Thinking through drawing

When freehand drawing is being marginalised in the design process, and when many students head straight for the computer, hand drawing may be a generational issue. For example, British architect Chris Wilkinson (b.1945) finds the act of communication through drawing still very important: 'I often sketch what I'm thinking rather than what I'm seeing. It's part of the process by which my ideas come through. You could just sit in a field and contemplate, but at some point you need to get your ideas on to paper. You have to start somewhere, and for me a drawing is the way an idea begins to take form'. (Wilkinson's sketchbooks are on show at the Royal Academy of Arts, until 14 February 2016).

Forming ideas

The forming of ideas can, literally speaking, go through several stages. For example, the foundry plays a vital role for artists. Here the sculptor has an idea of what they want, and discusses with technicians issues such as scaling up, casting, welding or patinating, to see what is possible. And, after consultation, the artist often goes away with something quite different from the initial idea, which shows that the journey from first thought to idea realisation is not only difficult to predict but involves collaboration along the way.