To Draw or not to Draw?

This is the question I hear many textile and surface designers struggling to answer. Actually, the question in this computer age is to draw with a pencil or with a stylus – or not to draw? To paint with a real brush or a computer brush?

I say it does not matter: Draw!

People are hungry for the depth and richness that comes with designs drawn or painted by hand. It does not matter, really, if they use a pencil or a brush or a stylus. It matters that their hand brings the design to life.

This was the key point for centuries and is still the point in fine art. Whose hand created that artwork? Is it a Vermeer painting or a copy? Is that Picasso’s gathering of flowers with a hand around it or is it a copy? It is their hand – their touch – that makes the difference.

When designers are working with us in our Studio or at Trade Shows, we listen carefully to what they want to see to inspire them. We hear more frequently now that they want to see designs “drawn by hand”.

In our world of antique printed textiles, every thing was drawn by hand at some point. Two examples I love are a circa 1830 Botanical and circa 1900 undersea design with delicately stylized waves and seaweed.

All textiles designs can inspire us if there is a human touch to the design. All good designers know it and strive for it. For example, Interior Designers who add faux painting to their projects know that handwork brings a richness and a depth that is intangible.

Handwork. Handiwork. These are words we need to use more often. Thanks to the recent Arts and Craft Revival more people are involved in making hand work and handiwork. I expect to see more of this than ever at Printsource New York, January 15th and 16th. www.printsourcenewyork.com

Next time you are in a store that carries pencils, buy a box of high quality number two pencils and see what you can draw and design – with your own hand.