Bajer: Traditional Versus Digital: How Do We Preserve the Teaching of ...

Posted by Andre on Jan 31, 2013 in Art Essays, Drawings, Studies

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Traditional Versus Digital: How Do We Preserve the Teaching of Drawing in the Digital Age?

Can the traditional teaching of drawing and sketching curriculum be used as a teaching platform for digital tablets?

1. Introduction.

Drawing is a primary skill not only for artists but also for many other professions; it has always played a very important role in the way different ideas are communicated. Drawing has always has been language of professionals and visual literacy. At the beginning of the age of industrialization, drawing gained in importance as an essential technical skill and was being taught in primary schools. The technological development of computerization in every domain of professional and civic activities caused traditional drawing skills to almost disappear from most industrial activities. In our contemporary realities, sophisticated computer programs replaced traditional way of drawing, which today is still practiced, but mostly only in art schools. Wacom technology proposes to replace the traditional mediums used in drawing practice by digital ones, which was very well received in hand drawing as a substitute for real pencil and paper. At the present time Wacom technology is mostly used in film animation, illustration, and graphic design. Recent studies (Meneely, Jason M.S. and Sheila Danko, 2007) indicate that the interest to use Wacom tablets in preliminary sketching of ideas in design and architectural schools shows signs of possible integration in a technical school curriculum. It is clear that it is only a matter of time before Wacom technology eventually replaces completely the use of traditional mediums that are used in art schools. The main reason why this has not happen yet is because of the high cost for the necessary equipment and in part due to a lack of progressive thought amongst most school boards. The relatively recent development of Android system opens the doors to even further explorations of digital art and drawing conceived on iPads. My research project is to investigate if traditional ways of teaching drawing skills could be exercised in an art studio environment using the electronic devices mentioned above. The method of qualitative studies and action research will be used to collect the data through a process of direct practice, observation, and discussion. A group of five students will be introduced to the digital tablet in order to conduct a series of exercises facilitating the traditional methods of teaching drawing skills.

2. Discussion.

Can the traditional way of teaching the art of drawing be preserved in the digital age? To answer this question one needs first to admit that drawing is an essential ?tool? and one of the first methods of visual communication in the history of the human race. It has accompanied humanity since the very beginning of its development. The first writings originated from the drawn descriptions of symbolic figurations that lead into the logical structures of the first alphabets. To the Egyptians, Mayans, Aztecs, Chinese, and to many other cultures drawing served as a way of communication. Through the ages it became an essential faculty in art, architecture, industry, and all kinds of creative explorations. In our contemporary reality of fast technological changes in almost every domain of our life the faculty of traditional drawing experience is slowly disappearing from the architectural and technical school curriculums. In most cases architects and designers are working directly on computers in order to conceive the elements they need without the preliminary sketches and drawings. The traditional methods of sketching and drawing help to research and chose the final idea for the final design in a much shorter time than doing it directly on the computer. Regarding this aspect of drawing the researchers Meneely and Danko (2007) stated the importance of sketching in design practice. It depends on the professional?s ability to draw or sketch realistically. Drawing practice is still present in art schools and it probably will be for some time yet. However, no one knows for how long. The environmental concerns might eventually influence various institutions to replace the traditional way of drawing with digital methods, which in the long run might profit them greatly, if one takes into consideration the cost of paper and the cost of mediums the students use to practice their drawing skills in the traditional way, and the workers in their offices and workshops. Meanwhile, the Wacom tablet would make a much more interesting investment in the places which do a lot of preliminary sketching and drawing activities in their daily routines. Regarding the possible implementation of the Wacom technology in practice Faber, Carol (2009) did an experiment with a group of students who were trying out traditional drawing techniques. She asked them to draw on the digital tablet as a replacement of traditionally used paper. Her research was mostly oriented towards the comparison between paper and the Wacom tablet as a drawing surface of the future. The most important outcome from this experience is her remark based on the gathered data that those students who had better drawing skills had fewer problems in adopting the digital surface for drawing. Faber did not use any systematic method of teaching drawing in her experiment. She left the students to explore the digital surface freely and gathered their impressions as data through a set of questions in regard to the students? experiences. My research is focused mostly on the question of how to preserve traditional drawing methods using digital tools as a replacement of traditionally used paper and drawing mediums. I think that the Wacom technology permits to preserve the same curriculum of drawing teaching. The recently promoted cordless tablets equipped with Bluetooth wireless technology, which permits up to thirty feet of freedom, would permit the practice of the traditional studio drawing experience with a life model. Furthermore, the new iPads? use the Android system, which would make the traditional experience even easier, because the iPads offer the possibility to draw exactly like one does on paper, whereas with the cordless digital tablet one needs to train oneself to draw on the tablet but while looking at the screen. This small inconvenience is possible to overcome if practiced enough. The large tablets permit also the ability to draw directly on the screen as the iPads does, except that they are not cordless yet. In any case the important fact is that the technology is evolving to make it easier to practice the traditional way of sketching and drawing. In consequence the drawing teaching methods do not have to change. Furthermore, the author?s twenty years of practice using a digital tablet for drawing and illustration proves that it is possible to adapt to the digital surface instead of paper without major complications. It is why I see technology in this digital age not as an enemy of traditional ways of teaching and practice for the skills of drawing and conceiving art, but as a friend helping to develop tools to preserve it.

