( from the LARCH-L LISTSERV,)
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 09:47:59 -0600
From: Jory Johnson <joryjohn@UX1.CSO.UIUC.EDU>
Subject: Pencil Fantasy
To: LARCH-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
WHAT IF COMPUTERS HAD BEEN INVENTED BEFORE PENCILS AND PENS? Here at Maryland, we're fully committed to the graphite age. Being able to sketch ideas with nothing more than a piece of paper and a pencil liberates landscape architects from computer terminals, printers, and modem lines. If the profession is going to be a leader, we must go graphite! > Midas Pihlak I agree. I was able to get a high paying job with Rouse Associates because I was able to sit down with clients and sketch ideas RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. I couldn't have done it with a computer and monitor. Drawing with pencils really enables clients to see your process . . . it's so much more immediate and tactile than computers. I wouldn't have a career if I hadn't gone graphite! >Tamela Michaels I think it's important to teach drawing, not penciling. Certainly drawing with pencil is very powerful and expressive for people used to computers, but fancy drawing techniques are not an end in themselves. We want to teach penciling, not pencils. I will be organizing a graphite forum at CELA to discuss the impact of pencils on design education. >Steve Erwin Yes, pencils are wonderful and there is a lot you can do with pencils that you can't do with computers, but has landscape architecture really changed? Trees are still trees even if some of them are now being used to make pencils. >Patrick Condon Of course budget is always a problem. We're trying to decide to whether to require students to buy pencils. Of course, some argue that lead holders will eventually replace wood pencils and that it's unfair to ask students to purchase technology that will soon be outdated. But right now, lead holders are far too expensive for students. >Jim Palmer In our "Fully Graphite and Ink Studio" each student has a Koh-i-nor lead holder with hb, 2h, and 4h leads, a brass lead points from Charrette, and an electric eraser with 12v power and a 24" cord. The upper studios will be using Prismacolor markers with dual points. It has cost a bundle and my students tell me I'm too ambitious, but if you can't draw with pencils and markers, you won't be able to compete in the 21th Century. I'll keep you posted on our studio and will try and get some slides. (using those small slides is also a tremendous advantage over digital images, but that is another topic). >Midas Pihlak
Jory Johnson
University of Illinois
Department of Landscape Architecture
101 Buell Hall
611 East Lorado Taft Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
217-244-8235