drawing horse

Recently, the practice of visual note-taking has gained an enlivening momentum again. You could also call it: visual thinking, illustrated notes, doodle explain, words + pictures, write and draw, and your sketchbook page. Try it out yourself. Let drawing mingle with writing in your own world and absorb all the results as you immerse yourself in it farther and farther. There has always been some form of visual note-taking out there so don't worry about doing something right or wrong, it's all yours to grab and explore. Sketch and write. Draw it to learn it.

 "...the ideal record of laboratory work in Zoology consists of both drawing and notes." -Maurice Bigelow, Teaching of Botany and Nature Study, 1904


This practice goes by a lot of different names and so branding is popular in this area (like using the trade marked name Claymation instead of calling it what it is, stop-motion animation). Regardless of what you call it or whose method you want to look into, it has stood the test of time and the importance of actually holding a drawing tool and using it to bring your non-solid thoughts into a solid world will continue on.

Below is a sketchbook page from 1999 that contains its own mixture of drawing and writing. The notes were created during a conversation between an artist and teacher about possible ideas for a kids art project.

 

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