3. Literary Review.

Wacom technology: Examples of various possibilities offered to the Art Education. Retrieved from

http://www.wacom-asia.com/casestudy/education

This website presents how Wacom technology is used by different educational institutions around the world. The examples on this particular website focus mostly on the Pacific Region countries like: Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Wacom is also represented in Europe and United States of America. The technology offered by Wacom Company, which is based in Japan, permits to preserve the traditional drawing techniques in the digital contemporary reality. The tablets have a wide range of applications besides the drawing and painting creative possibilities. The company website presents how in different countries various schools integrate the Wacom technology in their practice of art education curricula. In Australia, the Catholic University at the Mt St Mary Campus at Strathfield in cooperation with other institutions organized the Kids Congress, which concentrated on various possibilities the technology has to offer in art education. After a short introduction to the tablet and the Corel Painter software the children were invited to create an artwork on the congress subject: ?Kids Care Earth Share.? The created artwork was printed on heat-sensitive paper and transferred onto t-shirts. In total 270 students from 53 primary and secondary schools participated in this event. The congress is organized biennially. The Saint-Francis of Assisi primary school organized a project, which was illustrated by children on various myths, legends, and fairytales that they were listening to on the websites using Wacom tablets and then distributed them to other children via Internet. The Queensland Academy for Creative Industries is organizing courses on digital drawing and illustration. In India, the Whistling Woods International School is one of the largest in the World and is using the digital tablets in their Animation Department to create various artworks for the movie industry. The Tokyo Zokei University, Tainan Woman?s College of Arts & Technology, The Asahi East Primary School in Japan, Nanyang Polytechnic?s Digital Media Design Center in Singapore, Hong Kong Catholic Primary School, and many others are adopting creative digital technology in order to prepare for the art tools of the future. The website presents twenty different applications of the Wacom tablet in Art Education practices, not taking into consideration other forms of professional artistic expression. The education institutions have invested in digital studios not only at the university level but also at the primary and secondary levels of progressive teaching. The digital tablet promotes a new way of teaching the skills of drawing and art making. It is the environment friendly and clean way to create art and still experiencing traditional techniques of drawing. However, the only obstacle to adopt the Wacom digital technology is not its cost but the equipment it is made to use with. Each Wacom tablet needs one computer in order to work on, and this is quite expensive for the most of the schools boards budget. It is certainly a great tool to teach not only drawing skills, but also all other forms of artistic creativity. Furthermore, it is a great way to attract the students of all grades to practice drawing skills using traditional methods of teaching in our digital age.

The articles selected in this review illustrate the importance of instruction and the preservation of the traditions concerning drawing techniques and their role in the development of visual literacy. The technological developments do not eliminate the traditional ways of drawing practice but helps to preserve it. So far, Wacom technology offers the most solid support in the preservation of traditional drawing skills. The texts presented in this literary review respond and support respectively the theme of my research project. So far, all the experiments conducted by researchers using the Wacom tablet confirmed its great utility and convenience in practicing not only drawing skills but also other forms of artistic exploration. In my research I would like to demonstrate that the set of exercises for teaching drawing skills in traditional studio settings can be applied to digital drawing skills teaching, including the model studies, still life, and all others.

Chan, David W., and Chan, Lai-kwan (2007). Creativity and Drawing Abilities of Chinese Students in Hong-Kong: Is There a Connection? New Horizons in Education, 55(3), 77-91. Retrieved from

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:aRDktqQmgDQJ:www.hkta1934.org.hk/NewHorizon/abstract/2007n/07.pdf+Creativity+and+Drawing+Abilities+of+Chinese+Students+in+Hong+Kong:+Is+There+a+Connection%3F&hl=en&gl=ca&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgOca8VOYP-cAdu88IcdDIKobFxrw-Gq6oUJff-gexnUWNaxSoGTMR857m44rbTJaLuZu8I_Q_iDmhlyJHK1QIWHn1qVbxSBjHiqlcV31RWyCwc6dBzxO6TA4mCxnMpLJy3u43i&sig=AHIEtbTtvMCuxEww4pbsS557J3B48S-_TQ

