50 Hours to Draw Some Lines - Doug MacDowell

50 Hours to Draw Some Lines

Hand drawing data visualizations with artist Doug MacDowell

Description:<br>I used to live on a quiet road on top of a huge hill. When leaves were on the trees it felt so secluded, and when the leaves fell, the entire city would appear below as sparkling lights. Sometimes, I'd run into a neighbor.

"What are you working on these days?"

"Data visualizations." I told him.

"Ah, you using algorithms, machine learning, cloud computing, things like that?"

"No." I said. "I'm just trying to draw a line graph."

My neighbor thought I was getting into some complex sh**. But what's been more interesting to me lately than using powerbi, powerpoint, tableau, D3, python, illustrator, R is learning to draw data by hand. 50 Hours to Draw Some Lines is about spending more than a week on something that software can accomplish in 20 minutes - and a catalog of resources and methods acquired along the way.

What do I mean by drawing data by hand? I made this data visualization (data viz) about a coffee maker computer by hand, using rulers, pencils, ink, and a lettering kit. Along with my flubs, flukes, and acclimation with tools - it took me 50 hours to make. It's statistically accurate, carefully crafted, and like Hackaday said "right out of a 1970's college textbook". It's how professionals might visualize data before computers could do it for them.

↑ A professional draftsman of the 1920's may cringe at the imperfections in my line graph above. They can suck it.

There are books about hand drawn data viz, and these are my favorite. Nearly all are available online for free, and can be referenced for instruction/inspiration. Tufte's book sucked me in and spit me out as a hardcore data viz enthusiast. Dubois' sociological and artistic experimentation are my favorite to revisit over again. Williard Brinton's book from 1914 smells awesome (it's in my collection). And William Willard's instructions are blunt and to the point - I bet he was a cool shop teacher.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - Edward R. Tufte - 2001

W.E.B. Du Bois's Data Portraits - Whitney Battle-Baptiste, Britt Rusert - 2018

Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts - Willard C. Brinton - 1914

Graphic Presentation - Willard C. Brinton - 1939

A Practical Course in Mechanical Drawing for Individual Study and Shop Classes - William Franklin Willard - 1910

Charts and Graphs - Karl G. Karsten - 1925

Engineering Drawing - Frank Zozzora - 1953

Freehand Drafting for Technical Sketching - Anthony E. Zipprich - 1924

↑↑ Is this artwork by Jiří Lindovský a data viz? Is it a narrow skyscraper? A Cheez-It? CPU? A line graph? ... Whatever it is, this drawing was made using the same techniques covered here. By learning to hand draw data viz, you can also learn about art. In fact, this whole thing is really about making art. One of the best parts of art, is playing with tools.

These are the basic tools and materials needed to hand draw data viz...

Paper - smooth bristol is best, 14 x 17 in. or larger

T-square - provides a level guide for your drawing

Ruler - it's important to have a measurement tool

Drawing board - I use cement board from a hardware store, at least 3 x 3 ft preferred

Painter's tape - must-have for holding paper and t-square down, I like the wide variety

Pencils - a classic mechanical BIC is my favorite

Pens - most anything works, I like Micron pens

Eraser - erasing graphite to reveal crisp ink lines is a special thing, Staedler erasers are great

Triangle - slides along the t-square, used to draw vertical lines and angles

Circle stencil - very important tool, this is used to create consistent line weights

Ink - this one with a spider person is my favorite

Lettering kit - not required, but a very fun vintage tool to create nice lettering

To start a hand drawn data viz, begin with a grid. Drawing a grid is not only a necessary first step, but a calm, mindful process to enjoy while becoming comfortable with the tools. Practice by positioning paper on the drawing board using the t-square as a level. Cut a long piece of tape and wrap it around your torso and spin around 3 times (the fuzzies from your clothes help avoid the tape sticking too much to the paper). Then place the tape horizontally across the top edge of the paper, holding it in place.

Adding margins is always a good idea and will establish the workspace. If the paper is 20 x 24 inches, measure one inch in on each side. Using a pencil, t-square, ruler, and triangle, draw some margin lines. The new workspace is 18 x 22 inches. Keep going, using a ruler, make a mark every inch on the margin lines and using the straight edge tools again, make lines at each mark. There are now 396 squares mapping out the workspace. Call it a night, or divide the squares even more, and draw more lines. Everything done to create hand drawn data comes back to this grid. In the end, all the pencil lines will be erased,...