The dissertation investigates the relationship between education, design, and personal formation in a drawing workshop in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The investigation took place through field observation and interviews with ten students from the workshop, covering aspects such as the development of pictorial graphic language, the pedagogical characteristics of the workshop, and the differences between formal and non-formal education. The process of analysis of the interviews proposes the correlation between the dimensions of the individual, pedagogical time, and graphic language that relate to each other in the coordinates of individual interests, motivation, individualized learning, learning time, visual communication, and visual perception. From the results, it was verified the preponderance of verbal graphic language in students' school education and how the drawing workshop contributes to the development of pictorial graphic language. It was identified that the workshop favors a flexible and individualized learning environment, which values individual interests and respect for each student's time. It was observed that these characteristics are favored by the non-formal nature of teaching, as the learning processes are not shaped by the curriculum, the deadlines, and the impersonality that marks formal teaching. Based on the observed characteristics, the importance of autonomy and affectivity is discussed as intrinsic - not external - elements to the educational process. Finally, considerations are made regarding the role of pictorial graphic language for the development of design thinking, as well as for teachers’ formation.