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Analytical drawing - AQAWhy do analytical drawing?

Artists use analytical drawing techniques to explore and record their subject matter. Designers also often use analytical drawing to investigate the visual qualities of their sources of inspiration.

Part of Art and DesignPortfolio and External Assessment

Why do analytical drawing?

Artist Kate Powell explains the importance of analytical drawing for practising skills and exploring tone, form and composition.

Student contour drawing of shell
Analytical drawing can include contour drawings that describe outlines and basic forms of your subject, as shown in this student artwork

The more you look at your , the better your drawing will be. When you are making a closely-observed drawing you should spend more time looking than you do drawing. Remember to look carefully at:

  • shapes
  • spaces
  • relationships between objects or parts of your composition
  • light and shadows
  • texture
  • key details
  • the whole
A collection of labelled flower drawings
This student has used different techniques to capture different aspects of the flowers such as colour, texture and overall shape

Consider important , such as line, tone, texture, color, shape and form. Each study could focus on different visual elements. Each visual element will suggest different materials and techniques that are suitable fo the quality being explored.

A student drawing a shell from real life (primary source) and also from a photo on a laptop (secondary source)

Primary sources

It is a good idea to work from a where possible. This means producing drawings by observing real objects or from drawing on location. An alternative would be to take your own photographs.

An advantage of using primary source rather than is that the artist can explore the scene, object or person from many different viewpoints and in different conditions. The source material can also be revisited if an idea requires further investigation.

Still life sketch of a dog lead, glass bottle, apple and rose
This student has used primary sources by drawing a collection of household items with different textures

Secondary sources

Sometimes, artists and designers draw from found images, for example from books or the internet. Depending on the selected , working from secondary source may be unavoidable. However, images should be carefully selected so that development of ideas is not limited later on.

Question

What is the difference between a primary and secondary source?

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Types of analytical drawing

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