables, others like the e, t, and x become abstract, rather than functional, furniture.
Fabrication: Joel Wolter

LUKE RAMSEY AND A. PURDY / HYPER TYPE / 2005
Representing the pair's first collaboration, Hyper Type's obsessively detailed letterforms were created by Ramsey and Purdy in two marathon, ten-hour days.

APIRAT INFAHSAENG / SEVEN BOARD OF CUNNING / 2004
Constructed with Chinese Tangram puzzle tiles, Seven Board of Cunning takes the concept of Tangrams--that the tiles may be arranged into a variety of shapes--and applies it to typography, creating multiple versions of each letter.

MICHAEL STOUT (VISUALINGUAL) / IMAGEABILITY, PATHS / 2002
Pushing the limits of legibility, Imageability is a series of five fonts based on ideas from the book of the same title by Kevin Lynch. By reducing each letter to a minimal set of forms, Imageability explores the identifiers we use to navigate our landscape and language.

Exhibition info:
Website

Travel information
Alphabet will be traveling through 2008. Upcoming and past shows include:
October-November 2008 / Southern Illinois University / Edwardsville, IL
December 2007 / Ohio Northern University / Ada, OH
October 2007 / Cooper Union / New York, NY
July 2007 / AIGA Orlando / Orlando, FL
February-March 2007 / Minneapolis College of Art & Design / Minneapolis, MN
January 2007 / Pennsylvania College of Art & Design / Lancaster, PA
November 2006 / Northern Illinois University / DeKalb, IL
March 2006 / Workhorse Gallery / Los Angeles, CA
January-February 2006 / M-80 / Milwaukee, WI
November 2005 / Heaven Gallery / Chicago, IL
August 2005 / Lump Gallery / Raleigh, NC
July 2005 / Maryland Institute College of Art / Baltimore, MD

Select list of artists, designers and students, who are featured in the exhibit:
Andrew Byrom
Danielle Foushee
Arjen Noordeman
Paul Nudd
C.W. Roelle
Visualingual

One Point Perspective: Adoration of the Magi

2007-07-14T07:21:00.000-05:00

Adoration of the Magi, by Leonardo da Vinci. "The preparatory drawing for the “Adoration of the Magi,” the painting commissioned to da Vinci for the main altar of the monastery of San Donato a Scopeto near Florence, reveals the Italian genius’s innovative approach to art. His originality and mastery of perspective are evident in the magnitude of the illusionary space that he created. He drew the ground first, then a plan for the buildings and finally animated the scene with human figures and animals. Using a millimetric ruler, appointed stylus and very fine threads, da Vinci created the perspective grid to transfer the drawing on a larger scale as a painting on a wooden panel." From Share the Perspective of Genius: Leonardo's Study for the Adoration of the Magi, an online exhibition hosted by The Library of Congress.

Leonardo da Vinci's work is really wonderful to look at when learning about drawing, not only how to draw in perspective, but also how to build form with line, to represent volume, to diagram, to explain thoughts, and so on.

With regard to perspective, as it is represented in Adoration of the Magi, see the following observations: Notice vanishing lines lead to a central point, called the central vanishing point. There is only one vanishing point in this drawing, and therefore we call it a one-point perspective drawing. The point at which the central vanishing point sits is called the eye level, or horizon line. For those viewers who are are not familiar with thinking of space depicted in perspective, note how objects that are closer to the viewer are larger, and objects that are more distant appear to be smaller. Imagine standing on a long stretch of flat road. One can see the painted lines of the road converging and eventually merging at a place where the road seems to disappear. It is that point which is called the "vanishing point."

The Museum of Science has an online exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: Scientist, Inventor, Artist, featuring Leonardo da Vinci. Below is an exerpt from one section, titled Artist:

"Leonardo got his start as an artist around 1469, when his father apprenticed him to the fabled workshop of Verocchio. Verocchio's specialty was perspective, which artists had only recently begun to get the hang of, and Leonardo quickly mastered its challenges. In fact, Leonardo quickly surpassed Verocchio, and by the time he was in his early twenties he was downright famous.

Renaissance Italy was centuries away from our culture of photographs and cinema, but Leonardo nevertheless sought a universal language in painting. With perspective and other realistic elements, Leonardo tried to create faithful renditions of life. In a culture previously dominated by highly figurative and downright strange religious paintings, Leonardo's desire to paint things realistically was bold and fresh. This call to objectivity became the standard for painters who followed in the 16th century.

No slouch when it came to the techniques of the day, Leonardo went beyond his teaching by making a scientific study of light and shadow in nature. It dawned on him that objects were not comprised of outlines, but were actually three-dimensional bodies defined by light and shadow. Known as chiaroscuro, this technique gave his paintings the soft, lifelike quality that made older paintings look cartoony and flat. He also saw that an object's detail and color changed as it receded in the distance. This technique, called sfumato, was originally developed by Flemish and Venetian painters, but of course Super-Genius Leonardo transformed it into a powerful tool for creating atmosphere and depth.

Ever the perfectionist, Leonardo turned to science in the quest to improve his artwork. His study of nature and anatomy emerged in his stunningly realistic paintings, and his dissections of the human body paved the way for remarkably accurate figures. He was the first artist to study the physical proportions of men, women and children and to use these studies to determine the "ideal" human figure. Unlike many of his contemporaries -- Michelangelo for example -- he didn't get carried away and paint ludicrously muscular bodies, which he referred to as "bags of nuts."

All in all, Leonardo believed that the artist must know not just the rules of perspective, but all the laws of nature. The eye, he believed, was the perfect instrument for learning these laws, and the artist the perfect person to illustrate them."

Woven Beauty Forms: Paper Weaving

2007-07-09T11:43:00.000-05:00

This is a photo (by Kiyoshi Togashi) of a simple paper weaving technique, known as the 14th Gift, Woven Beauty Forms, developed by Friedrick Froebel, and pictured in Inventing Kindergarten, a book by Norman Brosterman.

Friedrich Froebel [1782-1852] is best known as the inventor of the kindergarten system, an educational method used a while ago to teach children between 3-7 years old. “Inventing Kindergarten is the first comprehensive book about the origin of kindergarten, a revolutionary educational program for children that was created in the 1930s by charismatic German educator Friedrich Froebel. Froebel’s kindergarten was the most successful system for teaching children about art, design, mathematics, and natural history ever devised. Kindergarten changed the world, and this book tells the story.” – Diane Ravitch, author of The Troubled Crusade: American Education 1945-1980, and former secretary, U.S. Department of Education. See, Inventing Kindergarten, by Norman Brosterman.

