Art and Design: Fine Art - 4FA1 PearsonEdexcel

Drawing

Overview

Drawing is the only area of study in Fine Art that is also the engine of all the others. A painting is planned in drawing, a lino block is drawn before it is cut, a sculpture is worked out in a sketchbook and then walked around and drawn again from the back. But drawing is not merely preparation. A charcoal study of a chair, made in an hour by someone paying complete attention, is a finished work of art, and examiners treat it as one.

This note is about the drawing itself: the mark and what makes it descriptive or expressive, the behaviour of graphite, charcoal, conte, chalk, ink and digital media, the surface underneath which is quietly doing half the work, and the two dials you control on every drawing you make, which are how long you spend and how big you go. Six artists show what happens when those decisions are taken seriously.

Objectives

Use expressive and descriptive mark-making to record and communicate ideas
Use a range of drawing materials, media and techniques such as graphite, pastel, charcoal, ink, chalk, digital drawing applications and a range of drawing surfaces

Lesson Note

The specification says something unusually direct about this area of study: drawing takes many forms, from two-dimensional mark-making to lines made with materials that define three-dimensional space, and it can be critical and accurate as well as exploratory and experimental. Read that twice, because it licenses far more than a careful pencil study. A length of wire bent in the air is a drawing. A line scratched into wet plaster is a drawing. A thirty-second scribble that catches the way a person is standing is a drawing, and in a portfolio it is often worth more than the polished one next to it.

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Lesson Evaluation

Congratulations on completing the lesson on Drawing. Now that youve explored the key concepts and ideas, its time to put your knowledge to the test. This section offers a variety of practice questions designed to reinforce your understanding and help you gauge your grasp of the material.

You will encounter a mix of question types, including multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and essay questions. Each question is thoughtfully crafted to assess different aspects of your knowledge and critical thinking skills.

Use this evaluation section as an opportunity to reinforce your understanding of the topic and to identify any areas where you may need additional study. Don't be discouraged by any challenges you encounter; instead, view them as opportunities for growth and improvement.

Which drawing exercise is designed specifically to record the action, weight and overall proportion of a subject before any detail is attempted? A) Blind contour drawing B) Gesture drawing C) Sustained tonal study D) Analytical drawing Answer: B
Why is willow charcoal usually preferred to compressed charcoal in the early stages of a large drawing? A) It is darker B) It lifts easily with a putty rubber, so the drawing can still be changed C) It does not need fixative D) It works only on toned paper Answer: B
A student works with black and white conte on mid grey Ingres paper. What is the paper itself supplying? A) The darkest dark B) The highlights C) The middle value D) The negative shapes Answer: C
Which of the following counts as a primary source for a Fine Art drawing project? A) A photograph of a market found on a website B) A drawing copied from a book C) A study drawn in front of the object itself D) A description of a drawing in an article Answer: C
The term tooth, applied to a drawing paper, refers to: A) Its weight in grams per square metre B) The microscopic roughness that holds dry media C) The whiteness of the sheet D) Its resistance to water Answer: B