TEACHING POINTS

Drawings vs. words

Q: What is the difference between a drawing of a shoe and the word 'shoe'?

Words and images are two different kinds of signs, or ways we have of describing or referring to the world. One of the main differences between them is that a visual image works by being in some way 'similar' to what it describes. The drawing of the shoe is likely to have a similar shape to the shoe. No matter what language you speak, you would probably be able to tell that this is a drawing of a shoe, because it resembles a shoe visually. (However, different cultures have developed different ways of drawing according to what they want the drawing to do - see cultural perspectives below)

When it comes to language, the word 'shoe' only means shoe because in the English language we've all agreed that it means shoe. In Bengali, a different combination of marks would mean shoe. If you didn't know the word, there is no way of guessing that that arrangement of marks means shoe.

example: In Simon Faithfull's work, some of his drawings include words. Some are in English and some are in another language.

script small

If you don't know English or the other language, is there any way you could guess what these marks mean?

A further, more complex point is that a word written in a language you don't know functions more like an image than like a word. Because you can't read the word, you are more aware of the shape and pattern the letters make. If you know the language, you see past the pattern of the letters to what the word means.

Distance and space

Q: Is there any way of telling which things in a drawing are closer to you and which are farther away?

size of objects - closer objects may be drawn larger, far away ones drawn smaller

overlap of objects - closer objects may be partly in front of more distant ones

up and down - closer objects may be drawn lower in the picture, distant ones higher.

outside examples: size change to indicate distance - any fixed point perspective drawing (Canaletto) up and down to indicate distance, without change in scale - (Chinese drawings, Japanese prints, medieval images)

crane

alley

Q: Why might we draw some things big and others small in a drawing?

There are different reasons for changes of scale in a drawing.

1 - as a way of showing the acutal size of big and small objects

2 - as way of showing how far things are away from the person drawing ( perspective)

3 - as a way of indicating relative importance. Examples might be Egyptian drawings where those of higher rank are depicted larger or young children's drawings where the most significant features are drawn larger.