In the 1840s, Froebel designed a number of geometric toys, he called "gifts," as a part of his educational system, some of which include sets of blocks, stick work, rings, net drawing exercises, paper weaving, slat work, joined slats, paper interlacing, and peas work.

Upon close inspection, and with some investigation, it can be argued that Froebel’s work was incredibly influential and important to the worlds of art and architecture. As examples, upon becoming familiar with Froebel’s Gifts, see the works of any of the following artists and architects, then decide for yourself if there is a connection:
Wassily Kandinsky
Paul Klee
Frank Lloyd Wright
Piet Mondrian
Georges Braque
Le Corbusier
Josef Albers
Buckminster Fuller

See more patterns. Look at William Morris, famous designer in history. See a contemporary example of woven beauty forms in Peggy Dembicer’s work featured on Flicker and in a recent article in Make Magazine.

Froebel’s Gifts can be purchased today from a variety of sources,
http://www.froebelusa.com
Froebel USA being just one.

Check out the book, Inventing Kindergarten, by Norman Brosterman. Photograph by Kiyoshi Togashi.

Drawing and Painting Links

2007-07-09T09:40:00.000-05:00

Discover twenty-three new additions to Drawing Connections in the Drawing and Painting Links section, found in the right-hand column of the blog.

Explore helpful resources, such as...
Art History Resources on the Web
Inspiration: Royal Academy of Arts Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Reading Room
Louvre Museum
The British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings

The Invention of Drawing: An Artist Reveals Perspective

2007-07-09T08:51:00.000-05:00

The Getty Museum has this wonderful drawing, The Invention of Drawing, which documents one method of drawing. Illustrated here is an artist tracing the shadow of her model. Notice how the drawing is a precise rendering, done in two-point perspective. A single flame provides the light source for all of the shadows. The drawing contains a full range of values, from lightest lights to darkest darks. The horizon line, or eye level, is low, almost, if not exactly where the pencil touches the wall. Perspective lines are dramatically featured in the wall-mounted shelf, the lines of the furniture, and the stone wall grid.

Perspective drawing is a method of representing the appearance of objects, places, architecture and even people. Parallel lines are represented as converging, which gives the illustion of distance. There are many valuable sources to which one can refer in order to understand perspective. The following link is one good example that covers the basics of linear perspective.

Image information:
The Invention of Drawing (recto); Sketch of Lower Leg Bones of Human Skeleton (verso)
Joseph-Benoît Suvée
Belgian, about 1791
Black and white chalk on brown paper (recto); graphite (verso)_21 1/2 x 14 in.
87.GB.145

Ray and Charles Eames: An Illustrated Design Process

2007-07-03T18:17:00.000-05:00

Currently teaching two classes, Sketching and Rendering for Industrial Design, and Basic Design, at Rhode Island School of Design, Drawing Connections readers will notice some entries are geared towards students. This is one such entry.

When developing drawing and design skills, it can be tremendously helpful to nearly simultaneously practice drawing and observe drawing practice. Practice. Practice. Find designers who use drawing as a part of their design process. Study the drawings.

The objectives of this exercise include:
1. comparing multiple examples of drawing styles and techniques;
2. understanding the act of drawing is an individual expression, and that each person will have their own drawing voice or style, unique from other people;
3. discovering appropriate drawing materials and substrates for design drawings;
4. considering how drawing can play a significant role in the design process;
5. exploring the use of line, from informal and rapid sketch, to the detailed finished rendering; and
6. seeing how designers employ the visual language of drawing to generate ideas for designs, think through a design problem, communicate plans to other audiences, and document important details in the process.

It does not take long to find a variety of examples, illustrating a considerable, respectable range of drawing approaches, styles and techniques.

For the purposes of participating in the exercise, this article features the work of the married design team, Ray (1912–1988) and Charles (1907–1978) Eames, American designers, who accomplished many works of industrial design, furniture design, art, graphic design, film, and architecture. Below is a photo of Ray and Charles Eames working on an exhibition model.

Below are some additional samples of their drawings. See a doodle-type drawing, by Charles Eames, which is themed about life around the house; collage drawing of an Eames chair, complete with a suite of accessories; and an exploded view of the Eames lounge chair. The bubble diagram, featured at the beginning of this article, illustrates the Ray and Charles Eames design process. If you are interested in learning more about the Eames’ work, explore the following links:
The Eames Office
The Eames Foundation
The Design Museum
“Exhibit: The Work of Ray and Charles Eames: A Legacy of Invention”
The Eames Gallery
Herman Miller

Poetry Comics: Every Line in a Drawing Counts

2007-07-03T09:48:00.000-05:00

US readers: I hope you are having a good holiday! To help celebrate, here is a delightful comic, illustrating a well-known poem, from Poetry Comics, by William Carlos Williams.

This cartoonist’s style is direct, clear and not overly pretentious in the way in which it was drawn. Dave Morice, the artist, reframes the poem, imbuing it with more meaning. Before I saw this comic, I never thought of this poem as being funny. The line quality and content has everything to do with the viewer's perception. In a drawing, just as in a poem, every line or mark is important to the overall message.

"Every word in a poem counts. A word conjures an image, images juxtaposed to create something new or suggest something elusive. Comics, like poetry, are about simplifying and paring down. There is only so much space on a page and every mark must count. Visual concerns are crucial for both mediums. A cartoonist cascades panels across a page as a poet decides the placement of each line and letter." – from the National Association of Comics Art Educators

"Like poetry, sequential art has been around throughout history, with familiar examples found on cave wallsand Mayan temples. "A sequence of illustrations causes a reader to make links between the information portrayed in each. For instance, a picture of a man pointing a gun at another man followed by another picture of the second man falling to the floor creates the assumption in the reader that the gun was fired. We don't see the gun being fired, but we know that it happened. This effect is called 'closure' and is one of the main tricks of human perception that gives comics their power. Through closure, even seemingly unrelated pictures can be linked to create a sequence of events, or elements of a theme." – from an article, titled Comic Strips or Sequential Art, posted by the BBC

Also see:
Roz Chast
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Poetry Comics: A Literary Postcard Book, by Dave Morice
Collected Curios
Sequential Art Gallery
Quotes About Writing

Rendering for Industrial Design: A Look at Raymond Lowey

2007-06-24T07:31:00.000-05:00

About This Drawing:
Raymond Lowey created this Skylab rendering on a dark indigo blue background. Line work is done mostly in white pencil and highlights are white gouache paint. The background color is very much a part of the object. See how much of the paper actually shows through the object. Refined details, like parting lines, fasteners, surface texture, and a strong indication of light direction give the viewer plenty of significant information. Notice how the drawing is done in three-point perspective, close to the horizon line, with the vanishing points far off to each side. This effect gives the object a convincing, life-like appearance, as it is one of the most familiar ways one encounters or sees the world around them.

