Importance of hand drawing skills in addition to computer graphics

[Cad64 125]

Links to a couple interesting articles emphasizing the importance of maintaining and growing hand drawing skills in addition to computer graphic skills.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/opinion/sunday/architecture-and-the-lost-art-of-drawing.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all&

 

http://www.architects.org/architectureboston/articles/mind-and-hand-drawing-idea

[ReMark 86]

Even when I'm sitting at my CAD computer I have a pad and a pencil nearby to rough out designs and such.

[Organic 11]

Could I draft on paper? No, probably not [i'd give it a go though]. I remember doing technical drawing and hating it.

 

However, I do draw sketches all the time (similar to the referential sketches referred to in the first article). These might be messy and drawn on the back of an envelope or scrap piece of paper with whatever pen/pencil I was holding at the time although if they help me or someone else understand what it is I am trying to convey then it is a success.

[ReMark 86]

I still have all my drafting tools so when that massive solar flare happens and all power is knocked out at least I can fall back on my manual drafting skills. LoL

[PotGuy 10]

I think there are a few threads here with that debate on it, no?

[tzframpton 34]

Great post, Cad64. Those who have seen my guitar rendering post in my signature, I scanned some of my hand drawings to provide testimony that hand drafting/drawing/sketching is still a great thing to practice.

 

I love the quote in the downloadable PDF from the second linked article:

"It is often said that Leonardo drew so well because he knew about things; it is truer to say that he knew about things because he drew so well. -Kenneth Clark"

[RobDraw 29]

I have not read the articles yet but here's some food for thought.

 

We've reached a stage here that the designers are using AutoCAD to sketch out initial layouts instead of doing mark-ups for the Reviteers to model. We are also trying out electronic mark-up software that works with Revit and is very mobile.

[Middle 10]

drawing is such a quick way to get ideas down, and i much prefer having multiple sketches in-front of me to follow the thought pattern than editing a design til its unrecognizable from the initial spark.

[tzframpton 34]

drawing is such a quick way to get ideas down, and i much prefer having multiple sketches in-front of me to follow the thought pattern than editing a design til its unrecognizable from the initial spark.

I agree. When I have a sheet of paper in front of me, pens and pencils seem to make things happen much more intuitively when my hand starts transferring ideas in my mind down to the paper. The main thing is, I can focus. I don't have to use effort to mentally "drive" CAD software when I'm conceptualizing.

[coolvj 10]

I think drawing is the best way to put ideas on paper. Great post.