January 17th 2025
The Importance of Drawing, Tilly Cummings, Head of Art
For this month’s Spotlight on Art, I want to highlight one of the most fundamental skills in the subject: drawing. Far more than just creating beautiful images, drawing plays a vital role in developing observation, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills that are valuable across all areas of learning—not just Art. In our lessons, drawing allows pupils to express their ideas, build confidence, and refine their fine motor skills. It also teaches patience and perseverance as students improve through practice.
The importance of drawing extends far beyond the art world. It underpins careers such as architecture, engineering, fashion design, product development, and even medicine, where precise visual skills are essential. Many years ago, I explored the connections between Science and Art in my dissertation. From Leonardo da Vinci’s detailed anatomical studies and early flying machine designs to Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s intricate drawings of brain cell structures, I discovered countless examples of how drawing has inspired and advanced scientific discovery across disciplines.
Whether sketching plans, designing prototypes, or interpreting complex systems, drawing fosters creativity, precision, and innovation in many professional fields. This is why drawing is at the heart of every project in our Art curriculum at Moulsford. Most topics begin with the task of drawing, often from observation. For example, this term, Year 2 have been exploring the shape and texture of sea shells, while Year 6 are honing their shading techniques by focusing on close-up images of vehicles.
From simple line drawings to fully rendered sketches, focusing on drawing as a starting point helps students develop a deeper understanding of form, texture, and detail. This solid foundation enables them to explore creatively and achieve success across a wide range of artistic mediums.
However, drawing doesn’t always have to involve pencil and paper. It could be using a stick to draw lines in the sand, creating a row of stitches on fabric, or even lining up toy cars in a pattern. As Pablo Picasso famously said, "Every child is an artist."