In response to a new educational reform initiated by the Chinese government, which is to promote art as a part of the general education system in order to enhance creativity in various subject studies, David Chan and Lai-kwan Chan attempted in their quantitative research to confirm the art benefits that influence creative performance. The authors focused mainly on drawing practices as the most important artistic skill. For the purpose of their studies they decided to apply Clark?s (1989) Drawing Ability Test elements and in addition to the Scale for Rating the Behavioral Characteristics of Superior Students SRBCSS test of self-evaluation (Renzuli, Smith, White, Callahan, and Hartman, 1976). One hundred and five Chinese students were invited by the University of Hong-Kong from different schools to participate in these tests for the period of three months. Fifty-seven primary and forty-eight secondary participants followed all the requested drawing tasks. In total forty-five boys and sixty girls were involved in this survey. Three visual artists, two men and one woman, were chosen to evaluate the quality of the drawings and mark them according to specific instructions. The authors concluded that, based on the data collected through a series of drawing exercises, there is a connection in favor of drawing practices, which increase creativity. David Chan and Lai-kwan Chan also took into consideration the possibility that the choice of participants might be biased by the teachers? decision to delegate the survey to only the best students. In such a case the generalization of their findings would have to be repeated on a larger scale and for a longer period of time.

Clark, Gilbert (1989). Screening and Identifying Students Talented in Visual Arts: Clark?s Drawing Abilities Test. Gifted Child Quarterly, 33(summer), 98-105. Retrieved from

http://gcq.sagepub.com/content/33/3/98

Clark reports in his text on the various details and development structures of his Clark?s Drawing Abilities Test, which is a still today one of the most used exams in the process of screening and identifying of artistic talents. The test?s characteristics are to conceive a series of drawings on specific subjects within a specified time limit. The drawing faculty is considered as performance ability and as such the test is used in various research projects to collect data from different institutions in order to screen candidates for responsible positions. According to Clark?s review the test is quite efficient in establishing the creative abilities of the tested persons. The report presents data collected during the 1984 two-week residential program at Indiana University Summer Arts Institute. Sixty specially chosen talented participants took the Clark?s Drawing Abilities Test. The students, thirty-one female and twenty-nine male, were asked to take the test upon their arrival to the institute and prior to any teaching drawing practice. In addition to Clark?s test the participants also participated in the Children?s Embedded Figures Test. After two weeks the teachers? evaluation of the students was compared with the results of the test taken at the beginning of the summer program. The quantitative method permitted to establish that the students who scored high during the test get high marks at the end of the summer program. The results permitted the conclusion that the Clark?s Drawing Ability Test allows the possibility to predict a tested persons creative and intellectual performance.

Faber, Carol H. (2009). Digital Drawing Tablet to Traditional Drawing on Paper: A Teaching Studio Comparison. Retrieved from

http://www.iasdr2009.org/ap/Papers/Orally%20Presented%20Papers/Design%20Tool/Digital%20Drawing%20Tablet%20To%20Traditional%20Drawing%20On%20Paper%20-%20A%20Teaching%20Studio%20Comparison.pdf

The article presents an experiment conducted by the author with twenty-five university students participating in an experimental course titled ?Digital Drawing.? The conducted case-study research was motivated by Faber?s curiosity to compare the traditional way to draw on paper with the digital way of drawing on the Wacom tablet using Photoshop software. The participants in this experiment represented different levels of experience in digital drawing and all participated in more than one traditional studio-drawing courses prior to the conducted experiment. The students were asked to execute four different assignments and when finished they had to respond to a series of questions regarding their digital experience and how it was different in comparison to their traditional drawing practice. The collected data showed that the level of satisfaction in digital drawing practice differed accordingly to the participants? previous experiences with digital drawing technology. Students who had previous experience with the digital drawing technology had fewer problems to operate it than those who did not, which is quite normal in such circumstances. Furthermore, those students who had well-developed traditional drawing skills had less problems in adopting the digital way to draw than those who were less skilled in the technical aspects of drawing. Faber concludes her experiment stating that the traditional digital way of drawing does not exclude traditional studio practice. Both ways to draw, the digital and the traditional, complement each other and open the doors to further creative experimentation.

Hopperstad, M. H. (2010). Studying meaning in children?s drawings. Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 10(4), 430-430-452. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/851229834?accountid=10246;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1468798410383251

?The author, Marit Holm Hopperstad, uses qualitative research methods supported by analytic theoretical data published by researchers Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen (1996), which explore the variety of meanings contained in children?s drawings. The ethnographic character of her research is conducted during a two month period in two different Norwegian schools with different groups of children between ages five and six, which were divided into four to six groups, thirty-five of them in total. Hopperstad collected the data by applying the method of systematic observation supported by dialog and photographic documentation. The studies resulted in the collection of sixty-three drawings, which were carefully studied, scanned, and modified accordingly in order to protect the children?s anonymity. According to Hopperstad?s conclusion her studies confirm the children?s particular predispositions to communicate their visual perception of situations to which they are exposed by adopting various aesthetic forms of expression as a platform of visual communication. Hopperstad suggests that teachers have an important role to play in encouragement and exteriorization of children?s aesthetic literacy. Happerstad?s research was conducted in a regular school environment. The final outcome of her research could be beneficiary to anyone willing to take her approach in introducing similar studies in their respective settings in order to promote children?s visual literacy.?

