Whereas we acknowledge that drawing as process and product within the visual arts is complex and wide ranging, this study concentrates on testing the effectiveness of different pedagogical strategies for enhancing accuracy as a learning objective in drawing from observation. Based on our collective experience teaching observational drawing, we…

In this paper, I review the empirical evidence for advantages in visual perception and attention that may be associated with high levels of drawing skill. Particularly in the last few decades, some substantial progress on these issues has been made, although frequently with inconsistent or even contradictory results across studies, some…

Whilst the faculties of literacy and numeracy are rightly recognised as worthy of pedagogical nurturing, this article champions a more venerable articulacy -- "visualcy" -- crucial to a healthy culture, arguing that the one domain of human inquiry which distinguishes the visual arts from other disciplines is surely that surrounding the…

The attempt to record visual experience has been of central importance to many artists throughout the history of art. Vision itself is made up of many processes, both psychological and physiological, and is still only partially understood. This paper presents research into an aspect of visual experience descried as "close-up double…

Author suggests teaching the principles of perspective outdoors where pupils can sketch neighboring trees, houses and streets. These sessions can be followed by painting lessons in which the use of color to gain perspective is then emphasized. Author includes useful hints and questions to evaluate students' grasp of subject. (PD)

A K-12 visual arts program in Ontario, Canada, which used observational drawing to increase students' visual observation skills is described. Students had to observe and draw objects associated with intimate use, objects that were physically more distant and unfamiliar, and objects in the rural countryside. (RM)

In this article, the authors designed a study to explore what children's own drawings reveal about their viewing skills and to examine the interplay between visual and verbal literacies. Specifically, the authors wanted to determine how two communication systems--visual and verbal literacies--contribute to children's abilities to extract meaning…

This paper illustrates and explains the relationship between drawing ability and spatial and visual-perceptual ability; it defines those terms and explores their connection to intelligence and information processing as well as their potential implications for education and training. Discussion covers results of recent studies, which suggest that…

Papers by graduate students, and occasionally papers from their mentors which establish a context for the student papers, are organized by sponsoring University. Student papers presented are: (1) "Sequencing as a Student Strategy" (Elisabeth Hartung); (2) "The Role of the Horse as Subject Matter in Adolescent Girls' Artwork" (Alanna…

Papers by graduate students, and occasionally papers from their mentors which establish a context for the student papers, are organized by sponsoring University. Student papers presented are: (1) "Cognitive Strategy in Design: The Measurement of its Effect On the Student Design Project" (Michael Eckersley); (2) "The Effects of…