Drawings are everywhere. Daubed on ancient cave walls and projected on screens. Drawings helps us describe science, depict emotions and discover. Yet many of us laid aside drawing - or more simply, mark-making - in childhood, thereby losing a rich and varied way to tell our stories.

This book gathers research evidence to demonstrate the substantial value of drawing for health, healthcare and improving wellbeing. It is for anyone interested in engaging in drawing - the low-cost, low-tech, and flexible process which is easily tailored to clients, parents, carers and professionals.

The activities featured in the book are distilled from the author's experience of two decades facilitating drawing. Drawing is easily integrated in health and wellbeing contexts and benefits both our mental and physical health. Practically, it can record observations, make visual notes, invite the telling of important stories, improve stress and anxiety, express feelings, and explain complexities. This important book encourages readers to enjoy mark-making once again and learn that thinking through drawing is a powerful life skill that enriches health and wellbeing.

About the Author

Dr Curie Scott is an independent Education and Arts and Health consultant, coach and artist. Qualified in medicine, science and education, her knowledge and research span Arts and Health. She is an award-winning teacher, having taught hundreds of health professional students. She featured in 'Make Craft Britain' (a BBC programme on the joy of making).

Reviews
This immensely practical and readable book is a significant contribution to thinking about how drawing can be used for a variety of practical purposes, and also emphasises the extent to which drawing can be a positive agent for wellbeing. It is underpinned by sound scholarship, but wears its erudition lightly, so we as readers will learn not only how to use drawing as a creative process but can also gain confidence in drawing ourselves. -- Sally Brown, Independent consultant and Emerita professor of Leeds Beckett University
This inspiring book is a gift to readers who thought they had left the pleasure of drawing behind in childhood. Packed with examples and ideas, it demonstrates and encourages the potential for cognition and wellbeing that is unlocked simply by picking up a pencil. Educators and professionals of all kinds will find numerous resources within its pages for creatively enriching their work with students and clients. -- Professor Charlotte Sleigh, Department of Science and Technology Studies, UCL, and author of The Paper Zoo: 500 Years of Animals in Art (British Library, 2016)
As a self-professed 'person who can't draw' this book was very liberating - showing the deep connection as humans we have to drawing, and that we draw for many reasons and in different ways during our lifetimes. Drawing can help convey often complex ideas and emotions in a more meaningful way than plain text. Curie highlights how we can use drawing in our personal and professional lives, and I would recommend it to health and social care professionals and students in training as well as anyone with an interest in rekindling or developing their interest in drawing. I commend Curie for writing (and drawing!) such an accessible book that can be read sequentially or dipping into chapters of interest depending on your mood. -- Professor Inam Haq, Associate Dean Education, faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney, Australia
This book gives examples of skills that can be used and developed by novice and experienced 'sketch makers'. By expanding drawing methods to include different senses and methodologies the author is able to engender a spirit of freedom to explore and personalise mark making and drawing for different purposes both at an individual level and in collaboration with others. Her experiences as a medical practitioner, teacher and artist give her a valuable insight into the practical application and many uses and purposes of drawing. -- Jenny Wright PhD, Independent artist researcher

Curie Scott offers readers an engaging and well-crafted account of the significance of drawing in practice. As a researcher who incorporates visual, creative, and participatory modes in their own work, I have developed a deep appreciation of the value of drawing to engender reflexivity, organise thinking, and generate different ways of seeing and representing everyday worlds. This book is important as it brings together different histories, traditions and methods which foreground the usefulness of drawing.

-- Dr Dawn Mannay, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University

I am just so thrilled that Curie has written this lovely book. She shows us how and why we all need to be reintroduced to the joy of drawing - surely the first and most universal of arts. Its therapeutic, soothing qualities and ready ability to make and record meaning make drawing more important than just mark making. It prolongs our focus and gives us time to reflect more deeply on the small beauties around us.

