Why Draw?
The case for design professionals continuing to use drawing as part of their professional practice
In the last 30 years architects and design professionals have gone from drafting by hand, using parallel bars, triangles, pens and pencils to using CAD, and then various other 3D tools to help design, describe, and document their projects. Today, we have an extraordinary toolbox of digital tools at our disposal. In the stampede to digital tools hand drawing was pitched to the wayside by many, like a heavy piece of furniture from a wagon train.
In working with design professionals over the past five years, both as an illustrator and teaching workshops I have been surprised to hear a nearly universal sigh lamenting the scarcity of hand drawing skills. Most of us had an affinity for drawing somewhere in our lives that preceded or even motivated our career choice.
I passionately believe that drawing should remain in the toolbox of all design professionals. We don’t all have to write like Shakespeare to speak the language. Sadly, many designers shy away from picking up a pen or pencil to describe an idea to a client or colleague. Let me make the case for drawing here:
1. To develop the ability to see with greater accuracy.
One would think that a lifetime of using our eyes we would naturally see what is before us with clarity and precision. Just sit and draw what is before you and within minutes you will be astonished at how much more is there, and how different it may appear than you expected. The detail may be almost overwhelming. You may notice subtlety, texture, color that you’d not previously noticed. As you begin to translate to paper you will immediately struggle with measurement and proportion. You’ll be feeling pressure to transcribe or translate what is before you. You will quickly realize seeing is a skill and drawing is a language. Fortunately, regular practice will lead to greater facility.
2. To visualize, articulate, and nurture ideas through a process of exploration and discovery.
In his book “On Writing,” Stephen King equates writing to the excavation of a fossil, as an idea that is there below the surface waiting to be released. In that sense, drawing can often be used to engage with our own subconscious mind. Ideas can come to the surface through drawing when one has pen and paper at hand and the willingness to explore. Don’t wait for an idea to come to you before picking up paper. The Muse is more likely to visit those who are already at work.
3. To more effectively communicate with colleagues and clients.
By far the most pragmatic of reasons I hear from design professionals for drawing is the need to be able to communicate in real time directly with a client. You inspire confidence when you can reflect your dialogue in a sketch. The legendary napkin sketch does not need to be a masterpiece to express and document an emerging idea. So many times have I heard anecdotes that designers went to a presentation with a finished rendering but the client threw them a curveball and the ability to spontaneously sketch a response saved the day.
4. To document design ideas.
Would you even think to ask a lawyer to describe your design in words? Wrong language. Drawing is the pefect tool to act as the midwife to an emerging idea.
5. To develop visual intelligence and fluency.
Or we could call it design intelligence. What you learn through drawing will carry over to the use of digital tools. What makes us better at drawing is also part and parcel with good design. For years, I worked with assistants in a studio environment. I struggled with each project at some point where I simply couldn’t explain to my colleagues what to do next. I would need to sit down and draw my way out of the problem. I saw this as some kind of personal character flaw or a sign of my own inexperience. Eventually, I came to see this differently. What happens is that in each drawing there is a degree of problem solving required. I would need to confront the problem with my artistic experience, creativity, and instinct: a weighing of the risks of trying something outside my comfort zone with a vision for the finished product. That’s the work of an artist, like running interval quarters might be for a miler. You need to feel some pain, some degree of struggle and anxiety. You need to push the boundaries of your own limitations. It’s not always a coast to the finish line, certainly not if you wish to improve your skills. Design ability is hard earned through hours and hours of practice.
So, the bad news is that you simply won’t make much improvement by spending 8 hours sitting through a drawing workshop, any more than you might expect to learn to speak French in a weekend. The good news: drawing can be learned by ANYONE willing to consistently spend the time in “proper practice”. Frankly, it’s fun, satisfying, and can be done just about anywhere. I will have other posts on what I call “productive doodling”, but the essence is, draw anytime you have a pen or pencil and a scrap of paper: while waiting on hold with the phone company, while sitting through a meeting or lecture, while procrastinating to start a new task. Draw what is before you, draw from your imagination, draw basic shapes, just draw, draw, draw…and draw some more. Watch where it leads you.
I am Bruce Bondy an Award Winning Architectural Illustrator specializing in hand drawn illustration and charrette drawing. I also teach Hand Drawing & Visualization Skills for Architects and Design Professionals workshops around the US. My passion is drawing, and I relish the efficiency, focus, and collaborative opportunities that come from working at my client’s office rather than my studio.
If you enjoyed this article let’s connect on LinkedIn or email me at bruce@bondystudio.com