Sustainable Art and Design: Activating Sighting as the Phenomenon ofRepresentational Drawing

Abstract

Over the centuries, the proportion has been a strong principle in art and also in architecture,building, civil, and other engineering professions. It is an obvious fact, when the proportion isabsent in art, architectural or engineering works, the result is not only dangerous but it makes suchworks abnormal. Lack of this knowledge or deliberate refusal to use it, maybe the reason for thecollapse of buildings in some cities. This paper, therefore, intends to emphasize the use of what isgenerally called rule or unit of measure in art as a panacea to ideal proportionate artworks or evenconstruction works. The research also aims at encouraging artists to master the ideal proportionfirst before dashing into abstraction or purposeful exaggeration of forms. This will encourage moreattention in the area of realism and naturalism not only in drawing, painting or sculpture but in artgenerally. The methodology used for this quantitative research includes observation of studiopractice, literature review, and interview of a few artists and students. The paper concludes thatrule of measure contributed immensely to the huge success recorded in the Classical period of artand was also the reason for the unparalleled glory attained during the Renaissance era. Therefore,the study recommends that for a sustainable environment, schools especially art schools shouldcreate more space in their curriculum for the teaching of the rule of measure in art and alsorecommends further research on this topic