Drawing is magical conjuring something from nothing

What is Drawing?

Drawing for me is like a kind of magical activity which conjures something from nothing and could be absolutely anything in the process.

At the same time, as being such a wonder, it is a principal activity that almost everyone has done and can do. If you are lucky, you were encouraged to draw from a very young age, a crayon or pencil a bit of paper or a stick in the sand.

Digital age

Drawing in the sand? We live in a digital age with the sophistication of screens and programmes however I like the idea that drawing is even more available than that; a natural process of materialising and ordering thoughts, with potentially little or no cost to the individual or the environment. Second only to thinking and feeling.

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drawing as…

Drawing and illustration pervade our world as a vehicle for thought; on a practical level, we need it to plan, map, explain, direct, identify, warn and entertain. We are used to understanding drawings; this language seems to come naturally; however, we are initiated from infancy by our family and society as a precursor to letters and writing.

History repeats itself

A team of archaeologists have discovered what could be the oldest drawing by us, Homo Sapiens in the Blombos cave in South Africa. This abstract pattern described as being nine red lines on a rock was made with an ochre crayon and is said to have a familiarity to modern-day eyes because it looks like a hashtag. Researchers believe it maybe 73,000 years old, predating the next oldest drawing by 30,000 years. 

While essential to our individual development as humans; in prehistory along with sculpture and painting, it was critical to our species evolving into modern human beings; developing the capability of abstract thought, imagination, and conceptualising time.