Drawing Tips:
1. Allow the background color to be an active part of the drawing. Avoid overworking the surface. Keep the drawing fresh and unlabored, providing only important information.
2. Include a variety of details that help the viewer understand the object, including clues regarding material, function, texture, weight, scale, volume, and context. Whenever it makes sense to do so, include an indication of human scale, as it will lend volumes of information to the piece.
3. For a convincing portrayal of drawn objects, be aware the principles of perspective. Place objects in the center of the cone of vision and close to the horizon line.
4. Including light and shadow in the drawing will help the viewer understand the figure ground relationship, time of day, light source, and three-dimensional volume.
If you would like to work on this technique, use a Canson toned paper (or similar), Prismacolor colored pencils (or similar), pastel powder mixed with baby powder and gouache.

Lowey Drawings:

About Lowey:
“The Shell logo. The Greyhound bus. The S-1 locomotive. The Lucky Strike package. The Coldspot refrigerator. The Studebaker Avanti. These and many other modern design icons were all created by Raymond Lowey, "the father of industrial design." Arguably one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, Loewy has been called the "man who shaped America." He left his mark countless times on everyday culture from household products, to transportation to corporate identity. Loewy was one of the first designers to understand the link between design and the economy. He expressed this connection by stating: "Between two products equal in price, function, and quality, the better looking will outsell the other."
Raymond Loewy (1893-1986), a brilliant designer and, without doubt, the most versatile ambassador of this discipline, became a design legend in his own lifetime. He was the most influential protagonist of industrial design that North America has ever known and has had a significant impact on the tastes and lifestyles of several generations. Loewy’s design philosophy still has an influence on the industrial design world today.” – This brief excerpt is from Art Net. See http://www.art.net/Lile/loewy/loewy.html

Design for Good

2007-06-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Creative powers focused on helping people. Good news.

According to Worldbike.org: "Worldbike is an international network of bicycle designers and industry leaders, and international development professionals, working together to provide transportation solutions and create income-generating opportunities for the world’s poor. All across the developing world, people use bicycles the way we use pickup trucks and school busses. However, the bicycles sold in developing countries are those designed for recreation and are ill-suited to carrying loads.

Worldbike designs higher-strength, longer-wheelbase bicycles with integrated cargo capacity. We conduct test markets to determine the ideal price levels, work with the bike industry to get the best quality parts and frames at the lowest cost, and partner with international development organizations like Kickstart International to sell and distribute the bicycles.

In May of 2007, Worldbike was selected by The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum to have two load-carrying bicycles in their “ Design for the Other 90% ” exhibit. The two bicycles selected are the Big Boda and the Worldbike."

Check out Worldbike .
Customize your bike with Xtracycle .

Observing Consumer Consumption

2007-06-13T23:28:00.000-05:00

Artist and photographer, Mark Luthringer, uses photographs to index categories of the things he sees. The comparisons of similar objects and places are striking and thought-provoking. While one can see an amazing display of possibility, consumer choice and innovation through design, branding and manufacturing technology, alternatively one can see an overall sameness to the content, presentation, architecture and environment.

There is hope and despair in his work. Hope in that design and technology can provide solutions en-mass, and despair in the realization that, given the creative potential for a vast variety of design solutions, what this artist so adeptly points out, our objects of desire, such as homes, furniture, vacation destinations, meals, and clothes are generally the same and by comparison very uninteresting.

Luthringer’s compelling work clearly places him in the unique category of acute observer, curator and anthropologist. Architects and designers, both graphic and industrial, will be interested to view his work. Below is a portion of his Artist Statement, which along with his work can be found at his website, markluthringer.com .

"The typological array’s inherent ability to depict prevalence and repetition make it the perfect technique for examining the excess, redundancy, and meaningless freedom of our current age of consumption. Part of my intent with this work is to answer the question implied by the title of Robert Adams’s book What We Bought: If there is some kind of big sellout occuring, what are we getting in the deal?"

Drawing Research

2007-06-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

The Drawing Research Network is a loose affiliation of individuals and institutions who are involved in some way with drawing research, for example via professional practice, education or the promotion of drawing. Some participants are based in universities and colleges of art and design with established teaching and/or research profiles in drawing. Other participants have an interest in, for example, drawing therapy, the cross-curricular role of drawing in schools or digital drawing. Some participants simply have an interest in drawings and the drawing process which might include in making, thinking about and communicating on drawing. Individuals and institutions use the Network to communicate news, to explore possibilities for cooperation in drawing research, to formulate collaborative projects and to share outputs. Membership of the Network is free. Drawing Research Network or, http://www.drawing.org.uk/
Note: If this link does not work, try pasting the URL into the address bar or do a Google search based on "drawing research."

Exhibit: Doodles, Drafts and Designs

2007-06-11T09:10:00.000-05:00

Interested in an historical perspective of industrial design drawings and creativity from America? The Smithsonian offers the online exhibit, Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings. Below are three brief excerpts from the site:

The Creative Process of Drawing for Industrial Design
“Engineers, inventors, and designers produce drawings as part of their creative process. They draw to work out and refine concepts and details. They draw to persuade. They draw to give direction. And they draw to record their ideas and to learn from others.”

Conceptualization
“Drawing is a key element in the process of working out ideas. Drawing moves an idea from the "mind's eye" to paper, the first step along the path from thought to three-dimensional reality. Inventors sketch as they think, developing their ideas on paper more quickly and more easily than they might in model form.”

