ANALOGUE DRAWING

So what do we mean by analogue drawing?  These pages use this term frequently.  What are the minimum requirements of analogue drawing?

Physicality.  Physical gesture.  Bodily act.  Drawing must provide and maintain a direct, analogous link between the mind and the body.

“Historically, drawing has been understood as a mark or line on paper, the record of a bodily gesture, and inscription of the hand’s actions, and expression of the mind.” 1.  p. 17.

Or how about this.

“Drawing is a primary gesture.  The artist’s hand moves across the surface of the paper, leaving traces of thoughts and unveiling fragments of the subconscious in the form of marks.  The creative process, in both its physical and conceptual aspects, is thus made visible.  2.  p16.

Both of these passages describe analogue drawing, which is some combination of a piece of paper, a drawing instrument, a hand, and a brain.  That’s it.  If you don’t have these things, then it is not an analogue drawing.

I fully realize that digital input devices have evolved;  there are now wands, typically on tablets, in which the line that shows up on the screen is an analogue of the user’s hand motion.  See VIRTUAL PENCIL AND BRUSH.  Why is this not an analogue drawing?  Or to take this question further, there are wand type devices / digital papers that simulate the feeling of a pencil traversing a piece of paper. Why is this not an analogue drawing?

It comes down to belief.  I’m drawing a line, pardon the pun, in the sand.  And I believe that something, anything that we can do to stay within the analogue world longer; the more that we can delay the input of our every gesture and action into the digital realm, the longer we will maintain our humanity.   The more that we stay in the analogue realm, the less we give our knowledge to the machine.

What about collage?  Collage is conventionally considered drawing.  Many definitions of drawing require that it simply be a work on a piece of paper.  Yet the collage, which was first introduced in the 1920s, was introduced as a way in which to minimize the mind body connection.  Collage was first introduced as a reaction to Renaissance classicism, as a way to reduce emotion, decision making and choice.  You might say that collage was proto digital.

The images that we saw in the Post-Digital Drawing Metropolis article, by this Transparent Drawing definition, are not drawings.  They do not involve a piece of paper, a pencil or a hand.  They are collage assemblies within the frame of a glowing screen.  They are a means to create an image.  But they are not drawings.  The mind body connection has been minimized to the point that it is no longer relevant.

As I have said before, in my practice, I use CAD for production of contract drawings.  There is no way that I could be a productive nor as accurate as we are without our CAD software.  I mention this, again, just so some of you don’t think that I am some sort of Luddite hiding under a rock with my pencil and paper.  If you don’t believe me, then check out my TRANSPARENT DIGITAL INTERFACE.

Bottom line, I’ll maintain my analogue drawing line in the sand / pencil in the hand as long as I am able.  It is no doubt a losing cause;  the machine’s advance via knowledge gathering is unstoppable.  Why?  Humans will not be able to stop feeding the machine.

Yet, hopefully, here at Transparent Drawing, we will provide the resources and encouragement to continue to pick up that pencil and draw with it on a piece of paper.

Maintain your mind – body connection as long as you can.  Keep your gestures primary.  Keep your drawings analogue.

1. Hauptman, Jodi.  Drawing from the Modern 1880-1945.  The Museum of Modern Art:  New York.  2004.
2. .  Garrels, Gary.  Drawing from the Modern 1945-1975.  The Museum of Modern Art:  New York.  2005.