This four part BBC series, presented by Andrew Graham-Dixon, explores how drawing has shaped our lives. Ep. 1 looks at artists who have chosen the natural world as their subject matter and explores how drawing has helped man to understand his place in the universe. The programme covers the Renaissance, the Eastern way, Turner, Constable and contemporary artists Anthony Gormley and Richard Long.

The Line of Enquiry
Season 1 | Episode 1
Aired date: Oct 8, 2005

Andrew Graham-Dixon takes a look at the many ways in which drawing has connected us with the natural world and also how it has helped advance scientific enquiry, from the Italian Renaissance right through to today. In this first edition, he meets a surgeon whose study of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings of the heart has led him to develop a radical new form of cardiac operation, uncovers a remarkable 200 year-old series of drawings of the moon, and encounters some of the actual preserved birds drawn by the great American ornithologist John James Audubon.

The Secret of Drawing Series is the property of the BBC and is subject to copyright. Header video is the work of SI Scott.