Botany - Observational Drawing
Observing from life and developing visual language is a tremendous addition to scientific inquiry; as an understanding of the visual world grows so does the clarity of communication.
In the first ten minutes of class, students spent time recording as many objects as they could from around the room. They were then asked to consider any contrasts and similarities from what they observed during the exercise from when they first sat down. This led to a discussion on how the brain tends to only absorb the most useful information and filters out the rest, and how the brain can be trained to retain more visual information through practice.
Next we went over a few drawing basics, including various ways to hold a pencil, how to practice light mark-making, and how to use a kneaded eraser. Student’s then spent a great deal of time intuitively measuring the botanical specimen with sight sticks before putting pencil to paper. Emphasis was placed on seeing the specimen as a series of basic shapes instead of a single, complex object.
The session ended with students comparing the angles of each others’ drawings and how their own seated position effected the final outcome of their work.
