Eye movements in drawing simple lines

As part of an investigation into real-world drawing, eye movements and eye-hand interactions have been recorded for twenty subjects of varying drawing experience drawing simple straight and curved lines and a square. Two modes of eye-hand behaviour were observed. In the first, named 'close pursuit', fixations closely followed the pencil with a sequence of small saccades. In the second, named 'target locking', a stable fixation was made on the end-point of the line throughout the entire drawing action. Depending on subject and type of line, close pursuit, target locking, or a combination of these modes was used regardless of previous drawing experience. The results are discussed in terms of the role of the eye in the control of the movement trajectory of the hand.