Huntsinger, C. S., Jose, P. E., Krieg, D. B., & Luo, Z. (2011). Cultural differences in Chinese American and European American children?s drawing skills over time. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 26(1), 134-134-145. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/822506546?accountid=10246;
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecresq.2010.04.002

The article presents a collective effort of a group of researchers reunited together in the process of quantitative studies related to a series of questions regarding cultural differences between Chinese American and European American children?s drawing skills. The researchers Hunstinger, Jose, Krieg, and Luo studied two groups of forty students each composed from American Chinese and European children returning at intervals of age five, seven, and nine during a period of four years. The research was conducted through the process of children?s various practical drawing tasks, interviews, and questionnaires interrogating the parental backgrounds and attitudes towards artistic practice in their respective family settings. The studies confront two different systems of artistic education. One is Chinese based on Confucian traditions versus the American one based on the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, which promotes the natural self-discovery of existing artistic talent in each child at the moment of his/her birth. The researchers conclude their studies by trying to answer six hypothetical questions drawn from the summary concerning the correlation of variable data, which was obtained in a controlled environment. The studies confirm that Chinese American children overcame European American children in drawing skills due to instruction from an early age. However, their studies did not confirm the conviction circulating in the American educational system that the children without any drawing technical instructions benefit from a higher level of creativity. The authors, all agree that further studies are necessary on a larger scale in order to generalize their findings.

Meneely, Jason M.S. and Sheila Danko (2007). Motive, Mind, and Media: Digital Sketching in the Creative Culture of Design. Journal of Interior Design, 32(3), 69-90. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1668.2007.tb00541.x/abstract

Meneeely and Danko in their article reflect on various possibilities that technology has to offer in creative design education. In their research they elaborate on how the digital technology of computerization reduced significantly the art of sketching by hand. Growing numbers of students are using computer technology from scratch to final presentations avoiding certain creative aspects that are found in preliminary sketching and research. In such a way they lose more time for correcting and adjusting their final project. In order to promote various practical applications of hand sketching, the authors developed a specially design presentation on how digital sketching could be integrated into various stages of the creative process in the CAD program. They presented their proposal to five different groups of students in the already existing curriculum of four interior design courses. Meneely and Danko demonstrated their applications to the audience in fifteen seats of a digital laboratory equipped with Wacom tablets. Each group of participants practiced different application possibilities of digital sketching during the period of two semesters. In total sixty-three undergraduate students were initiated in the digital sketching method. Before, during, and after the digital sketching applications practice the students were asked questions regarding their experiences. The authors studied the data collected, and at the end of the session, after the students received their grading, twenty participants were randomly selected for one focus group discussion. All the results were arranged according to the earlier prepared schematic division on Motive, Mind, and Media sections. Each section was discussed in terms of its educational significance and possible incorporation of the new technology in the design studio. The Meneeely and Danko study confirmed that the introduction of digital sketching into the system of technical education enriches the students? knowledge about the technological possibilities offered to them. Furthermore, it permits the reintegration of traditional sketching into the digital process of CAD designing.

Soygenis, Sema; Soygenis, Murat; Erktin, Emine (2010). Writing as a Tool in Teaching Sketching: Implications for Architectural Design Education. International Journal of Art & Design Education, 29(3), 283-293. Retrieved from

http://search.proquest.com/docview/815959368?accountid=10246;

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-8070.2010.01646.x

The group of authors report in their article about research conducted at a school of architecture in a Turkish university. The purpose of the project was to find the answer to the question: does writing improve the learning of the art of sketching? The authors elaborate in their text on the various steps of sketching, which are divided according to the perception of its cognitive process. They refer to Ferguson (1992), who distinguished three kinds of sketching. Thinking sketching is the geometric process of an idea, talking sketching is the communication, and perspective sketching is to specify the design form. Taking in to consideration how important sketching is in a profession such as architecture the authors prepared a series of tests, which were taken by forty-five students participating in the university course ?Techniques of Sketching.? Using the quantitative method thirty-four females and eleven males were asked to draw and write about the process according to a set of questions. The instructors evaluated the conclusion based on the sketching and written responses through the descriptive statistics. The data showed that students who had better constructed grammatically and aesthetically writing skills also had better sketching abilities and those with lower writing skills had a lower sketching capacity. The research demonstrates that there is a correlation between the cognitive perception in writing and sketching. The combinations of both faculties permit the students to have better concentration during the creative sketching process. Furthermore, it provides students with more flexibility when facing various situations and helps them to respond appropriately. According to the authors their research opens the door for further studies related to the integration of both cognitive skills in order to develop sketching techniques as an essential tool in the process of design.

To conclude, the teaching method of digital drawing skills does not differ from the traditional studio method and it is not necessary to search for a new method of teaching via digital curriculum. The chosen readings prove how resourceful the drawing skills are in creative processes to anyone regardless their age, gender, profession, and medium. Furthermore, the traditional or digital drawing practices are particularly useful in Art Education curricula.