Presentation
“Industrial drawings convince. By allowing viewers to imagine a building or machine before it is built, drawings make the idea seem real and viable. Gone are the tentative lines of conceptual drawings. With their straight lines, careful shading, and right angles, these images make the technology appear almost inevitable.”

Learn more about the design process, including the important detailing and recording steps. Experience the exhibit and see examples of the industrial design process, illustrated in drawings. Doodles, Drafts and Designs: Industrial Drawings from the Smithsonian is a traveling exhibition developed by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Behring Center, from the collections of the National Museum of American History and the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. Organized for travel by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

Paperless Drawing and Animation

2007-06-08T01:53:00.000-05:00

An animator describes how he utilizes the Wacom Cintiq to do animation, effectively eliminating the need for thousands of paper drawings, during the production process.

Sketching with Cintiq

2007-06-08T01:45:00.000-05:00

See an artist sketch directly onto the Wacom Cintiq, a dynamic digital drawing board.

One Week of Collaborative Mural Painting

2007-06-08T01:00:00.000-05:00

Watch artists' ideas evolve and change multiple times over the same surface during a weeklong mural collaboration project.

Female Portraits in Western Art

2007-06-08T00:24:00.000-05:00

Presented in this brief film are five hundred female portraits. Amazing to watch!

30 Drawing Reference Books for Artists, Designers and Anyone Who Wants to Learn How-To Draw

2007-06-06T11:36:00.001-05:00

Not so long ago, in Victorian times (1837-1901), the “drawing room” referred to a place for comfortable, relaxed entertaining. The expression is still used in Britain, and in France, the term is “salon,” in the U.S., the equivalent is “living room.” For artists, the drawing room is not confined to one environment, although the studio may be where much of the work is accomplished, it is everywhere the artist is. Drawing happens anywhere, anytime.

Drawing is an empowering life tool accessible to anyone who cares to use it. Perception, communication, persuasion, innovation and invention – drawing develops these skills, which are transferable to any profession or subject.

“If you can draw, even a little bit, you can express all kinds of ideas that might otherwise be lost - delights, frustrations, whatever torments you or pleases you.” – David Hockney

“In the design process, drawing is the act of thought.” – Richard MacCormac

“Drawings are an invaluable aid to my mathematical thinking and an essential ingredient of most of my mathematical expositions.” – Sir Roger Penrose

“I use drawing as an extension of my brain. It is the ones done with spontaneity that give me most pleasure and help crystalise an idea.” – Terence Conran

Learning to draw can be likened to learning a language. It requires exposure, observation, exploration and practice. Learn to draw. Expose your mind to the variety of methods, tools, techniques and forms of drawing. Visit an art museum and observe how artists use drawing. Read books about drawing. Experiment with drawing by trying it out, emulating different styles, using a variety of drawing materials. Make drawing a part of your routine. Make room for drawing.

A German proverb says, “Whoever cares to learn will always find a teacher.” Books are a great place to start. The following is an alphabetical list of recommended books relating to drawing for architecture, animation, exhibit design, fine art, industrial design, and interior design.

1. Drawing in Early Renaissance Italy: Revised Edition
2. Drawing Now: Eight Propositions
3. The Art of Robots
4. Classical Drawing Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice
5. Art of Drawing

6. Design Drawing
7. Drawing: A Creative Process
8. Drawing and Perceiving: Life Drawing for Students of Architecture and Design
9. Vitamin D: New Perspectives in Drawing
10. Keys to Drawing with Imagination: Strategies and Exercises for Gaining Confidence and Enhancing Your Creativity

11. Color Drawing: Design Drawing Skills and Techniques for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Interior Designers
12. Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters: 100 Great Drawings Analyzed, Figure Drawing Fundamentals Defined
13. Rapid Viz : A New Method for the Rapid Visualization of Ideas
14. Drawing From The Modern
15. Experimental Drawing

16. Drawing Shortcuts: Developing Quick Drawing Skills Using Today's Technology
17. Drawing and Designing with Confidence: A Step-by-Step Guide
18. Freehand Perspective for Designers: Including Shadow-Casting and Entourage
19. Force: Dynamic Life Drawing for Animators
20. Syd Mead's Sentury

21. Basic Perspective Drawing: A Visual Approach
22. Perspective Drawing and Applications
23. Perspective for Interior Designers
24. Drawing: A Contemporary Approach
25. Rendering in Mixed Media

26. From Ordinary To Extraordinary: Art & Design Problem Solving
27. Basic Visual Concepts And Principles For Artists, Architects And Designers
28. The Animator's Workbook: Step-By-Step Techniques of Drawn Animation
29. Life Drawing: A Journey to Self-Expression
30. Design Principles and Problems

Do you have a recommendation? Please share!

Image Reference: "Inconveniences of a Crowded Drawing Room", famous caricature by George Cruikshank, May 6th 1818.

Quotes on Curiosity

2007-05-30T08:18:00.001-05:00

10 Quotes About the Curious Mind. IMWTK (inquiring minds want to know).

1. Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people. – Leo Burnett
2. Curiosity is free-wheeling intelligence. - Alistair Cooke
3. Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas.
– Marie Curie
4. It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. – Albert Einstein
5. The desire to know is natural to good men. – Leonardo da Vinci
6. Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind. – Samuel Johnson
7. I keep six honest serving-men,
They taught me all I knew;
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.
– Rudyard Kipling
8. The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. – Dorothy Parker
9. Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.
– Voltaire
10. Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect.
– Steven Wright

Artwork: Thank you to – M.R. Taylor for the cool “Curiosity Killed the Cat” drawing! You are an awesome artist. See more cute idiom drawings by kids at – Idioms by Kids.

Imaginary City Envisioned in Drawings

2007-05-20T07:02:00.000-05:00

In 1984 Gilles Tréhin, dedicated artist and artistic savant, began designing an imaginary city, Dumont d'Urville, using primarily drawings to communicate his vision.

Additional info:
Gilles Trehin.com
Gilles Trehin and the city of Urville

Core77 Presents the Essential Guide to New York

2007-05-19T03:49:00.000-05:00

Design Week 2007
Saturday May 19 - Tuesday 22
Exhibits • Map • Handy Spreadshet

Javits Center ICFF: International Contemporary Furniture Fair

Google SketchUp: 3D Modeling for Everyone

2007-05-18T08:49:00.000-05:00

All things being Google, why not a virtual world, one in which any individual can participate in the design process, conceptualizing architecture, landscapes and objects in 3D drawing models, then inserting them into a collectively built, real-world coordinate planet Earth? Google Earth. Yes, using Google SketchUp, anyone can draw. SketchUp is an accessible 3D drawing software tool that was developed for the early, conceptual stages of design. Google offers a FREE version, or a professional version for $495.

