The following is my repose the the documentary The Secret of Drawing Episode 1: The Line of Enquiry:
I always suspected that drawing could enhance my abilities as an engineer. I am, of course, familiar with Leonardo da Vinci’s contribution to the science: his siege weapons, his obsession with flying machines, his beautifully rendered mechanical diagrams. Unfamiliar to me is the work of John Russell, and his elaborate studies of the moon, explicitly detailing it long before photography had the capability to match. George Stubbs also created accurate drawings of horses by digging beneath their skin to study their anatomy. Through drawing, Stubbs was able to record horses’ inner workings to inform his own work and to preserve the knowledge for future scientists. All three of these artists were ahead of their time in scientific documentation.
Today, computers can be used to generate drawings with far greater complexity and precision, beyond what any of them could have dreamed. I am sure that they would have leapt at an opportunity to use modern software and conduct their research in greater detail. Still, even with the best we have to offer, they would have had to put their drawing skills to use. Before technology can be employed, rough sketches need to be created and shown to other people for better collaboration. Francis Wells displays this mentality perfectly, using ink to describe his procedures before he must complete them. I intend to mimic his, and the others, use of drawing in engineering as a practical tool to take me further down my chosen path.