4. Method.

In order to try to answer the question if the traditional way of teaching drawing has a chance to be adopted and preserved in the digital age, I would like to apply the method of action research. The traditional way of teaching drawing will be exercised by using digital tablet with a small group of students to gather data in order to review the results in a conclusive and comprehensive manner. The Wacom technology will be used to attract students? participation. Also, I will try to look for five iPads in order to experiment on them too and at the same time have an additional attraction to gain participants. The ideal environment for conducting such studies would be an existing computer studio in one of the various colleges and universities of the Montreal area, which are already equipped for the purpose of these studies. I am considering the University of Concordia and the University of Montreal Design Departments. The first step would be to contact the chosen institutions and present them the project formula. Once the chosen establishment would agree to host the research sessions they will be asked to choose a group of students willing to participate in the digital drawing practice. The ideal candidates would be students who have never had formal training before, but are curious and willing to learn how to draw on a digital support using the traditional method of teaching. The exact number of participants? will depend on the availability of the digital tablets, and it would be not less then five. In order to make this study effective, it would be necessary to conduct the drawing classes during a minimum of two months at least once a week. After each lesson the participants will be asked to practice as much as possible on their own in order to make a significant amount of progress. In the final questionnaire they will be asked to give the approximate time during which they had a chance to practice the assigned drawing exercises on their own. The last four sessions will be conducted with a model, in order to apply in practice all exercises done previously in class. It will also be an effort to recreate the real traditional studio ambiance by using contemporary digital technology. At the beginning of each lesson students will receive a page with drawn elements to practice on the digital board, which will be explained to them step by step visually before the session will start. The studies are significant in the sense of promoting the drawing skills as an important element of knowledge in art education studies and the preservation of the traditional methods of teaching it. The limit of the action research method is its small scale in order to influence significant changes in the art education system in reference to the teaching of drawing skills. In order to be more effective in promoting the traditional ways of teaching the sketching and drawing skills exclusively using the numeric support would be to conduct such an experiment on a larger scale by inviting at least ten educational institutions and larger groups of participants to practice digital drawing skills.????

5. Outline.

The data will be collected during the period of two months. I will meet with the group once a week minimum for the duration of two hours and more according to the equipment and students availability. The ideal possibility would be to conduct the two hours sessions twice a week. The final schedule will be arranged accordingly to the equipment and the participants? schedule. After each session students will be asked to practice at least 15 minutes a day on their own for the given assignments. The data will consists of each student?s step by step adaptation to the digital surface and my observation of how the traditional way of drawing teaching can be practiced on the device as a numeric substitute for the paper. Once the drawing sessions will be completed and all the data collected I will study the artworks done during all the experiment, including the section on coordination exercises, and I will evaluate them according to the results of discussions with the participants.? I will reflect on the answers given in the set of questions, which each student will be asked to respond to. The questions will focus mostly on the participants drawing skills evolution and the digital aspects of their experiences. I will take into consideration the time students spent in practicing the drawing on their own. In order to have a better understanding of the participants? progress I will review the results weekly after each session. At the end I will summarize my conclusions in one final concluding report.

6. Justification.

The faculty of drawing and sketching has many advantages and no real disadvantages. Recent studies from (Clark, 1989), (Chan, David W., and Chan, Lai-kwan, 2007), and (Soygenis, Sema; Soygenis, Murat; Erktin, Emine, 2010), indicate that a growing number of companies before hiring ask potential candidates to take Clark?s drawing test in order to establish their abilities to act responsibly to all kind of situations. Drawing in all its forms can help anyone to explore his/her creativity, coordination, and process of thinking and seeing of forms in a three-dimensional environment. Knowing to draw means to know how to see, how to perceive the environment surrounding us. It is important to preserve traditional drawing and sketching practices for the visual literacy not only for our children but the entire population. Drawing practice teaches us to be in control of our senses. Drawing helps us to communicate and understand various concerns of different cultures. In the age of important technological changes we need to welcome the possibilities offered by contemporary technology to adopt to the modifications by preserving at the same time the traditional methods of teaching not only in sketching and drawing but also in other forms of artistic expression and creative industrial development. The digital tablets and the most recent novelty like the iPad?s might help to attract not only our children but also adults as well to the practice of digital drawing skills if presented to them in the appropriate manner. In the near future the iPad?s might take over the Wacom technology simply for one reason: the iPad does not need to be connected to the computer except for charging. It also gives much more freedom for practicing sketching, drawing, and all kinds of other artistic domains. The only disadvantages are the still limited software functions in comparison to the professional programs with which the Wacom tablets are compatible. It is certainly only a matter of time before the iPad?s will adjust to the needs of the professional market, but Wacom technology is advancing very fast as well. In both cases the facilities these technologies have to offer, needs to be welcomed and not rejected by more conservative elements within the art establishment. Furthermore, both technologies offer an excellent educational opportunity to be used in boosting the art of digital sketching and drawing among the next generation of young artists. My research is important as a way to promote and educate action while at the same time preserve the traditional way of teaching drawing skills. It shows to the young digital population the future way to learn artistic skills and at the same time to preserve the methods of drawing as it was always taught. The adoption of these technologies in the education system as teaching methods of the future will be an important component in the process to attract the young creative spirits to learn the skills of drawing.

