PLAN DE DESSIN

This first draft of the Plan de Dessin attempts to map the bigger picture of drawing using a method similar to Harry Beck’s classic 1931 map of the layout of the London Underground.

In my Plan de Dessin there are five functional lines: Line 1 is concerned with decorative outcomes, Line 2 control systems, Line 3 the development of ideas, Line 4 the communication of instructions, Line 5 the recording of information and Line 6 play. These six ‘Lines’ are to my mind what constitutes drawing. On the plan each station is the translation of a multidimensional event into two that for the purposes of this ‘Bigger Picture’ is my definition of drawing. The junctions are the points where lines converge and working methods interconnect.

Feedback 

This plan is just a beginning: the aim is to gradually improve it. To achieve this goal can I encourage you to make corrections, additions and deletions, and return this map to R. Man at Chelsea College of Art, 16 John Islip Street, London, SW1P 4JU.
A second revised edition is planned for May 2007.
Copyright Stephen Farthing

1st Edition: Autumn 2006
A drawing of the Bigger Picture of Drawing
By Stephen Farthing

Download a PDF mappdf

map