Foldout includes foreshortening in drawings by a blind man

John M. Kennedy

Sherief Hammad

pp. 31-45

in: Disegno, Rivista di estetica 47, 2011.

Abstract

In a case-history, Ben, a university-graduate blind adult, is shown to draw a cube as if it were folded out, but with slim rectangles for the sides around a central square. This form is drawn by sighted 8-year-olds. It might involve foreshortening and parallel projection, despite the presence of more sides than would be present in parallel projection in a single direction. Also, Ben drew a glass’s brim as both a straight line and as an ellipse, a form common in drawings by sighted 8-year-olds that may include the circular brim foreshortened to an ellipse in a ¾ view. In several drawings made later in the testing session Ben only showed aspects of the depicted object facing one direction. In elevation and plan drawings, he showed aspects facing to the side of the object or above the object. Also, Ben’s use of foreshortening advanced in sophistication in the testing session. We hypothesize that the blind and the sighted are on the same drawing developmental trajectory.