Watch, Read, Listen

Ann Bermingham, professor emeritus at UC Santa Barbara, uncovers the methods used to create British drawings between the 17th and 19th centuries.

As a process of visual thinking, drawing is an art of discovery. This is true both for the artist who uses drawing to create an image and for the viewer who can see in the drawing that process of creation. For both, discovery depends on the technical manipulation of media. In drawing, the medium is the message, whether pencil, watercolor, ink, or charcoal. This talk looks at the materials and techniques of drawing and their role in the creative process.

This is the Wark Lecture in Art History.

There is a unique print found in our exhibition “100 Great British Drawings” that was almost not included. Not strictly a drawing, William Blake’s Hecate or The Night of Enitharmon’s Joy was made using a complex mix of printing techniques, drawing, and watercolor to create a hand-printed work on paper. Melinda McCurdy, our curator of British art, discusses why this is one of the most important pieces in our British drawings collection.