How Research Based Artwork applies to Painting & Drawing

 That's an excellent clarification! Applying a research-based approach to drawing and painting can transform them from purely expressive or representational works into profound methods of inquiry and knowledge-making.

Here is how research applies specifically to your skills in drawing and painting:

🖌️ Research-Driven Drawing & Painting

When research informs a two-dimensional practice, it typically influences the subject matter, methodology, and material choices of the work.

1. Subject Matter as Research Focus

The research defines what you are drawing or painting, often moving beyond simple observation to investigate a specific idea or phenomenon:

 * Historical/Archival Inquiry: You could research the history of a specific location (e.g., a former textile mill in Pennsylvania) and use your findings—old photographs, documents, maps—as the sole source material for a series of paintings that attempt to visually reconstruct and interpret that history. The research focuses on memory and documentation.

 * Scientific Visualization: You could research a complex biological or physical process (like the life cycle of a koala, one of your interests, or the fractal patterns of nature) and use drawing as a way to systematically understand and represent its structure. The research focuses on structure and system.

 * Thematic Deep Dive: If you wanted to explore a social or psychological theme, like "nostalgia" or "belonging," your research might involve collecting personal stories (interviews) or reading theoretical texts. The paintings then become visual interpretations of these abstract concepts. The research focuses on narrative and abstraction.

2. Method as a Research Protocol

The way you paint or draw becomes the method for generating knowledge. This is known as Practice-Led Research (PLR).

 * Serial Investigation: Creating a large series of drawings or paintings under a strict set of rules (e.g., painting the same landscape at the same time every day for a month, or using only three specific colors). The constraint and repetition are the research protocol, and the resulting collection reveals knowledge about light, time, or consistency.

 * Material Experimentation: You research historical pigments, binders, or alternative surfaces. For instance, researching ancient fresco techniques and attempting to recreate or modernize them. The final paintings become a physical record of the material research itself, focusing on materiality and process.

 * Translational Practice: You could research a piece of music (given your interest in music and the flute) or a poem, and develop a systematic method to translate its structure, rhythm, or emotional arc directly into marks on a canvas. The drawing process is the research into inter-media translation.

3. The Artwork as the Findings

The final artwork is not just the result; it is the visual dissemination of the research findings.

 * It presents the data, the interpretation, and the questions raised through the creative process in a format that engages the viewer intellectually and emotionally.

 * The research often provides a context for the work that elevates its meaning. A drawing of a common object becomes powerful when you know it's the result of months of research into the object's cultural significance or its supply chain.

Research-based painting and drawing require you to be a scholar-artist—a designer, historian, or scientist as well as a creator. It provides a structured, academic backbone to your creative expression, which aligns perfectly with your college studies.

Would you like to explore some practical examples of research-based drawing projects that could inform your Digital Multimedia Design portfolio?