7. The Project in Praxis

The project, I was pursuing, had an objective to confirm my theory that the traditional curriculum of teaching drawing skills can be adopted to digital tablets. In my opinion, the traditional methods used to instruct sketching can help students to acquire faster control over digital devices such as Wacom tablets as well as others, like the iPad. Also, the project demonstrates how the traditional techniques of teaching can integrate with the immense technological progress of our current modern reality. Furthermore, the use of digital pads for the initial sketching will provide a great advantage to all students studying architecture and design, as well as to Art Education curricula at every level. The adoption of digital technology in teaching drawing will also benefit the environment.

In order to collect the data needed for my study I have required the participation of one staff member at the Concordia University of Design Department, with whom I have met three times for the span of over two hours each. For the purpose of this project, it was essential to choose a person who had at least a slight knowledge of drawing. However, the most important was, to find a participant who had never practiced drawing on a digital device before.

I prepared for this occasion a series of exercises that I usually use in my drawing classes (see fig.1). I constructed the workshops according to my personal philosophy of teaching these important skills, and which in part represent the academic approach based on conservative study and the realistic depiction of objects. First, I introduced the participant to the basics of Wacom tablet technology and then he started to draw the prepared samples for this occasion.

? WACOM_PILOT_first_day2222

Figure 1

The project experience permitted the collection of a significant amount of data. The pictures and video recordings document the majority of the practiced exercises. During the workshops, I studied the participant?s reactions and comments in reference to the different stages of the data collection. The practical part of the project concluded with a small interview, during which the participant responded to four questions with regard to his experiences with digital tablets. Once I had finished collecting the data in the form of observation notes, visual materials from the practice, and the final interview, I started to process all the information. The equipment used for the purpose of this pilot project consisted of one Macintosh Power Book G4 laptop, two Wacom tablets (one small 4?x5?, one large 9?x11.5?), and iPad.

The first meeting with the participant took place the February 21st, 2012, in the Concordia University Design Department studio situated on the eighth floor. The workshop started at 1 PM and lasted until 4 PM, three hours in total. Taking into consideration the time lost for preparation the session lasted a little over two hours.

At first, I explained to the participant how the Wacom tablet works and showed him a few exercises to make him more comfortable before beginning the planned workshop. The Wacom tablets I have been using for the purpose of this pilot project did not represent the new generation of tablets available now. Technically speaking, the older tablets have the same specifications; they differ only in the exterior design and some other features, which are useful when one needs to work fast. Practicing drawing skills on the older version of the Wacom tablet demands an artist to look at the computer screen while drawing with his hand on the tablet. This technique demands the artist to develop a coordination gesture, which would mean that the participant would divide their time between the screen and the tablet. It is the same principal used when drawing a life model in the studio on paper. The artist must look at the model and at the same time he has to draw on the paper. The artist divides his attention between what he looks at and what he transfers onto the paper in front of him. It is why in order to facilitate this cognitive process I have applied at the beginning an exercise that permits the student to grasp the space he has available either on the paper as well as on the digital tablet (see fig. 1). In both cases, either the paper or the digital tablet, this exercise helps to determine the working surface within which the drawing composition is possible.

The larger model (9?x11?) of Wacom tablet was used as part of the next step. First I asked the participant to mark the four corners on the Wacom tablet by making three points on each external side of the tablet, then I asked him to draw small circles around them and connect all of them by horizontal, vertical, and transversal lines. A fast gesture movement of the hand does all connections. The next step was to fill all the triangular spaces created previously by the connections made between the points, with vertical and horizontal lines respecting the same distance between them. The last part of the exercise was to retrace all the previously executed connections by a quick gesture movement. At the beginning, the participant experienced problems to draw the lines fast with one gesture. However, after a few attempts the participant started to have better coordination of his hand movements. He experienced more difficulties when drawing vertical lines than the horizontal one?s. He also complained that drawing on the large Wacom tablet makes the distances between the points longer. It is why he had problems to control his movements with precision. In addition to this complaint he had a problem from the beginning to see the cursor on the white surface of the computer screen. I have changed the large Wacom tablet for the smaller one (4?x5?), and the white screen surface to draw on for the light grey background to make the cursor more visible. The adjustments helped the participant to become more efficient in practicing the set exercises. When he drew on the smaller Wacom tablet surface, the lines were easier to control. To conduct these exercises, I used two programs, Photoshop CS5 software, and Illustrator CS5 software. In Photoshop CS5, we did not experience any problems when drawing on the tablet. However, when using Illustrator CS5, the lines appeared a fraction of a second too late. This was distracting for the participant. The problem was due to a lack of sufficient memory in my laptop. When we changed the laptop for his, the problems disappeared. I asked the participant to practice these exercises the next day. He agreed to do so.

