Drawing and Visualisation Research
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  • QUESTIONS

  • Do you tell stories through drawing?

    How does narrative work in drawing? Does it depend on representation, or are there 'abstract narratives' as well?

    In design, what kinds of uses are served by sequential drawings?

    How do people learn to animate?

    Can the parts of a drawn narrative present themselves simultaneously? If so, how?

    What new forms of non-linear, visual narrative are emerging, for example on the worldwide web?

    Is allegory important in contemporary drawing?


  • EDITORIAL

  • Andrew Selby - home page

    Historically, drawing and narrative have been successful partners. As an illustrator, the way an artist deals with subject matter through narrative themes is of constant and changing interest to me. It might not be unfair to say that, in contemporary Western European art culture at least, 'narrative' has been largely forgotten by artists in favour of conceptual modes of expression and delivery. Could this be another drift in the motion of artistic movement, or does it highlight some deeper issues surrounding the relevance and need for drawings to tell stories? All of this in an age where the media is, as Rupert Murdoch has so eloquently suggested, "King."

    Why make the comparison between possibly the world's most successful media magnate and narrative drawing? My own fundamental interest in drawing is that it is a tool to communicate to others, regardless of language, culture or nationality. To my mind, that is what Murdoch has been trying to do all along, through every conceivable media platform available to him. As an illustrator, I use drawing to communicate ideas, illustrate stories or, as has happened far too many times, get me out of close scrapes. Working for HKSB in Hong Kong, I was sent to the Chinese border (pre reunification) to draw "the unknown land that was China" for an internal monetary report. The Chinese officials were completely disinterested in the official explanation letters and documentary material. I pulled out a sketchbook and started to draw my prospective day visit as a storyboard, gesturing and nodding as I went. Possibly more by luck than judgement, the barrier was raised and I was waved harmlessly on my way.

    The power of drawing, and its ability to transcend all other barriers, continues to be of great fascination to me. When TRACEY invited submissions on the theme of 'Narrative', I was excited by the contemplation of the diversity of responses that we might receive. The project is an interesting one to be involved in, not least because of the sheer diversity of the readership and the availability of the material. I hope (and we certainly strive to present) information highlighted on our site is clear, engaging and broadly appealing to a wide range of practising artists, researchers, educators, students and other interested parties. I was also secretly hoping that we would get submissions from artists who challenged my notion of what constituted 'narrative' from their own point of view.

    Much of my own illustrative work takes its inspiration from a variety of sources. As a student, I discovered Saul Steinberg, the Romanian born American illustrator. The world, which he saw, created and populated through drawing, continues to lead me on a voyage of discovery of influences, sources of inspiration and deeper questioning. For example, there are elements of Steinberg's work where he uses, or misuses, symbolic icons as references for his illustrations and composes these in unconventional ways. His influences range from petroglyphs through to Persian art, from Inuit naïve work to Philippine rice gods. But his work is still largely classified as narrative.

    This has clear connections to the work of the French illustrator Andre Francois, and his 'Reading in the bath I - III' series (1954). A cartoon triptych, Francois draws a balding man sitting in a cast iron roll top bath reading a book in the initial frame. In the second the man dips his index finger of one hand into the bath water and in the final scene, he uses his damp finger to turn the page of the book. For my own work, this degree of wit and humour are inspirational and rely on very personally observed events. For me this illustrates perfectly the role of narrative. The reader doesn't need words but follows the series and the visual prompts in each drawing to make connections and to piece together facts.

    As I learnt more, I realised that narrative in drawing can take many forms but that there must be an entry point for the viewer to understand and absorb what the artist is doing. In other words, narrative in drawing can be used to tell stories in many formats and genres but this is worthless unless it communicates to its intended market. Which could explain why drawing is used throughout the world as a primary learning tool. Oxford University Press publishes over 100 titles a year worldwide through its various English Language Teaching departments, using drawing and simple storytelling devices to aid recognition and understanding where words are too complex.

    TRACEY's narrative submissions are pleasingly diverse and compelling. Ring and Anning's 'A crocodile with sharp teeth and scary legs' is probably my favourite image that attempts to describe a story through a naïve but reasoned response to a problem. This is underpinned by a very interesting and well-researched paper. Tomasch's graded light pigment drawings describe movement and narrative in an abstract form, paying particular attention to mood and atmosphere. The Watkinson submissions have a gloriously theatrical quality to them, imbuing them with a sense of mystery as well as place while Juliet MacDonald's web pages make engaging observations of that very useful tool in drawing - the hand. You know, the one that is connected to the eye. These inclusions provide the perfect introduction for future submissions. Hopefully they will provide the catalyst for others to think widely about narrative and how it still has an important and relevant part to play in art and culture both today and in the future.