Informal Clinical Drawing in the Journal of Illustration, Vol 2 No 1

Drawing acts sometimes form part of the clinical consultation. These acts of drawing appear to be spontaneous and informal: performed live by the drawer for the spectator, the drawings seem to be created and experienced sequentially. They are not generally recognizable as ‘representational’ or aesthetically pleasing and there are few similarities with formal, published medical illustrations, whether hand-drawn or digital. There is little academic literature investigating this as a practice. Three main areas of theory influence this study: the production and reception of sequential image-making; the relationship of image and text; and phenomenological fields of perception. The project will use a phenomenological research design, involving interviews with patients and healthcare professionals about their experiences of informal clinical drawing, with reference to the drawings produced. In this way we hope to explore the question: how can informal drawing practices within clinical consultations and exchanges be understood