HAVE HUMANS ALWAYS USED DRAWING?

Humans have been creating art for over 73,000 years. An abstract crayon-on-stone piece was discovered in a South African cave; the earliest-known example of visual art in the form of drawing. Archaeologists have discovered pieces of bone engraved with geometric patterns, ochre-rich paint stored in large snail shells and crayon residue – all evidence of prehistoric humans experimenting with traditional media to display their own visual language. This art was thought to tell scenes of life before the existence of writing. Evidence of this was found in both caves of early humans and those of Neanderthals. April Nowell states that the fact both prehistoric humans and Neanderthals began drawing around the same time could just be coincidence as ‘humans’ “modern” behaviour developed gradually, and other related species might well have developed elements of the repertoire themselves.’ (1). It’s believed that we all have a natural inclination to draw, as children grow, for example, they experiment with making marks on paper because it is a natural process for them.

During the beginning of the antiquity, drawing was used for communication in a practical way – such as use of pictorial images and hieroglyphics. Stories, myths and figures were among the commonly drawn themes during this time period, and this art was beginning to be adapted for decorative purposes on pottery and large wall frescoes. Sculpture also began being taught in schools, which allowed for improvement of these skills and techniques.

Drawing became an independent and recognised art form around the 15th century, with artists from Italy, such as Giovannino de’Grassi and Antonio Pisanello, creating nature studies and copies of antiques in their sketchbooks. At the end of the Middle Ages, we see a revolution in the way of drawing – with new tools being used such as the black stone pencil, graphite and charcoal. A fascination with the human body meant live models were used to perfect proportions, depth, perspective and use of shadows. Following this teaching, scenes from the Bible and realistic portrait commissions (such as those for royalty) grew in popularity.