The graphical interface in the digital millennium: the past is present

Communication through making marks is a fundamental human instinct. Humans have always used the act of drawing as a means to express ideas, emotions and to record actions. Currently, the discipline of drawing is being profoundly influenced, and perhaps forever changed, by the proliferation of new drawing media, technologies and diverse approaches to making marks through digital means. As such, the perception and understanding of what constitutes drawing is rapidly expanding. Simultaneously, many graphic artists are expanding upon historical approaches to drawing. The early 21st Century is a time when the dialogue between innovation and tradition has never been stronger. This paper seeks to explore this dialogue by embracing the breadth of what drawing is and to conjecture on where drawing might go in the immediate future by exploring the use of new technologies, elaborating the impact of continuing traditions of drawings, and to engage the expanding range of ideas that are brought to this basic form of human expression. As we enter into this new millennium, the immediacy of drawing offers, as it always has, a profound mirror to the swift change that pervades the global digital culture. The author invites all those involved in drawing, in whatever form, to be a part of this dialogue.