The problem with making in fine art: A case for the expanded teaching of drawing

Written and verbal skills have risen in prominence within today’s fine art curriculum. Their provision is clearly outlined and quantified, and this is beginning to overshadow what happens ‘in the studio’. This article outlines ‘the problem with making’ in fine art education today by focusing on the teaching of drawing, asking the questions: what exactly are the skills of drawing, what is gained by learning them, and how, in practice, are they intertwined with theory? By establishing the educational value of drawing, we might then influence ways skills in general are perceived and deployed within fine art education today.