A Speculative Approach to Drawing as Visualising Thinking

Abstract

This paper starts from the premise that drawing can be a means of visualising thinking, with an emphasis on the process involved. A gap often seems to exist in the minds of students of visual/material creative fields in ideasgenerative contexts, between thought and action. The thesis is that the gap between thinking and doing can be reduced to being near simultaneous, in this instance through drawing. The methodology is practice-based, with a range of contribution from mid-program and final year students of communication design. Drawing is both the means and the subject of the research. The paper introduces the research’s theoretical basis, considers its application and concludes with subsequent development. Some of the students' practical work and linguistic responses illustrate points of the text. The research suggests that at prior or early stages of the design process the relative autonomy of the medium itself can offer visual/material suggestions and objects. Due to the ongoing nature of their practice, the students themselves have moved the research on from its original premise. The paper concludes by proposing to continue the research by observing how one can think about and rationalise one’s visual perception of movement at the moment of engagement in the drawing process.