The Tactile Drawing Workshop provides an opportunity to explore the human body through a meaningful combination of skills, including observation, touch, and drawing. Focused on direct interaction with osteology, the workshop emphasizes the importance of touch as a valuable tool for enhancing the understanding of the skeletal system. Through the manipulation of various bones, students can refine their perception and deepen their knowledge of these particular anatomical structures. The workshop also incorporates drawing exercises that help students improve their ability to analyze and represent human anatomy, fostering creativity while strengthening visual and spatial representation skills. This learning environment fosters creativity and engagement, promoting a deeper insight into the intricacies of the human body.
O Workshop de Desenho Táctil promove uma oportunidade de exploração do corpo humano através d uma combinação de habilidades que incluem a observação, o toque e o desenho. Focado na interação direta com a osteologia, o workshop destaca a importância do toque como uma ferramenta valiosa para melhorar a compreensão do sistema esquelético. Através da manipulação de diferentes ossos, os estudantes podem melhorar a sua percepção e aprofundar o seu conhecimento acerca destas estruturas anatómicas. O workshop inclui também exercícios de desenho que ajudam os alunos a melhorar a sua capacidade de analisar e representar a anatomia humana, promovendo a criatividade enquanto fortalece as habilidades de representação visual e espacial. Este ambiente de aprendizagem promove a criatividade e o envolvimento, proporcionando uma compreensão mais profunda das complexidades do corpo humano.
WORKSHOP AIMS
- Help students develop their observation skills considering the use of drawing as a tool to learn about human anatomy.
- Emphasize the use of senses, highlighting haptic abilities, in maturing perception and subsequent drawing practice.
-Understand the advantages of haptic perception in representing the shapes and volumes present in human osteology. Consider touch as the information collector for drawing.
-Test the effectiveness of drawing exercises in understanding and memorizing the shapes and volumes analyzed in human osteology.
EXERCISE 1 – Blind Drawing
Materials: felt tip pen, A3 paper / Time: 5 to 10 min.
Objectives: recognize the importance of vision in the drawing process; synchronize sight and hand; perceive and represent the contour of observed shapes.
1 – Choose one bone to start drawing. It could be a simple one, like the fibula, or a more complex and challenging one, like the ilium. Spend a few minutes observing the selected bone, focusing on the contour that defines its shape. You will be drawing that contour.
2 – Position the bone on the opposite side of your paper. Place it on the right or left corner of your table, ensuring that you won’t be able to see the drawing as you work. You can also place the bone on the table and the paper underneath to guarantee that you won’t be picking the progress of your drawing.
3 – Focus only on your bone and don´t look at your performance as your drawing progresses. You can fix a point in the contour of your bone and let your eyes guide your hand to begin the drawing.
4 – Draw without looking away from the bone. Your sight should guide your hand in the drawing process. Let your eyes follow the contours of the bone while your hand traces the outline. It is crucial to synchronize your sight and hand so that your gaze follows the bone boundaries, and your hand records its contours.
5 – Repeat the process as many times as needed and embrace the experience of blind drawing.
EXERCISE 2 – Observational Drawing
Materials: graphite bar or pencil, choose a piece of paper that matches the scale of the bone, using a 1:1 ratio / Time: 40 minutes
Objectives: consider the importance of sight in the drawing process; observe and analyze to draw; observe the general shape and size; use your hands to find proportions and translate that information into your drawing; work in parallel with your sight and hands to gather the necessary information to start the drawing.
1 – Select one bone and carefully observe its shape and size. Analyze its proportions by using your thumb and fingers to measure the length and width. Use the space between your thumb and your finger as a reference for measuring each section if you can't measure the full length at once. This measuring process might be tricky in the beginning but try to imagine how many times the bicondylar width could fit into the length of the femur.
2 – Place the bone on the table in front of your paper. Repeat the measuring process and make light marks with your pencil to indicate the length and width of the bone, establishing the proportions and limits of your drawing. These marks should be subtle and define the initial placement of the bone on the paper.
3 – Outline the shape by observing the contour of the bone and translate that onto the paper. Draw from the outside in and start by drawing the line that defines the general shape of the bone before focusing on the inner details.
4 – Once the shape of the bone is established, identify what lies within these boundaries and try to position and draw other visible features, such as protrusions, indentations, notches, and so on. If you have specific knowledge of the bone, feel encouraged to label these elements accordingly.
EXERCISE 3 – Tactile Drawing
Materials: graphite bar or pencil, choose a piece of paper that matches the scale of the bone, using a 1:1 ratio / Time: 40 min.
Objectives: consider the importance of senses to increase perception and drawing practice; coordinate vision and touch in the drawing process; recognize the advantages of haptic perception in representing shapes and volumes in human osteology.
1 – Select the same bone that you drew in the previous exercise. Handle the bone and explore its volume, weight, size and different textures before you start the drawing.
2 – After tactile exploration, hold the bone in the opposite hand to the one that will be used for drawing. Begin by observing the bones´ volume and draw its three-dimensional forms freely, relying on the coordination between vision and touch. Let both your sight and touch, guide the drawing process. As you feel the bones´ textures with one hand, transfer that sensory information into your drawing with the other. Pause periodically to observe, rotate and touch the bone with both hands to collect more information for your drawing.
3 – Represent the volume of the bone through its textures rather than focusing on light and shadow. You can convey this information using lines, irregular marks, or areas of shading to suggest the roughness or unevenness of the surface.
EXERCISE 4 – Memory Drawing
Materials: pencil, choose a piece of paper that matches the scale of the bone, using a 1:1 ratio / Time: 40 min.
Objectives: use your memory as a starting point for drawing; create a memory drawing while considering the representation of the previously depicted bone; focus on form and proportion; develop visual memory through drawing.
1 – Recall the drawings previously made. This is a bold request, but remember that you’ve learned from the process. You’ve spent time observing, touching, and figuring out how to draw one or two bones, so you should be able to recall key details.
2 – Mentally identify the general shape of the analyzed bone and start by sketching it with contour lines. Imagine you're creating a map, marking the space the bone occupies on your paper. Once that’s done, focus on pinpointing key features that will help identify the bone. You can also draw freely as your memory integrates the information from previous exercises.
3 – Focus on form and proportion mainly. Don’t worry about volume, light or shadow, that´s not the goal of this exercise.
4 – Draw without a safety net, fear or preconceptions. Use the contour as a constructive strategy for drawing. Draw slowly and analyze the contours being inscribed on the paper, simultaneously questioning what can be improved.
