DRAWING AS HISTORICAL AND VISUAL DOCUMENTATION
By Radin Erus1, Nurul Huda Md Din2 1. Introduction
History has shown that man did sketches to memorize crucial event, imitate and represent nature around us for centuries. The tools such as drawing technical pen and charcoal predate the microscopes and the telescopes. Indeed, with all these tools, both scientist and artist used meant for observation and invention. Maria Sybilla Meriof an (Helen, 2015) exposed insect metamorphosis by sketching and drawing the tropical insect in miraculous detail. Leonardo da Vinci obtained the masterful of creating and producing a magnificent artwork upon the scientific knowledge gained from the observation through the human anatomy and natural forms of drawing (Helen, 2015). Drawing through imagination can provide you with various styles of visualization, sometimes it can be conceptual and sometimes it is based on imagination (Landa, 2014). Drawing through observation also requires practices and whatever you have time to look up something you tended to draw, translated it into a mark on paper (Agarwal & Perry, 2012). Layne Thue- bludworth (Thue-Bludworth, 2016) said the ability to observe well is an important aspect especially to the young generation, which is currently a very lack of it. Through keen observation and drawing, we can expand our thinking (C. Walker. Leslie & Roth, 2003).
From the same journal, the German famous writer, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, further explained plant is invisible until you tend to draw it. All are depending on a higher ability to observe and present. Leonardo da Vinci said, the conundrum about science and art studies are certainly about an ability to develop human sense (Thue-Bludworth, 2016). This statement is supported by Muliyadi Mahamood and Mustaqim (Mahamood & Mustaqim, 2010), when explained other than a sound, the earlier of human communication is by picturing what they perceive through senses. The main interest of this article is to highlight and promote drawing, as a vital historical and visual documentation of the remarkable existing drawing collection throughout the ages.
1.1 Drawing as a discipline (Art School)
Whenever the Art School is set up, drawing became one of the core subjects in the class and it has remained as the foundation of any Art subject. Learning Art is very much similar singing lesson. Before, start singing, a student is required to do a breathing exercise, which is that is not what people expect on the stage. Same goes to the development of an artist. People will never know the looks of sketches and drawing behind any greatest Art shows in a gallery (Nicolaides, 1942). According to the book Challenge of Drawing, (Russo, 1987) the design school is not meant to only develop the sense of design, but also concern on developing the student practical drawing skills. Attending to art and design class will bring much benefit to build basic knowledge before drawing (Russo, 1987). Drawing is the most basic training in art and design class (Muliyadi Mahamood & Mustaqim, 2010). However, this has becoming the most contradicting issue among the Graphic & Digital Media student. Facilitate with all the technology and tools offered today, why do art student still need an application of pencil for hand drawing?
As refer to the book of “Draw ideas”, a hand-drawn sketch is way better communication to present an idea as fast as you brain can process (Baskinger & Bardel, 2013).
as ways of visualization, which play’s very important role in design process (Roselien Steur, Koos Eissen, 2011). Drawing became the essential part to the Art industry, but what about on the other field? How important is the drawing has contributed to the world of art today?
1.2 The materials / medium
As we learn throughout the art history, drawing material have changed over time.
Some medium is used based on their availability, some are based on the artist favor and some changes because the depletion of the old ones (Hoffman, 1989). Within this contemporary time, drawing is no longer bound to the still surface. However, in this article, list of the artworks selected are mostly present with mix media or combination of material.
1.3 The four (4) groups of discipline
The researcher explained and reorganized the history and evidence that makes drawings are crucially contribute to the development of modern world. There are four (4) groups of discipline partially created to make it these facts clearly elaborated. The group are related between the Science, Psychology, Politics and Literature.
Figure 1.1: Drawing contribution map
Discipline Artist/
Influencer Influence outcome Year Science Francis C.
