Drawn to Discover: Cognitive Interactions Underlying Contemporary Artists’ Drawing Practices

• In Event: Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Examinations of Arts Creation, Performance, and Space

Abstract

Drawing is a tool for thought which considerably expands the kind and depth of knowledge available through words and numbers alone. How can educators use recent cognitive science to understand better how drawing can empower students’ thinking, learning and meaning-making? In this interdisciplinary translational research, contemporary artists’ drawing practices were investigated using theory and methods from cognitive psychology. The purpose of the study was to develop a theoretical and practical foundation for educational applications of drawing as a tool for critical and creative thought in the classroom. It highlighted valuable cognitive and behavioral aspects of established drawing practices and pedagogies and laid the basis for new pedagogical approaches that take full advantage of expert strategies this research uncovered.

Author

• Andrea Kantrowitz