Gallery 01:14

The Poetry of the Material Drawing is an act of the senses. The surface of the paper under your fingertips, the smell of a freshly sharpened pencil, the rasp of its point, a slight metallic taste on your tongue from the graphite dust. The hardness of the pencil and the way you press it against the paper will determine whether the lines are narrow and light grey or wide and black. Sometimes they will have a silver sheen. Charcoal can float lightly on the surface of the paper or be smudged into dark clouds. Watercolour pigments spread silently along the fibres of the paper from the point where you put the brush down until there is no moisture left to carry the pigments any further. Then they stop and settle closer together, deepening the hue. With ink, on the other hand, the pigment adheres more quickly and follows a more defined path across the paper. A drawing can be subtle, or bold and powerful. It can extend beyond the paper to become a sculptural object or represent an act that conveys more than what meets the eye, as in Yoko Ono’s Touch Poem. Take a deep breath. Can you smell the graphite on the paper? Outside this room, you can sit at one of the drawing tables and create a work of your own.