Info:
Google SketchUp. Explore a virtual model of Google #D Warehouse
See a wide array of model examples in the Featured Collections area of the Google 3D Warehouse.
Fred Bartels is doing some interesting drawing experiments. See examples of his work in the The Abstract Art section of the Google 3D Warehouse. The image shown here is titled Hidden Figure, by Fred Bartels.

Exhibit: Design for the Other 90%

2007-05-15T13:11:00.002-05:00

On view May 4–September 23, 2007

“The majority of the world’s designers focus all their efforts on developing products and services exclusively for the richest 10% of the world’s customers. Nothing less than a revolution in design is needed to reach the other 90%.”
—Dr. Paul Polak, International Development Enterprises

Design for the Other 90% , an exhibition on view at The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum “…highlights the growing trend among designers to create affordable and socially responsible objects for the vast majority of the world's population (90 percent) not traditionally serviced by professional designers. ... (The) exhibition is divided into sections focusing on water, shelter, health and sanitation, education, energy and transportation and highlights objects developed to empower global populations surviving under the poverty level or recovering from a natural disaster.”

Problem Solving Lab

2007-05-10T13:41:00.000-05:00

"The Design Science Lab is a rigorous, hands-on training in the problem solving, planning and design methodology called Design Science, pioneered by Buckminster Fuller and other visionaries. Participants engage in a whole systems and anticipatory approach to develop strategies to solve global and local problems that is based on innovation and thrives on transparency."

The 2007 Design Science Lab Workshop will be held in New York City at the United Nations and United Nations International School from Friday, June 22nd to Friday, June 29th.

Application Deadline: May 20th

Great Thinker: Buckminster Fuller

2007-05-10T12:28:00.000-05:00

R. Buckminster Fuller is one of the more colorful historical figures of the design and engineering professions. He was the inventor of the Geodesic Dome, the Dymaxion House, and the Dymaxion Car, among other truly remarkable and amazing innovations.

Who was “Bucky”? He was a visionary who used his skills to solve problems – big problems like hunger, health care, illiteracy, and environmental issues. He developed a tool, something called the “World Game” in which these critical problems would be addressed.

“Fuller's game was intended to be a tool that could be used by people around the world to understand and develop solutions to what he called the real enemies of humanity…” according to O.S. Earth Global Simulation.

He was a design science practitioner. In Buckminster Fuller's words, design science is a process where individuals or teams of people can "make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone.""

His teachings live on in a problem-solving institute, called Design Science Lab. The following is an excerpt from the DSL website: "The Design Science Lab is a rigorous, hands-on training in the problem solving, planning and design methodology called Design Science, pioneered by Buckminster Fuller and other visionaries. Participants engage in a whole systems and anticipatory approach to develop strategies to solve global and local problems that is based on innovation and thrives on transparency. Learn more about this training at The Design Science Lab.

See the online exhibit, Dymaxion House, developed by The Henry Ford Museum.

There is an old, rare docmentary film titled, “Buckminster Fuller: Thinking Out Loud”, which is well-worth viewing and will provide one with a wonderful introduction to many of Fuller’s brainstorms.

Bucky Books, Etc. available through online stores.

The 2007 Design Science Lab Workshop will be held in New York City at the United Nations and United Nations International School from Friday, June 22nd to Friday, June 29th. Application Deadline: May 20th

Also see
BigPictureSmallWorld , a website dedicated to the issue of climate change, and
Buckminster Fuller Institute .

Great Magazines: Make and Craft

2007-05-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

DIY (Do It Yourself) is an empowering movement that is gaining momentum. It is comprised of people who like to make things with their own hands AND to those people who would like to make things but don't have time to do so. The audience includes engineers, hacks, geeks, designers, artists, crafters and the like. See step-by-step instructions for making a myriad of cool things -- things like a pinhole camera, an elegant plywood coffee table, LED sculptures and so, so much more.
If you are a creative person, have many interests, and are very curious about the "how-to" of practically everything, then give yourself a treat and check into Make Magazine and Craft Magazine. The descriptor from Make: "The first magazine devoted entirely to DIY technology projects, MAKE Magazine unites, inspires and informs a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages." The sybling periodical, Craft Magazine, is dedicated to to transforming traditional crafts by celebrating DIY projects. Below are links to amazon.
Make Magazine
Craft Magazine

Design Brief Strategy

2007-05-09T13:02:00.000-05:00

Design is a strategic business resource and the design brief is a strategic design management tool.

What is a design brief? Simply stated, the design brief is a written project description. It is a critical first step in the design process and, as this concise summary will attest, provides a solid foundation for effective design management from start-to-finish, throughout the design process.

“If you are able to state a problem, any problem, it can be solved.” Dr. Edwin Land

Think of the design brief as an opportunity to state a problem, problem components, and factors that affect the problem. An organizational tool used for collecting and outlining the steps that must be taken in order to solve the problem, the design brief is a strategy for problem solving.

How can one best write a design brief? Correct answer: There is no one way to write a design brief, as project scenarios are fairly unique and vary in scope and complexity. The important component of writing a successful design brief is collaboration – that is to say, it is not written by one party for another, rather authored jointly by the designer and client. Shared vision. Shared goals and objectives. Shared understanding.

What information does a design brief contain? Ultimately, this is for the authors to decide, as they will compose a document best suited for the individual project. Not intended to be template, listed below, and not in any particular order, are some content ideas for formulating a design brief:
• Project summary
• Client
• Project goals, objectives, and milestones
• Company/institutional profile, including mission statement, history, key stakeholders, market audience, products, current marketing materials, and any other helpful big picture information
• Project budget and timeline
• Team members, roles and contact information
• Project concerns and issues
• Past and present perspective(s) of the problem
• User attitudes and behaviors that need to be changed
• Project resources (Any relevant information, including but not limited to professional conferences, associations, examples of admired design solutions, books, articles, and the like.)
• Design goals and performance criteria (Examples include, 1. create a new product line, 2. better serve audience/market, 3. increase number of users, 4. update and improve existing products, etc.)