The second meeting with the participant took place the February 23, 2012, in the participant?s office situated on the eight floor of the Concordia University Design Department. We met at 2 PM and practiced the exercises until almost 5 PM. We practiced with the same set of exercises as during the first meeting. I wanted to see if the participant had made progress since the time we met the day before. The participant felt more confident this time, and it was evident that he had prepared himself for the meeting. I presented to the participant another set of exercises, this time to practice coordination between the artist?s mind and the artist?s hand. This part of the training went remarkably well, and the participant did not experience any significant problems in the execution of the given instructions. The next step was to continue the two sets of exercises, but at this time on the iPad tablet. Theoretically, my predictions were that it would be much easier to draw the exercises on the iPad than on the Wacom tablet. Surprisingly, it was not true. Almost each time the participant touched the iPad?s?s screen accidentally; the drawing app closed and opened a different app. To the participant it was a frustrating experience. However, when he started to draw the exercises with his finger instead of doing it with the digital pencil, he did better and had more control over his gestures. I was curious if he would experience the same problems when drawing objects from life. I asked him to draw a few elements without any restrictions. The outcomes in all cases were quite satisfactory (see fig.2). Except one thing, all his drawings were leaning to one side. It is why it is necessary at first to practice the coordination and perception exercises for better control of the tablet?s space. The last forty minutes we started to practice the second set of

WACOM_PILOT_first_day222 ?????????????????? ????

Figure 2

exercises (see fig. 3), which explains ?how to? draw figurative elements. The preparatory exercises I have designed use similar patterns to those found in drawing teaching in the fine arts. We returned back to the Wacom tablet in order to pursue the earlier established plan of exercises. The participant found the Wacom tablet to be more suitable for the purpose of the workshop than the iPad. Also, it appeared evident to me that he became more comfortable drawing on the Wacom tablet, than he was before.

? EXCERCISES3 ?????? ???????

Figure 3

The third and final encounter with the participant took place the February 29, 2012, in the participant?s computer workshop situated on the eight floor of the Concordia University Design Department. We met at 1 PM and practiced the exercises until almost 3 PM. At the beginning, I asked the participant to repeat all that we had completed so far. He was still struggling with the first exercise, which was to practice the coordination and perception of the space available for drawing. However, he was much more comfortable when practicing the second set of exercises, which helps the student to practice his coordination gestures and ?how to? percept various shapes in nature applying various geometric forms to workout drawing skills on the digital tablet (see fig. 4). The next step was to practice the quick sketching of different objects like a tape measure, an office clock, a coffee mug, and a computer mouse.

WACOM_PILOT1 ?

Figure 4

This part of the workshop was much more appreciated than drawing just the space perception and coordination exercises. Even as the participant enjoyed the freedom to draw on the tablet various sets of geometrical objects, his imperfection to coordinate the gestural movements were visible. It was not a surprise to me. These exercises need to be practiced for a long period time, and in perfect discipline, in order to procure the desired perfection. In the second part of the third meeting, I asked the participant to draw from life a person?s face, following the visual instructions given in the second set. For the purpose of this pilot project, I decided to pose as a model for this part of exercises. The results were highly promising, when taking into consideration that the participant had newer drawn before on the digital surface of the Wacom tablet (see fig.5).

? WACOM_PILOT2 ???????????????????

Figure 5

The last part of the session was the interview. The set of five questions, regarding the entire experience of applying the traditional methods of drawing teaching to the digital tablets, and the given responses concluded the pilot project data collection. Here, is a short resume of the participant?s responses to the questions asked. The summary reflects the responses taped on the video. The questions were:

How did you feel about drawing these exercises on the tablet??

According to the participant?s response, he found drawing on the Wacom tablet an interesting experience. He looked at it as a different tool for drawing practice, which opens a lot of new possibilities. He appreciates its practicality in comparison to drawing on paper, especially the variety of handy tools available, and even if he had a problem to control them, he recognizes in the digital tablet the potential it has to offer. One needs just to practice it a lot.

Would you prefer to draw these exercises on paper??

The participant stated that he would obviously prefer to draw these exercises on paper. The digital tablet is to him a different medium and perception, which he has problems controlling. Drawing on the Wacom tablet, gave him an impression of being on a different land, which he needs to explore and learn about it, before feeling comfortable.

Which part of the test was the most difficult to practice?