Wells (Surgeon)
Surgical study and operation Reported by BBC TV on 2005 Cassiano Dal
Pazzo Nature scientific research 1623- 1657 (Royal Collection Trust)
George Stubbs (Scientist &
artist)
Anatomy and Veterinary study 1724- 1806 (Stubbs et al., 2012) John Russell The Lunar Mission surface study 1745- 1806
(Jeffares, 2008) Politic Martin Rowson Fight crimes against humanity
issue. Influence some political decision made by famous public figure.
1959- Now (Deidre Falvey, 2018; Rowson, 2008)
James Gillray Produce the most influencing print caricature during the Napoleonic wars.
1757- 1815 (Godfrey et al., 2001; Martin Rowson, 2015) Toba Sojo The earliest manga that
influence popular culture during the Edo period.
1054- 1140 (Matthew Larking, 2018;
Sojo, 1954) Winsor Mac
Cay Created one of the earliest war animations as the political propaganda during the World War One incident at the Lusitania.
1866- 1934 (Canemaker, 2005a; Russell Merritt, 2019) Psychology Danial Clowes Human developmental process
enduring the American teenager’s cultural depression.
Inspiring some of the famous Art movie.
1961- Now (Monte Beauchamp, 1989; Shasha Levine, 2018) Robert Crumb Promoting the psychedelic
fantasy. 1943- Now
(Nadja Sayej, 2018) Misako
Takashima (Misaki Rock
Overcome the self-obsessions into a story teller. Influencing the earliest Manga
development at the United State.
1977- Now (Misako Rokkusu, 2006; Tomako Otake, 2010) John Virtue Discover the mysterious part
between the conscious and unconscious human mind.
1947- Now (Virtue et al., 2005)
Literature/ John The appreciation of true nature. 1776- 1837 (C.
George Shaw The Establishment of Modern Realism. The sense of nothingness and absenteeism.
1966- Now (Ben Luke, 2019) J. M. W.
Turner. The meanings of light and dark.
The exploration between Romantic and Realism.
1775- 1851 (Bockemühl &
Turner, 2000) J. Todd
Anderson (Storyboard Artist)
Producing various series of storyboard for famous movie.
Influencing the Hollywood film business development.
1991- Now (Anderson et al., n.d.; Linda S.
Price, 2019; Matt Mulcahey, 2016)
Figure 1.2: Blood drawing by Francis Welles (“The Secret of Drawing” Episode 1:
“The Line of Enquiry” 2005 - YouTube, n.d.)
Based from the BBC series of The Secret of Drawing (Graham-Dixon, 2005), Francis Welles has demonstrated drawing as the medium of teaching on his surgical operation. Welles is inspired by the series of Leonardo da Vinci sketching (Leonardo et al., 2000) and found that drawing is the best preparation tools before proceed with the real situation. On this show, Welles explains that surgery is all hands and eye coordination, which is it works very closely to execution of drawing. By producing a lot of personal drawing, Welles believes it is a wonderful tool that made him as the best surgeon in term of the decision-making at the operation theater. Welles is not just draw as the preparation before the surgery, but he also found sketching by using the blood on paper during the actual cardiac operation.
One of the earliest drawing made by Cassiano Dal Pazzo was from the 17th century in Italy. These pieces of artwork are were made by the watercolor over chalk, with gum heightening on paper with the help of “occhiolino” or little eye and well-known today as the microscope (Attenborough, 2007). Cassiano were founded the biggest drawing project and commissioned hundred of artist all over the Europe to depict anything and everything related to actual natural subject matters such as animal, vegetable, and mineral. By the time these projects reached completion, it numbered around 15,000 drawings and watercolors collected. Most of the series of scientific illustration made by the project is stored at the Paper Museum of Cassiano Dal Pazzo, Italy.
Figure 1.3: Myrtle- Leaf orange, Citrus Myrtifolia by Cassiano Dal Pazzo, (Garbari et al., 2007)
On of the previous drawing, Cassiano might encourage people to look everything naturally that occurs around us, but the artist name George Strubbs have a different perspective about ways of looking. Strubbs believes in order, to get the very essence of something, artist needs to focus consistently with their subject matter. Strubbs mentioned not just to the artist but also the scientist. Strubbs obsession with depth study on horse as a subject matter and produced with series of analytical drawing. Through these drawing, he was recognized as the first thinker found the connection through the old biblical myth that man was created as part from the animal. With Strubbs series of comparative anatomy drawing (between human and the animal), he then raised the question then soon triggers the answer from Charles Darwin in the Theory of Evolution.