-- Dr. Jonathan Barnes, Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Canterbury Christ Church University, National Teaching Fellow 2015

Curie's book is a brilliant overview of the potential of drawing as an educational tool to support learning. It details drawing practices and exercises that Curie has developed in her extensive work with health practitioners and university colleagues over the years. It is a very useful text for teachers who want to enhance children's thinking and literacies through multimodal approaches.

-- Dr Kate Smith, Senior Lecturer Childhood and Early Childhood Studies, Canterbury Christ Church University

Drawing provides an excellent summative account of the wide range of methods and benefits of drawing. Far from being the privilege of artists, Curie convinces the reader that drawing offers means of expression and communication surpassing verbal means of expression to all, regardless of training, background or perceived drawing ability.

-- Dr Doris Rohr, Senior Lecturer in Fine Art, Liverpool Hope University
What a practical, philosophical, and engaging view of drawing, what Curie refers to as 'mark making'. Alongside the ways this book opens up liberating possibilities for how we can use drawing with adults, it provides such an expansive orientation to what counts as drawing for children and young people. I am excited to see this book become a guide for all educators interested in multimodal learning. -- Claudia Mitchell, Distinguished James McGill Professor, McGill University

Spanning the emotional joy of drawing to clear methods of approach, Scott builds a thoughtful case for the 'why' behind picking up a pencil to make a mark. I'd say it's a must-read for anyone concerned with collective understanding and planetary wellbeing!

-- Kelvy Bird, Co-Founder, Presencing Institute and author, Generative Scribing: A Social Art of the 21st Century

Drawing is an easily accessible publication making it an ideal introductory text for those interested in the uses and methods of drawing within healthcare. More broadly, the inclusion of examples of drawing exercises, methods and media, make the publication appealing to those wishing to re-engage with drawing as a tool for expression and learning.

-- Dr Deborah Harty, Co-director of TRACEY and the Drawing Research Network, Loughborough University

Curie has made me realise where I was already using drawing in my work, encouraged me to think more about using drawing for therapeutic benefit and has given me the confidence to experiment and use drawing in a wider range of work. This book is an interesting clear read for any health professional who doesn't think they use drawing but will probably find they have already started on the journey into drawing. It will encourage you to experiment and give you another therapeutic tool.

-- Dr Elizabeth Field, Clinical Psychologist

Strategies for promoting and enhancing health and wellbeing abound, but for many, the question is how can we apply these to our own lives? And the answer is here in this glorious book. Exquisitely crafted and illustrated, it offers hope, insights and stepping stones to embracing the creativity within. The techniques can be adapted to 'lock down life' and shared communally, digitally - or - face-to-face. A book that transcends the pandemic.

-- Debbie Holley, Professor of Learning Innovation, Bournemouth University

Curie Scott's engaging and readable work challenges the way we think about the value of drawing. She makes a convincing case for reconsidering the place of drawing in intellectual and educational hierarchies, presenting evidence for its transformative effects. This book is wide-ranging in its scope, intermingling theory, case studies and practical guidance, accompanied by a useful list of sources for getting started. The book is flavoured with insights from Scott's experience as a doctor, educator and artist. The book views drawing through a healthcare lens, but it is likely to be of interest to anyone in favour of championing creativity.

-- Giskin Day, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London

Alongside writing, reading and arithmetic, drawing is the fourth skill that we each need to prosper in our life and health. Drawing comes before writing: it is an innate act of personal expression and non-verbal communication. Yet, we soon lose touch with our ability to draw, it is being squeezed out of the curriculum, displaced by the monitor and mouse, and as adults we quickly lose the connection between eye, hand, and the graphic mark.

-- Professor Paul Gough, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, Arts University Bournemouth



Book Information
ISBN 9781838673284
Author Dr Curie Scott
Format Paperback
Page Count 208
Imprint Emerald Publishing Limited
Publisher Emerald Publishing Limited