The most difficult exercise to practice on the digital tablet was the first one (see fig. 1) regarding the perception of the tablet?s space, which involved being in control of horizontal, vertical, and transversal lines. According to the participant?s statement, to draw the horizontal and vertical lines is not as easy as it looks. This exercise is even more complicated when one must follow the same spacing of the drawn lines, and also when the lines have to be retraced back exactly the same way. The participant states that in the free hand drawing he does not have to be in total control, and he has the freedom to draw as he wishes what he sees. It is why, to him, all the sketches he did from different objects were not as complicated as those done with the lines. He concluded that the first series of exercises were challenging and frustrating because he had a problem to control what he was asked to do.

Did you find these exercises coherent and helpful in understanding the tablet?

?The participant has advocated that the importance of exercises for the perception of the tablet space depends on the drawing someone wants to do. He has found the exercises helpful in a sense that they permit to better understand the transition from the small surface of the tablet to the larger one, this of the computer?s screen. According to his statement, the first set of exercises can help to those drawing more technical objects like, for example, a computer mouse, a clock, or and any other object. However, to those who want to draw and express themselves freely, he described them as not necessary.

Would you be in favour of practicing academic drawing in digital studios, but incorporating the traditional academic setting of using real models?

To this question the participant responded with considerable interest and stated that it could open new areas of artistic explorations and understanding of the drawing process. It would be also particularly challenging in many ways for the artists. The fact that one can draw on a small digital tablet an artwork of any size and style suggests a multitude of creative possibilities. He concluded his statement with the desire to be one of the first students to register for such a class.

After careful study of all the gathered data, including conclusions from the direct observation of the participant?s progress, the project, permits to believe that the application of the traditional methods of teaching drawing on digital tablets might be possible. This set of exercises could help those who have an ambition to perfect their drawing skills on digital tablets. Such an assumption still needs to be proven when conducting real research with a larger group of persons, who would be willing to participate and practice the proposed sets of exercises in order to confirm my theory. Taking into consideration research conducted earlier by Carol Faber (2009), Meneely, Jason M.S. and Sheila Danko (2007), which I have discussed already in the pilot project proposal, the technology of digital tablets has a bright future ahead. The Wacom tablet, as a new medium, most educators ignore, and it is probably why its use in large scale is missing from art education curriculum. Many art teachers see it as an unnecessary violation of their standard subjects of art teaching. In addition to this, the cost of each tablet is still considerably high. However, the most noteworthy fact that this technology, has already been on the market for over twenty years, and is just now slowly founding its place in art education in particular in Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

The project permitted me to see which exercises from the traditional method of teaching can be adapted to the digital devices. The first series of instructions concerning the perception of the tablet?s space was the most difficult for the participant, but in my opinion the most necessary to practice for anyone willing to be comfortable when either drawing, or sketching on it. Exercises of ?how to? draw various geometrical forms, including the human features, are necessary only for those students who do not posses the necessary drawing skills already. For those who know how to draw, only the first (see fig. 1) and the second (see fig. 4) part of the exercises are useful to practice their control of space, which is available to them by practicing sketching and drawing on the digital tablet. These exercises help a lot to achieve better coordination skills and space perception, not only for the digital tablets users, but also for artists practicing drawing in the traditional way on paper. Another intriguing finding was that to the participant the smaller tablet served was much better for the exercises than the larger one. Also, practicing the exercises and drawing on the iPad was quite challenging and not as comfortable as I though it could be. When drawing with the digital pen, every time the participant touched the iPad screen with his finger or any part of his hand, the document disappeared, and another app opened. This was intensely frustrating to the participant. However, when he tried to draw on the tablet with his finger, everything went remarkably well. These findings came to me as a surprise. The pilot project permitted me to see which part of the proposed exercises need to be adjusted in order to better serve the student. The first set of exercises (see fig. 1) needs to be practiced in two parts. First, should be the marks of a space on the tablet sides, then circled, and then connected by the horizontal, vertical, and transversal lines. The operation of filling and retracing the triangular spaces, created after the division with lines, should be introduced to the student after he has already well worked out the first part. It will work much better, then asking the student to do everything at the same time. This conclusion came from my observation of the participant?s practice. He did not concentrate at all on the first part but was more attentive during the second than the first. It is why the exercises from the first part are executed carelessly. However, the filling of triangular spaces in the second part and the retracing them back is much better executed in most of his drawings than in the second part. My original research project, from the course Foundations for Inquiry, was to investigate if traditional ways of teaching drawing skills could be exercised in an art studio environment using electronic devices like the Wacom tablet and the iPad. The research question was the same as for this project: How Do We Preserve the Teaching of Drawing in the Digital Age? The original research project, I proposed in theory, contained a hope to one day have the possibility to conduct it in praxis. This project allowed me to taste the theory in practice. The final results of the pilot studies proved in one part my theory, and in another made me to realize that some of my assumptions need to be reviewed, and adjusted, in order to be more effective for the student?s benefit. Furthermore, the project gave me the taste of real research and inspired me to test my theory with a larger group of participants in the near future.

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Source: http://pijet.com/2013/01/31/traditional-versus-digital-how-do-we-preserve-the-teaching-of-drawing-in-the-digital-age/

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