16th July 2013, 01:48 PM
Lesson 9 Drawing is an art........ but also a science[SIZE=2]
In commercial archaeology, the practitioner will often be left to draw a section and plan their intervention with little or no input from a supervisor.
Like photography, drawing of sections and plans is important as these form the bulk of the archive that will be deposited for future generations to pour over. On many commercial sites once an area is planned it is released to the client for destruction.
It is vitally important that sections and plans are accurate representations of what you have dug and not a quick hand sketch of what you think is there or an artists impression of what a ditch, pit, hearth...etc should be.
It takes time, practice and training to become adept at section/ plan drawing. Some people are naturally better at it, but everyone can/ should do it. No lesson can replace practical experience but here are a few pointers......
Learn from those around you. If someone produces better drawings than you, ask nicely how they do it.
Keep your pencil sharp. A sharp pencil keeps your drawings neat.
If drawing a dash or dot-dash line keep the gaps between dashes small, big gaps make a drawing look messy and reduces accuracy.
Each section/ plan is a scale drawing. Once completed stand back from what you were drawing and see if it looks anything like what you have drawn. If not, something has gone wrong.
There should be no rulers used. Nature abhors a straight line. Unless of course you are drawing something that was cut/built exactly straight.
Don't EVER join your measured dots with straight lines...this is not join the dots.
Measure enough points, preferably where the 'line/edge/interface' you are drawing changes direction to sketch in a smooth line between.
[/SIZE][SIZE=2]Each plan is a scale drawing. You can check your final drawing by measuring the length of stones/edges or distances/sections that[/SIZE] run at angles to your grid on the ground then see if they are the same length on your drawing.
Inaccuracies in the grid make inaccuracies in your drawings. Measure the grid three times, draw once.
Check your section against your plan! it should be the same width, depth, length and shape on both.
With deposits, draw what you see. Detail stones, worm holes, lumps of re-deposited natural etc etc. The more detail the easier the interpretation. Sometimes a weirdly shaped interface between deposits is an indicator of something important e.g. backfilling, slumping, re-cutting etc.
Any drawing requires interpretation of what you are looking at. Interpretation takes time and experience. Get several people to look at your section/area and ask what they see...'borrow their eyes'. Experienced eyes are tuned into the indicators of formation processes.
In commercial archaeology, the practitioner will often be left to draw a section and plan their intervention with little or no input from a supervisor.
Like photography, drawing of sections and plans is important as these form the bulk of the archive that will be deposited for future generations to pour over. On many commercial sites once an area is planned it is released to the client for destruction.
It is vitally important that sections and plans are accurate representations of what you have dug and not a quick hand sketch of what you think is there or an artists impression of what a ditch, pit, hearth...etc should be.
It takes time, practice and training to become adept at section/ plan drawing. Some people are naturally better at it, but everyone can/ should do it. No lesson can replace practical experience but here are a few pointers......
Learn from those around you. If someone produces better drawings than you, ask nicely how they do it.
Keep your pencil sharp. A sharp pencil keeps your drawings neat.
If drawing a dash or dot-dash line keep the gaps between dashes small, big gaps make a drawing look messy and reduces accuracy.
Each section/ plan is a scale drawing. Once completed stand back from what you were drawing and see if it looks anything like what you have drawn. If not, something has gone wrong.
There should be no rulers used. Nature abhors a straight line. Unless of course you are drawing something that was cut/built exactly straight.
Don't EVER join your measured dots with straight lines...this is not join the dots.
Measure enough points, preferably where the 'line/edge/interface' you are drawing changes direction to sketch in a smooth line between.
[/SIZE][SIZE=2]Each plan is a scale drawing. You can check your final drawing by measuring the length of stones/edges or distances/sections that[/SIZE] run at angles to your grid on the ground then see if they are the same length on your drawing.
Inaccuracies in the grid make inaccuracies in your drawings. Measure the grid three times, draw once.
Check your section against your plan! it should be the same width, depth, length and shape on both.
With deposits, draw what you see. Detail stones, worm holes, lumps of re-deposited natural etc etc. The more detail the easier the interpretation. Sometimes a weirdly shaped interface between deposits is an indicator of something important e.g. backfilling, slumping, re-cutting etc.
Any drawing requires interpretation of what you are looking at. Interpretation takes time and experience. Get several people to look at your section/area and ask what they see...'borrow their eyes'. Experienced eyes are tuned into the indicators of formation processes.
lets not forget that it is also horses for courses. - however I have just taught a 2 day survey course. starting at trig, taped survey, plane table before getting to Total Station and GPS. what we don't need now is a monkey that can push a button. we need skilled staff who know why they push the button. and what to do when the button says no signal 
