The sketch is a tool used mostly in design. It is a drawing that often reflects the reality of a place or an idea that comes from personal imagination.
It is usually in simplified form and with drawing instruments, although it could easily also be used freehand and without any type of geometric instrument.
However, if you have to have a kind of rules and considerations to make a sketch. The main advice is that you must have mastery of geographic space and ability to draw.
The word sketch has a quite interesting origin, and that Pérez and Merino explain the word in the following way: “More specifically, we can determine that the word sketch comes from the French verb croquer.
A word from the 18th century that has several meanings, although among the most important are “crunch, eat and crack”. And it is that it was formed from the use of the onomatopoeia croc that comes to express the dry noise that is made when biting or eating a food. "
The main relationship between the origin of the word sketch and its execution in current life is that it is considered that the realization of the sketch must be done in a fast time and that it is not very specialized, artist or technique.
Broadly speaking, the main characteristics of the sketches is that they are quick to make, they completely dispense with details, they are understandable, clear and precise, in addition to having cleanliness in the details.
Mostly, simple lines are used and it is performed without unusual instruments, or rather, they are sketched freehand. Finally, if it is painted or shaded, it should be in a simple and schematic way.
"To cite examples of use:" Every time he came to a city that I do not know, I sit in the street and make a sketch of what I see "," A sketch made by the Florentine painter on the Ebro coast will be auctioned at London ”,“ The General ordered a sketch of the terrain to be drawn up to determine the steps to follow ”(Perez, J and Merino, M. 2012).
What is the sketch for?
The main characteristic of the sketch is to represent on a smaller scale some object, landscape or your own idea, that is, to give an approximate image of something.
Specifically, the sketches, being a simplified version, do not try to match the whole set exactly, or include details. For example, a sketch can represent a house, a street, or a room.
To make a sketch of something, you simply have to understand and know the object you want to represent. For example, if it is a sketch of a non-invented part, when seeing it, it should allow me to know it and the possibility of manufacturing it.
If the sketch represents the way to organize furniture, it should be easy to grasp in order to imitate what the sketch reports.
Many times the sketch can be defined or resembled a drawing, however, there are clear differences between one and the other.
For example, when drawing a street or avenue, it will contain the windows of each house, whether open or closed, and will reflect the occupants or passers-by on the street, in addition to including the differences between each and the use of their clothes. That is, each object will have a detailed version of itself.
However, the sketch will include all the elements that are in the street (passers-by or windows), but it will not reflect whether the windows are closed or open or whether people are thin, wear pants or skirts, or are tall or short. All objects will look in a unified and concrete way.
So, if we are lost or we are trying to explain some direction to someone, the most frequent thing is that we make a spontaneous sketch (better known as a scheme or drawing) where we represent in some way, the street, the address or some building or statue that can be taken as a reference.
In addition, sketches are also used when people have had a minor traffic accident and both are asked to make a sketch to understand how the events unfolded.
On the other hand, in the military field this tool is used to prepare war or offensive strategies.
Sketch types
There are different types of sketches that can be used for multiple questions, depending on the needs of each person.
There is the architectural sketch that has a more serious purpose and that has a more professional audience, as its name says, architects. However, this type of sketch can also be used by engineers who want to draw a project.
The natural sketch is one where natural environments are represented, or they are simply portraits of people. It should be noted that it is done as an outline with the purpose (mostly, although there are exceptions) that it be developed in greater depth later.
The last type of sketch is the one called didactic. They are those printed without color for school use and with the purpose of teaching children or young people some important concept of geography, such as the representation of different states of a country, or related topics.
These sketches do not include specific details, such as geographic faults or city names, since that is precisely the role of the student: to learn and place them by themselves.
References
- Billinghurst, M., & Weghorst, S. (1995). The use of sketch maps to measure cognitive maps of virtual environments. In Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium, 40-47. doi: 10.1109 / VRAIS.1995.512478.
- Pérez, J and Merino, M. (2012). Sketch definition. Recovered from: www.definicion.de
- Rovine, MJ, & Weisman, GD (1989). Sketch-map variables as predictors of way-finding performance. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 9 (3), 217-232. doi: 10.1016 / S0272-4944 (89) 80036-2.
- Scrivenor, JB (1924). The Geology of Singapore Island: With a geological Sketch-map. Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2 (1 (90), 1-8. Retrieved from: jstor.org.
- Son, A. (2005). The measurement of tourist destination image: applying a sketch map technique. International Journal of Tourism Research, 7 (4-5), 279-294. doi: 10.1002 / jtr.532.
- Tu Huynh, N., & Doherty, ST (2007). Digital sketch-map drawing as an instrument to collect data about spatial cognition. Cartographica: The International Journal for Geographic Information and Geovisualization, 42 (4), 285-296. doi: 10.3138 / carto.42.4.285.
- Zelinsky, W. (1983). The impasse in migration theory: a sketch map for potential escapees. Recovered from: popline.org.