Abstract

When is an image not just a picture? This paper investigates the role of sketching within the practice of designing time-based or sequential art. This interdisciplinary (cognitive, semiotic, and literary theory) research describes the polysemic and multifunctional nature of image-making from the vantage point of artists who must monitor their own processes, think about the possible narrative interpretations of the sequenced image, and plan for the viewers’ experience in the final product. Focusing on a case study of an artist designing panels for a Webcomic, the paper outlines key concepts that the artist must deal with, and how he uses his sketches to help him attend to and refocus attention to his sketch as the images emerge. This study argues that understanding the nature of the emergent image requires going beyond the semiotic notion of an image as a pictorial icon, to consider the affordances of drawing as action in (multi) goal-directed design. The discussion of the findings re-frames the perceptual and cognitive perspective on sketching within literary and social theories on sensuous perception and the flâneur.