Drawing in the digital world. A film
Illustrations, especially done the old-fashioned way with lead and coloured pencils or with brush and ink, are making a comeback, with a surprising increase in popularity. This may be due to the fact that we are so inundated with digital images and photos that we often find them unoriginal, or else we have no clear sense of how authentic these images are. In contrast, a hand-drawn image is the work of an individual creator, and represents their unique attempt to express how they see the world. The Zeichner der Zeit (“Illustrating the Times”) documentary: The Power of the Pencil in the Digital World, brought to us by Bayerischer Rundfunk, follows this global movement. Documentary maker Lydia von Freyberg met with a number of illustrators and observed them at work, to record their thoughts and discover the magic of hand-drawn images. Christoph Niemann, whose illustrations cause a stir around the world, is also part of this movement – although he remains mindful of the possibilities digital technology can offer, as he ingeniously merges analogue with digital drawing. Von Freyberg concludes: “Drawing can give the world something it desperately needs right now: less information.”
