A critical essay with focus on thinking through drawing as manifested in Jimmy Cosgrove's archive of sketchbooks published in the collected volume of essays that accompanied the exhibition 'Looking for Signs: ideas and imagined circumstances' that presented a retrospective view of the work, life and teaching of Jimmy Cosgrove at the Studio Pavilion of the House for an Art Lover 27 July-16 September 2018. The sketchbooks show a hidden thread of artistic development and drawing techniques not just in the work of Cosgrove but reflect changing philosophies in art and design practice during the time if their making, and changing pedagogies and practices in GSA.