Figure 1.4: The Anatomy drawing of the Horse by George Stubbs (Morrison & Stubbs, 1989)
Usually, the drawing might come from the subject matter that exists around us, something from the environment. Since the introduction of telescopes and astronomy by Galileo during the Renaissance period, wonders of seeking knowledge is no longer bound or confined to the matters within the planet. John Russell is one of the portrait painters from 18th century that possess an obsession to explore the mysteries of the universe. Since the first time looked up into a telescope, Rusell seems cannot recover from the experience on what he witnessed seeing. In 20 years, he produced a drawing series a detailed and profound study of Moon surface with more than hundreds of sketches. One of the British space scientist, Professor Colin Bellinger (Spacecraft on Mars project 2003) expressed that drawing made by Russell is the most accurate drawing of the moon ever created by human at that time and it became source of reference in his project.
Figure 1.5: Moon drawing by John Russell 1764- 1805 (Earl John Russell Russell, 2016)
Comic has once become one of the of methods in delivering story or certain messages especially in the late of 18th century in America. Some might still remember the “Peanuts”
series by Charles Schulz, the inventor of “Snoopy”. For 30 years this series is actually displaying the anxiety in daily life of American people. The acceptation of peanuts is symbolizing that, this is something that people want for their daily needs. Life is not just bound to funny or humorous story. Martin Rowson is one of the artists that appear with the political issue by producing series of satirical cartoon. During the interview session by the BBC, Martin explains that life might be not so good but at the end of it, humor made all the awfulness bearable. Martin produces a spontaneous and direct drawing through his drawing series, and it became the most effective, quickest and sharpest instrument to deliver or share the political issue. Some of Martin works brought the biggest impacts to the changing of political movement in America.
Figure 1.6: Hell, in a Handcart by Martin Rowson (Rowson, 2009)
The publication of Cartoon by James Gillray is far earlier than Martin, and this make most of Gillray works has been stolen or remake repeatedly by another artist including Martin.
Even some of works by Gillray may perceive applying some of the patriotic elements but it is a subversive frame of mind and sometimes it may fill with a little subversion.
Figure 1.9: Scene from Frolicking Animals- Imperial Japanese. Drawing by Toba Sojo (300- 1185 CE) (Toba Sojo, 1954)
Figure 1.8: Scene from Frolicking Animals- Imperial Japanese. Drawing by Toba Sojo (300- 1185 CE) (Toba Sojo, 1954)
Figure 1.7: Charles James Fox in revolutionary dress flogs William Pitt as the streets run with blood and figures hang from the street lamps (James
Some of young generation may have the misconception about Manga, where they believe it is just being popular after the World War 2 under the influence of American comic strips.
Somehow, behind all of this Pop things, Manga concepts have already started as early as the 12th century. The early found drawing on a scroll by Monk named Toba Sojo was kindly like the answer to where all of this begun. Toba Sojo drawing often founded scroll is depicting a parody of human being images dressed up in various clothing (kimono) and these became the first example drawing apply in a way to deliver a story in a comic concept.
During the 19th Century, many artists had a struggle by an experiment to make drawing move. From the ideas of a flicker books, these dreams have been granted at early of 20th century. The creation of a cinema is totally changing the perspective on the graphic industry. Not just the drawing can tell a story, it also be able to be projected to mass of audience. One of the most successful animators at that time was Winsor McCay. Other than McCay were claimed as the pioneer for the big future animation such as Disney, he was also being popular with a seriousness, darkness and disaster by the works of Sinking of the Lusitania (Event from the World War 1).
Figure 1.10: Sinking of the Lusitania animated short film by Winsor McCay (1918) (Canemaker, 2005)
America is used to be the center of the Pop Culture and one of them is the comic book.
