Drawing-in and outside-writing: an in-depth study of when the creative acts of drawing and writing are most closely related

When does a drawing transform into writing? Where does writing start to become a drawing? Can writing be drawing? How do thinking, writing and drawing come together in the creative act of drawing? These are questions that have driven Drawing- in and outside- writing, a practice based research project between four artists: two UK-based- Kelly Chorpening and Rebecca Fortnum, and two Belgian- Ans Nys and Peter Morrens, that concludes in January 2012, following over a year of collaborative research. Drawing is central to the practices of all four artists, and all use text or writing within their work. Together, they have pursued an investigation into when the creative acts of drawing and writing are most closely related. This paper will focus particularly on the project’s research methodology, and its role in enabling a better understanding of drawing and its relation to writing in artistic practice.