Drawing as a parallel activity

I've been thinking about serial and parallel processes in image making, with reference to an essay by the mathematician and philosopher Brian Rotman. I find this essay particularly interesting because it begins with the analogy of a flock of starlings and a discussion of two modes:

the serial, which consists of doing one thing after another (the whole flock forming itself and moving through time) and the parallel (each starling flying in concert with the others) doing many things at once. (2000: 57) 

He goes on to point out that, even though an image is read by sequential eye movements, its parts are perceived simultaneously as a whole or in parallel.

By contrast, the process of drawing might appear to be serial (look, make mark, look again, make another mark). But, in fact, freehand observational drawing isn't a simple matter of conveying bits of what you see one by one onto paper. A good mark is usually made in relation to the whole subject (using a kind of peripheral vision) and in the context of the whole set of other marks already made. So although it is transferred to the paper in serial actions, the thought processes of an observational drawing are often parallel in nature.

I'm thinking that, as with Ingold, this might provide some insights into the differences between digital drawings (and models) created from co-ordinates and hand-made observational drawings (and models) for my project Solid Air. 

  

Rotman, B (2000) 'Going Parallel' in SubStance #91 pp56-79