Among all the famous American comic artist, Daniel Clowes made his reputation with hugely successful comic named “Ghost World”. Before Ghost World, Clowes started his career with an underground comic series name “Eightball”. By reading all the complete series of Eightball, new readers may feel uncomfortable with the story, this is because it is full with hopeless, vengeance, despair and sexual perversion. Clowes admitted he doesn’t have a happy childhood, and most of the time he spending his time with a comic book and attend to draw what he feels. It’s not an easy job to develop a very complex character with a suburban desperation issue. The depression time he spends alone made him so capable in developing unique stories and character. Drawing turn Clowes from bad times into gold.
Based on all the series produced by Clowes, he became the inspiration by the many future Figure 1.11: The Complete Eightball graphic novels by Daniel
Clowes (1989- 2004) (Clowes, 2013)
The past experience by Clowes was not the only reason that made him the best drawing artist. In the case of Robert Crumb, the mental issue and social issue left him with no other choice other then than to draw. Based on interview by Louisiana Channel, Crumb said, to establish himself as part of the American Society, drawing is the only skills that he had.
Both Clowes and Crumb share the feeling of outcast and being alienated person. However, other than to draw and express about their feeling, Crumb starts to develop another world of psychedelic fantasy. Crumb adds, human has so many troubles with the truth life and has so many layers of deception and lies. From so call a weird comic book, the works of Crumb turns to be the therapy drawing and he receive a lot of positive feedback from his fans. One of them responds, the comic helps him to deal with the feeling of weirdness and having a self-belonging with the society.
Figure 1.12: Mr. Sixties from the Complete Crumb Comics, Volume 4 by Robert Crumb (1989) (Crumb et al., 1987)
Just like Crumb, Misako came out as the Manga artist because of their obsession on drawing. Misako spent so much time with pen and paper, not because she’s having trouble with communications skills but because she just so passionnate. Just like his character “Biker Girl”, Misako actual life is portraying a true mirror for his Manga. The way she admired with the Eightball by Clowes, Misako also turn on putting a lot of influences to the Manga style for a new generation at the United States of Amerika.
Figure 1.13: Biker Girl graphic novels by Misako Rocks (2006)
While some of the artist are talking about self-healing or art as a therapy, John Virtue are the one who talking about art “shenanigans” behind the unconscious mind. According to John Virtue, talk at the TEDx Talks, every visual artist is working with ideas from their surrounding at the glance or gaze and this perspective bring into an answered for the application of abstract landscape painting.
Researcher has found that drawings have giving a remarkable impact and influent to the science, politic and human psychology. Researcher manages to discover the symbiosis relationship between drawing and literature area in art history. John Constable starts his career as the English Romantic artist. He was a pragmatist and realist at the same time and this makes most of his drawing bring such a strong influent to the poet, novels and literature industry. Constable once says that, “no two days are the same, no two hours are the same, no two leaves are the same”. He is the artist that draw the changeability of the world he lives in. In the painting industry, Constable also become one of the artists whose inspired Jackson Pollock so much. When Pollock said “I am Nature”, he actually refers the very mean of Constable works that showing that human cant truly separates from nature.
Figure 1.15: Trees in West End Fields. Drawing by John Constable (1833)
During the Romantic age, people have two option on having spiritual uplifted, its either there go to church or else the look up for nature. But today world is different. Now, people are not into God so much and live with less nature. George Shaw is another different type of Realism artist compare to Constable. By depicting on most of Shaw works, he actually portrays the mood of modern man with the alienated feeling live in the man-made landscape. What happen to Shaw is just the development of Realist artist changing through time? The adaption of new ideas with a new landscape environment is bringing similar influent to the literature industry. Other than working with the nature metaphor, literature subject moves to the mundane subject (daily routine). This where the film industry starts to reveal with a random story that usually invincible from human significant life.
