Pete at the Royal College of Art 1969
Drawing
For a sculptor, drawing is an essential skill. By this I mean not just one kind of drawing, but the ability to use a wide range of draughtman’s conventions, from those which re-present the observable world to those which “visualise” the invisible (diagrams) or the not yet visible (proposals for future work). Not least of these is the humble “working drawing”, which can also be sub-divided into various forms, from the thumb-nail sketch to the full-size precision template.
Drawing enables the imaginative appraisal, in rehearsal so to speak, of alternative ways of shaping and joining forms before the often irreversible commitment to materials begins. The working drawings of sculptors and craftsmen, as well as designers, architects and engineers, are by their nature full of information, which itself can be highly codified or intentionally transparent. But they can also be very beautiful, independently of the more public pieces which they were initially intended to serve.
Peter Bevan - Propositions - Thinking Through Drawing 1997