Think of a design brief as a start-to-finish project guide.
• Beginning. It is perhaps the best opportunity to assemble and distribute the important “need to know” information at the beginning of a project. The design brief is a document that can help properly launch a project, setting a tone of trust and understanding between client and designer.
• Middle. It provides an important reference as the project develops and evolves. Use the design brief to make certain the design process has not gone astray from the original goals set forth. If indeed the design has evolved, with good and approved reason, make certain to adjust the design brief in an Addendum.
• End. Ultimately, upon assessing the final design solution, the design brief is used effectively to gain sign-off, or final project approval.

Strategically speaking, it makes good sense to use the design brief to proactively manage project information throughout the design process. Outcomes include more effective design solutions, and that makes for happier clients. Who does not like that?

Comments? What do you think? What are your experiences working with (and perhaps without) a design brief? Do you have additional helpful resources relating to the design brief topic?

Learn more.
Book: Creating the Perfect Design Brief: How to Manage Design for Strategic Advantage, by Peter L. Phillips

Seminar: "Creating the Perfect Design Brief", given by Peter L. Phillips. Dates: June 21, 2007, Boston, USA September 20, 2007, Los Angeles, USA

Book: Why Design? Activites and Projects from The National Building Museum, by Anna Slafer and Kevin Cahill

Article: “How to Write a Design Brief”, by Mary Beth and Paul Trautwein

Article: “How to Write an Effective Design Brief”, from Clear Design

Handmade Nation

2007-05-02T10:55:00.001-05:00

Handmade Nation is a 2007 film documentary featuring a new generation of crafters (artists), the indie craft movement. This is an early release teaser.

The Drawing Center

2007-05-02T09:40:00.000-05:00

Artists, when visiting NYC, make a point of visiting The Drawing Center, a special small art museum with a unique mission devoted to drawing.

The following is an excerpt from The Drawing Center website:

"The Drawing Center has been a unique and dynamic part of New York City's cultural life since 1977. The only not-for-profit institution in the country to focus on the exhibition of drawings, it was established to demonstrate the significance and diversity of drawings throughout history, to juxtapose work by master figures with work by emerging and under-recognized artists, and to stimulate public dialogue on issues of art and culture.

Called "one of the city's most highly respected small art museums" by The New York Times, The Drawing Center has become the country's preeminent venue for important contemporary and historical drawing exhibitions, attracting more than 55,000 visitors annually from the local area, across the country, and around the world. The Drawing Center has presented more than 230 exhibitions, published over 70 catalogs, and toured its exhibitions to prestigious museums around the world, including: Tate Britain, London, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, Australia (The Stage of Drawing); the Museum of Contemporary Art, Barcelona, Spain (The Prinzhorn Collection); and the Santa Monica Museum of Art (3 x Abstraction).

The Drawing Center's acclaimed exhibitions encompass a wide range of drawing traditions, such as Shaker Gift Drawings, Rajasthani Miniatures, Plains Indians Ledger Drawings, and Norval Morrisseau/Copper Thunderbird. Through a uniquely interdisciplinary approach, The Drawing Center's exhibitions have also related drawing to science (Ocean Flowers: Impressions from Nature), architecture (Constant, Inigo Jones, Louis Kahn), literature (Victor Hugo, Henri Michaux), theater (Picasso's Parade, Theater on Paper), film (Sergei Eisenstein), music (Musical Manuscripts), and choreography (Trisha Brown).

Historical Exhibitions focus on both acknowledged and under-recognized masters (such as Michelangelo, J.M.W. Turner, James Ensor, Marcel Duchamp, and Hilma af Klint) while Contemporary Exhibitions illuminate unexplored aspects of works by major living artists (such as Richard Serra, Louise Bourgeois, Ellsworth Kelly, Anna Maria Maiolino, Ellen Gallagher, and Richard Tuttle), and Selections Exhibitions present innovative work of emerging artists who are contributing to new interpretations of drawing. In the Drawing Room, which was opened across the street from the main gallery in 1997, emerging and under-recognized artists are encouraged to create experimental, cross-disciplinary work and site-specific installations.

Examples of artists whose work was first introduced to a wide public at The Drawing Center are: Terry Winters, Glenn Ligon, Janine Antoni, William Kentridge, Kara Walker, Shahzia Sikander, Margaret Kilgallen, and Julie Mehretu. The Drawing Center's Viewing Program has encouraged the development of thousands of emerging artists through one-on-one portfolio reviews with a curator, and through its curated public Artists Registry of over 2,500 emerging artists."

The currect exhibition on view at The Drawing Center is, Gego, Between Transparency and the Invisible
April 21 – July 21, 2007
Featured Artwork: Gego, Untitled, 1980-1982. Watercolor and crayon with scored lines on white wove paper, 26 1/2 x 18 7/8 inches. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Latin Maecenas in memory of Marisol Broido, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. © Fundación Gego.

Visual Navigation Tool

2007-05-01T09:00:00.001-05:00

Amaztype, a new, highly visual navigation tool for searching Amazon. Enter a search word, then see it formed by relevant books -- layers and layers of tiny images that build the letters of the search word. Click on one of the images, and it links right to Amazon product pages.

Web Site Visualization Graph

2007-05-01T08:55:00.000-05:00

Aharef's Web site graph tool visualizes a site's architecture. Enter a URL into the java applet, and back comes an unfolding colorful drawing of nodes and connections. Beautiful.
Visualization Tool

The latest tactile screens from Jefferson Han

2007-05-01T08:50:00.000-05:00

This interface demo amazes. It's the latest tangible screen desktop from Jefferson Han.

This item cross-posted from infocult.typepad.com.

Exhibit: Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting

2007-04-27T10:09:00.000-05:00

Museum of Arts & Design , January 25 - June 17, 2007

Great title. This is an art exhibition that is worth checking out. “A provocative and timely exhibition of work by international artists using fiber in unexpected and unorthodox ways, Radical Lace & Subversive Knitting illuminates a field of creative practice that is fresh, surprising, and engaging. Featuring 27 artists from seven countries, this exhibition will exhibit work that ranges from Althea Merback's microknit garments (1:144 scale) to large-scale, site-specific installations. Artists employ a variety of media, from traditional yarns and laces, to found objects and video, and explore contemporary currents in art practice of socially engaged, participatory work.”