Figure 1.16: 12 Short Walks by George Shaw (2012)
Figure 1.17: Storm at the Mouth of the Grand Canal by Joseph Mallord William Tuner (1840)
Unlikely Shaw, Joseph Mallord William Tuner turned up earlier before Constable. Tuner are the earlier realist mastered that travel across thousand of miles and produced hundreds of sketchbooks for his oil paintings. The quantity of drawing and sketching he produces are most of the time with intention to capture the views he saw while in transit.
By the demand of himself to preserve the essence of a landscape in a glance, Turner change his medium. By the helps of oil paint and water color, Turner turn line into light, turn actual subject into abstract meaning. These transcendent beauties apply by Turner was then turn into the application on the literature process. Turner style shows the true eternal process that shape nature and it bring the sense of wonder and mystery about the meaning of life.
In order to produce a good movie, people always think about a good camera, but the truth is what before the camera there is long suffering of draftsman. Jay Todd Anderson in one of the Hollywood storyboard artists. Compare with all the realist artist before, Jay Todd more into a person who realize the abstract of any meaning of content into an acting of camera shot. Jay Todd also works with the BBC for the documentary movies. The storyboard works is just like the third screening before the language became the visual language (subject- language- Visual language). The job for Drawing artist on storyboard is not to decide the camera shot but it is to interpret the language from storyline and create a suggestion on paper. The imagination would not be helping anyone to execute a movie, it needs a visualizer.
2. Conclusion
Based on the table and researcher distribution, it is clearly showing the important of Figure 1.18: No Country for Old Men, storyboard by Jay Todd Anderson (2007)
produced, because what left to see only the end product of collaborative process behind it. Drawing remain as the hidden process, where it serves as the visual “words, grammar and syntax” as well as the minds speak (Micklewright, 2005). Today, there might be some more significant drawing produced had been missed without proper introduction. The influence brings all of these drawing might be small but what came after that is merely importance. If there is a question asking about the silent guardian for the art industry and arts for humanity, definitely drawing is one of them.
References
Anderson, J. T., Coen, J., & Coen, E. (n.d.). The big Lebowski: the official storyboards.
Attenborough, D. (2007). Amazing rare things: the art of natural history in the age of discovery. Royal Collection.
Baskinger, Mark., & Bardel, William. (2013). Drawing ideas: a hand-drawn approach for better design.
Ben Luke. (2019). George Shaw: “I make no distinction between great painting and great TV” | The Art Newspaper. Theartnewspaper.Com.
https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/george-shaw-i-make-no-distinction- between-great-painting-and-great-tv
Bockemühl, Michael., & Turner, J. M. W. (Joseph M. W. (2000). J.M.W. Turner, 1775- 1851: the world of light and colour. Taschen.
Canemaker, J. (2005a). Winsor McCay: his life and art. Harry N. Abrams.
Clowes, D. (2013). The Daniel Clowes reader: a critical edition of Ghost world and other stories, with essays, interviews and annotations. Fantagraphics Books.
Crumb, R., Groth, Gary., & Fiore, Robert. (1987). The complete Crumb. Fantagraphics Books.
Deidre Falvey. (2018). When the guns fell silent: cartoons and Armistice Day.
Irishtimes.Com. https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/when-the-guns-fell-silent- cartoons-and-armistice-day-1.3689377
Earl John Russell Russell. (2016). Adventures in the Moon, and Other Worlds by Earl John Russell Russell. In Yurita Press.
Garbari, Fabio., Tongiorgi Tomasi, Lucia., Elliott, Brent., Clayton, M., & Royal Collection (Great Britain). (2007). Flora: the Erbario miniato and other drawings. 664.
Godfrey, R. T., Gillray, J., Hallett, M., & Tate Britain (Gallery). (2001). James Gillray: the art of caricature. Tate Pub.
Graham-Dixon, A. (2005). BBC - Arts - The Secret of Drawing - The Line of Enquiry. BBC.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/secretofdrawing/enquiry/
Hoffman, H. S. (1989). Vision and the art of drawing. Prentice Hall.
Jeffares, N. (2008). Dictionary of Pastellists before 1800. June, 1–23.
Leonardo, da V., Richter, J. P., & Bell, R. C. (2000). The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci.
Leslie, C. R., & Mayne, Jonathan. (1995). Memoirs of the life of John Constable. Phaidon Press.
Leslie, C. Walker., & Roth, C. E. (2003). Keeping a nature journal: discover a whole new way of seeing the world around you. Storey Pub.
Linda S. Price. (2019). Beyond Drawing Basics: Drawing Storyboards for the Coen Brothers
Mahamood, M., & Mustaqim, K. (2010). I Draw Therefore I Am: Drawing as Visual (Communication) Studies. 4(2), 103–118.
https://doi.org/10.5614/itbj.vad.2010.4.2.2
Martin Rowson. (2015). Satire, sewers and statesmen: why James Gillray was king of the cartoon | Art and design | The Guardian. Theguardian.Com.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/21/satire-sewers-and- statesmen-james-gillray-king-of-cartoon
Matthew Larking. (2018). The funny side of Edo Period culture | The Japan Times.
Japantimes.Com. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2018/05/08/arts/funny- side-edo-period-culture/#.XTpFZugzZPY
Matt Mulcahey. (2016). Storyboard Artist J. Todd Anderson on Working with the Coen Brothers and Hail, Caesar! | Filmmaker Magazine. Filmmakermagazine.Com.
https://filmmakermagazine.com/97423-storyboard-artist-j-todd-anderson-on- working-with-the-coen-brothers-and-hail-caesar/#.XTpTpugzZPY
Micklewright, K. (2005). Drawing: mastering the language of visual expression. Abrams Studio.
Misako Rokkusu, 1977-. (2006). Biker girl. Hyperion Paperbacks.
Monte Beauchamp. (1989). Behind the Eightball: The Daniel Clowes Interview. Kitchen Sink Press Inc.
Morrison, Venetia., & Stubbs, G. (1989). The art of George Stubbs.
Nadja Sayej. (2018). Robert Crumb: “I am no longer a slave to a raging libido” | Books | The Guardian. Theguardan.Com.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/mar/07/robert-crumb-i-am-no- longer-a-slave-to-a-raging-libido
Nicolaides, K. (1942). the Natural Way to Draw. In Annals of the Entomological Society of America (Vol. 35, Issue 1, p. 113).
Roselien Steur, Koos Eissen, B. (2011). Sketching: The Basics (2nd printing) by Roselien Steur — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists. Page One.
Rowson, Martin. (2008). Stuff: a memoir of death and life. Vintage.
Rowson, Martin. (2009). F*ck: a history of the world in 65 unfortunate incidents. Universe.
Russell Merritt. (2019). Winsor McCay: His Life and Art | Silent Film Festival.
Silentfilm.Com. http://silentfilm.org/archive/winsor-mccay-his-life-and-art Russo, Alexander. (1987). The challenge of drawing: an introduction. Prentice-Hall.
Shasha Levine. (2018). From the Archives: Surface #27, Fall 2000. Surfacemag.Com.
https://www.surfacemag.com/articles/daniel-clowes-talks-rise-of-graphic-novel/
Sojo, Toba. (1954). Animals frolic. Putnam Pub Group.
Stubbs, G., Rott, H. Wilhelm., Allen, B., & Bayerische. (2012). George Stubbs, 1724- 1806: science into art. London.
“The Secret of Drawing” Episode 1: “The Line of Enquiry” 2005 - YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved December 13, 2021, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H59cVnnF9Y&t=2464s
Thue-Bludworth, L. (2016). Harn Museum of Art Educator Resource Nature Journals Nature Journals & Scientific Illustration. Art & Science of Nature Journals, 14.
Toba Sojo. (1954). The Animal Frolic. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25426430-the-animal- frolic?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=mFsaturpD2&rank=1
Tomako Otake. (2010). Manga’s Cinderella story | The Japan Times. Japantimes.Co.Jp.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2010/07/04/people/mangas-cinderella-