And notice the Museum’s mission statement: “The Museum of Arts & Design collects, displays, and interprets objects in ceramic, glass, fiber metal and wood that honor innovation in art, craft and design. The Museum embraces rapid changes in the decorative and design arts, celebrating design as the process through which materials are crafted into works that enhance our lives.”

Museum of Arts & Design
40 West 53rd Street
New York, NY 10019
212-956-35355

Artwork featured:
Freddie Robins, Craft Kills, 2002
Machine-knitted wool, knitting needles
8.7 x 26.8 x 15 in.
Photo: Douglas Atfield

More inspiration:
Check out the tag, knitting , at Technorati.

Visual Thesaurus

2007-04-24T12:48:00.000-05:00

This is a great tool for brainstorming. The Visual Thesaurus is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus with an innovative display that encourages exploration and learning. The method illustrated is commonly called "webbing." Designers and writers use this method to generate ideas based on a word or theme. See the Visual Thesaurus in action.
Visual Thesaurus

Creative Retreat: Artists' Communities

2007-04-24T11:52:00.000-05:00

Need to revitalize your creative energy? Destination: Creative Retreat. Artists’ communities, AKA, artists’ colonies, retreats, or residencies are programs that support artists by providing time and space for the creation of new work.

“Artists have always needed patrons and that is what our artists’ communities have become—the least interfering, the least demanding, and the most nourishing patrons of artists.”
Robert MacNeil, Introduction to Artists Communities: A Directory of Residencies that Offer Time and Space for Creativity

According to the Alliance of Artists Communities –
• There are more than 250 artists’ communities in the U.S., and approximately 200 in another 40 countries worldwide.
• 66% of artists’ communities are multidisciplinary, bringing together all kinds of creative professionals, including visual and performing artists, composers and choreographers, playwrights and poets, creative and scholarly writers, architects and designers, historians, ecologists, scientists, and more.
• Each year creative communities serve approximately 12,000 artists and provide an estimated $36 million in direct support to artists (in the form of stipends, travel, materials, room/board, technical support, etc.).

Learn about the hundreds of residency opportunities available for artists of all kinds. Find out about locations, offerings, application procedures, and how to get the most out of the experience.

Here are two resources:
"Be Our Guest: Finding Creative Time and Space" -- This is a series of public information sessions on artists-in-residence programs, hosted at Rhode Island School of Design, presented in partnership with the Alliance of Artists Communities. Monday, April 30, 2007, 5:30-7:00 pm, RISD, Providence, RI
Be Our Guest

Alliance of Artists Communities
255 South Main St.
Providence, RI 02903
Phone: (401) 351-4320
Aliance of Artists Communities

100 Visualization Methods

2007-04-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

Visual literacy, or the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representations, is an invaluable skill for business, art, design and engineering students and professionals.

Most are familiar with visual diagrams such as maps, charts, diagrams, matrixes, lenses, tables, and coordinates. Some examples include, mind maps, histograms, timelines, flow charts, cognitive maps, cartoons, and synergy maps.

See one hundred visualization methods illustrated in an online interactive diagram, whimsically represented in a
Periodic Table of Visualization Methods.

Credit: Kudos to Prof. Dr. Ralph Lengler and Prof. Dr. Martin J. Eppler, faculty of Communication Sciences Università della Svizzera italiana, and Partners of Visual Literacy, as well as all partners of Visual Literacy.

Fine tune your conceptual visualization competence. Check out these resources:
Visual Literacy’s online tutorials: Visual Literacy
Reference book, titled, Information Graphics: A Comprehensive Illustrated Reference, By Robert Harris
Edward Tufte, Everything Edward Tufte
innovation

Book Review: What Painting Is, By James Elkins

2007-04-16T14:18:00.000-05:00

What serendipity is, that is what happened to me when by chance noticing the cover of the book titled, What Painting Is, on the desk of a fellow Rhode Island School of Design colleague, Marc Torick. Thanks to him for lending it to me.

It is a very special book indeed, as it gives voice to the painter’s inexact work process, lifework, and physical relationship with paint. Anyone who paints (or used to paint), especially with oil paint, and anyone who looks at paintings with serious intent and attention, would enjoy the comparisons James Elkins makes, that of painting and alchemy.

Below are two of my favorite excerpts from the book.

“It (painting) is a kind of immersion in substances, a wonder and a delight in their unexpected shapes and feels. When nothing much is know about the world, everything is possible, and painters watch their paints very closely to see exactly what they will do. Even though there is no contemporary language for that kind of experience, the alchemists already had names for it centuries ago. They knew several dozen varieties of the material prima, the place where the work starts, and their terms can help us understand there are different ways of beginning the work. They had names for their transmutations, and those can help give voice to the many metamorphoses painters try to make in paint.”

“Science has closed off almost every unsystematic encounter with the world. Alchemy and painting are two of the last remaining paths into the deliriously beautiful world of unnamed substances.”

James Elkins, a former painter, is a Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Additional titles by the same author:
The Object Stares Back
Why Are Our Picture’s Puzzles?
Our Beautiful, Dry, and Distant Texts
Why Art Can’t Be Taught: A Handbook for Art Students
What Happened to Art Criticism
Stories of Art

Look at the book:
What Painting Is

Below is a link that includes a beautiful mindmap drawing by Elkins.
Ideas for Dozens

Brainstorming 101: A Basic Introduction

2007-04-16T11:04:00.000-05:00

Brainstorming is a rapid, spontaneous idea-generating activity in which one or more people participate. It is a great tool for quickly amassing many possible solutions to a problem or issue.

Anyone can brainstorm. It is fun work.

How to conduct a brainstorming session – Begin with a comfortable space and all necessary tools, including large sheets of paper or flip chart pads (3-M makes a pad of large Post-It Notes pads, which are nice to work with because they don’t damage the wall and they can be moved around easily), a set of colored markers like the thick Sanford Super Sharpie permanent markers, tape, digital camera, small multi-colored Post-It Notes, and open wall surfaces.

When brainstorming in a group setting, assign one person to document the session. Ideally, this person should be able to easily visualize ideas in drawings, diagrams and words. Designers and Graphic Facilitators excell at this activity. It’s an additional luxury to ask a second person to lead the group. Their primary responsibilities include initial introduction and activity launch, keeping the group focused, redirecting the group (if necessary), and keeping time.

Tasks for the solo idea-generator are combined.

Basic ground rules:
1. Begin with a clearly stated problem statement. Create a sentence that defines the problem. For example, “Provide better customer service for families with young children.”
2. Have fun. Be outrageous and silly in the ideas. Reserve critical, analytical and negative thinking for another time. Think expansively. Freely associate. Build upon other ideas.
3. Freely, quickly and clearly document ideas. Use exact descriptors, avoiding general statements or one-word responses.
4. Stay on-topic and focused on the problem.
5. Strive to generate a lot of ideas – 100 ideas is not an unreasonable goal. Rapidly document ALL ideas in words and sketches, displaying them so all participants can see. Number the ideas.
6. During the ideation, think about the problem in different ways, including various viewpoints, scenarios, and conditions.
7. Brainstorm for 30-40 minutes.

Using this concept-generating technique alone or in a group setting is a productive way of loosening-up and amassing large quantities of ideas.

Further explore Brainstorming and creativity references at Amazon.

Want some random inspiration from the masses? Check out the tags brainstorming, innovation and ideas at Technorati.

Illustration Friday: Creative Community Forum for Artists

2007-04-14T06:47:00.000-05:00

Illustration Friday is the art forum, the mission of which is to build a creative community for illustrators. IF features a weekly illustration challenge. A topic is posted every Friday. Participants have all week to come up with their own interpretation.

"It is a safe place to discuss creative issues, ask questions or just get feedback on your work. Want to find out how to get a certain texture? Ask. Want to find people in your area to start an illustration group? The art forum is a good place to start."
http://illustrationfriday.com

The Creative Blog Directory: Worldwide Blog Links

2007-04-14T06:22:00.000-05:00

Satiate your need for inspiration by browsing through site listings in The Creative Blog Directory.
http://creativeblogdirect.blogspot.com

Leonardo da Vinci's Drawing Techniques Revealed

2007-04-13T15:35:00.000-05:00

Curious about how Leonardo da Vinci constructed space in his perspective drawings? Visit the online exhibit, Share the Perspectives of Genius: Leonardo's Study for the Adoration of the Magi, hosted by The Library of Congress.
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/leonardo/
drawing

The Nature of Innovation

2007-04-13T14:50:00.000-05:00

Want to learn skills for applying your imagination to real-world challenges? Discover a proven process for Creative Problem Solving? Meet diverse, international people who share these pursuits? Join the Creative Education Foundation's 53rd International Creative Problem Solving Institute 2007, June 24th - 29th, 2007, Callaway Gardens, Pine Moutain, GA.
http://www.cpsiconference.com/

Types of Drawing: Making Marks for Good Reason

2007-04-13T11:58:00.000-05:00

As the written word is essential to the poet and writer, and the algorithmic formula is imperative to the mathematician, drawing is the essence of the artist and designer’s expression.

As an effective means of communication and thinking, drawing operates on many levels, and it is important for the artist and designer to not only comprehend these differences, but to also achieve a certain level of skill in the discipline of drawing. Drawing can be a tremendously empowering tool for communication and thinking. This article will briefly explore and loosely define the many different approaches, or types, of drawing.

In thinking about drawing methodologies and their respective purposes, apparent are at least eight distinct categories, including:
1. Life Drawing: drawing as a means of expression; drawing from direct observation, as in still-life or figure drawing
2. Emotive Drawing: drawing, like painting, as an expressive way to explore and put forth feeling, mood, self, time, and so on; drawing as a sensitive expression of personality
3. Sketching: drawing in order to explain or actively think through a problem; drawing through the act of visualizing; drawing actively and loosely
4. Analytic Drawing: drawing as a way to dissect, understand and represent; drawing from observation
5. Perspective Drawing: drawing as a way to represent volume, space, light, eye-level (horizon), surface planes, and scale
6. Geometric Drawing: drawing as a means to precisely represent all aspects of construction; drawing that shows measured scale, true sides, sections, and a variety of descriptive views.
7. Diagrammatic Drawing: drawing in order to investigate, explore, and document concepts and ideas; drawing as an active design process where ideas evolve due to adjacencies and happenstance
8. Illustration Drawing: drawing in order to document; drawing to clearly state and render intent, style, size, color, character, effect, and so on

The marks made for each of these drawing categories vary greatly, as do the materials, tools, techniques, and even substrates on which the drawing is produced. A graphite pencil makes a different mark than a marker, than a vine charcoal stick, than a ballpoint pen, and on and on. Newsprint paper is appropriate for some drawing materials, such as pencil, charcoal and crayon, whereas more wet mediums, such as markers or India ink may prove problematic.

Concurrently, the purpose for each of these drawings categories vary, as do the end result. A sketch can quickly document an idea upon first conception, whereas a geometric drawing requires a much longer gestational period. The sketch is of the moment and the geometric drawing is more labored. The sketch contains possibility and potential, whereas the geometric drawing is more like the ending chapter to a novel, final. The person who makes the drawing must weigh the truth and consequences of the effort, choose the method of drawing that is appropriate, that which will provides the best result.

This is not to say that the act of drawing should not be experimental in nature. To the contrary, investigation is paramount to the creative process and the educational process. Practice drawing, experience using drawing, and exposure to comparative examples of drawing provide one with a greater ability to make choices regarding the appropriate drawing technique, material, surface, tool and approach to utilize when beginning a drawing.

Where words and formulas cannot quite describe the creative intent, drawing succeeds in being a tremendously empowering tool for communication and thinking. The artist and designer is much stronger in her ability to create with this skill mastered.

(Note: For the purposes of this article, computer-aided drawing techniques were not addressed specifically, though the author admires the inherent benefits of computer technology.)

Explore the many drawingreference materials available.

drawing

Panoramic Memory Drawing

2007-04-12T14:54:00.000-05:00

Stephen Wiltshire draws Rome from memory on 5.5 ' of paper in 3.5-day marathon. Video excerpt from A Beautiful Mind. It is fascinating to watch Stephen Wiltshire execute a panoramic drawing with such meticulous detail and amazing concentration. His drawing process and product is awe-inspiring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAfaM_CBvP8