404 - 6 pages of sketches

We were asked to choose a theme to do six pages of drawings for. Robots & Future Technology seemed like a good subject to explore as it's something I've never really explored visually. 2001 A Space Odyssey concept art by Harry Lange was a good starting point for ideas. 

I looked at trying to draw what I imagined future tech might be like. Nanotechnology is the still developing technology of miniature robotics that could be the way we fight cancer cells and maybe become part of the human body. 

I looked at representing the tiny nano robots as simple 'bits' that collide and fly through the images. As they would be virtually invisible I explored the idea of drawing the blurred, cloudy aspects of tiny pieces interacting with their environment.   

Matt suggested finding a shape or object and repeating it. I thought about the perfection of spheres and planets and tried to come up with variations on circles, sections of spheres and smooth surfaces. 

I need to be brave with the use of materials as it might open up new ideas. I'm also thinking about the clothing of the future which usually ends badly in sci-fi films once they get dated so I'll focus on the biological integration of robotics into human biology. 

How would technology be biological engineered?

Would we become part human, part robot? 

Will human biology become indestructible?

The black on red works well and using just two colours helps give the drawings a balanced, symmetrical quality which works for technological type sketching. 

It's important to not get tunnel vision when an idea seems to just look good rather than thinking does the idea communicate well. 

It's fun creating concept art landscapes of imaginary worlds but it also really helps the process of seeing if the ideas work in an everyday environment. The nano 'bits' looks OK but possibly too vague. It works when used in context e.g a futuristic setting. The rest of the drawing needs to work with the simplicity of the nano bits. 

404 - Line drawing

It's interesting to think about the energy or movement of a line and how it influences a drawing. Working with different techniques and speeds created completely different outcomes that wouldn't be possible with the 'normal' way of drawing. Normally you decide how you want it to look and then draw, this process is reversed and creates more experimentation and chaos. 

The page of circles works well in itself aesthetically. It allows you to visualise combining the lines together for a new drawing and what might work. The quick black painted circles go nicely with the scribbled pink line circles.

Exploring different methods of drawing might be a good thing to adopt before creating an image. I will use some of the lines tested for the robot/future technology theme.  

It was deceptively challenging coming up with lines other than a straight black line. The session focused on the physicality of drawing and the outcomes of images when you also focus on what kind of pressure, speed, aggression, control you have when drawing a simple line.

One of the lines used two or three pens at once.

The idea of drawing three versions of the object simultaneously I like. It gives you a blurred three dimensional ghost drawing of which ever drawing you are focused on drawing on the most.

403 : How to use a piece of rope

I decided to use the positive feedback about the collage images and use black card as the rope but also using the ambiguous theme of not really knowing what is going on in the image and leaving this to the viewer to decide.

Some of the outcomes were more obvious than others but the lack of text explaining what is happening asks you to wonder where the rope is coming from and which direction the objects are being pulled into.

The fact the images are sharp and bold is a good contrast with the more murky lack of explanation.

 

The cutting out process was time consuming but worth the final outcome. The arrangement layout needed considerable thought and time which I hadn't really thought about while cutting the images out apart from the central figure I knew I would use as a focal point.

Matt's suggestion of more variation in the shapes is something I will take note of. Varied shapes may have amplified the abstract nature of the rope.

The images are perhaps too much of a jumble of new and old and I could of stuck with either a particular time period e.g 1950s imagery or more modern images such as the fashion photography.

I really liked other people's use of the same character in different scenarios which worked really well.

                  

I tried black ink but the black card had more clarity and I also wanted the challenge of working with card any seeing if any of it's restrictions brought up any good outcomes rather than the complete control of using a pen.

OUIL403 - 100 ideas feedback

                                   How to.. typology poster 100 ideas feedback

My peer tutor Rei game me some good feedback on my ideas for the poster.
She thought the black card used to represent the rope was more striking on lighter toned photographs and suggested looking for tightrope and circus themed photos.
I will follow up on Matt's suggestion of developing the ambiguity and playfulness nature of the collage experiments.
The written feedback was positive and suggestive, especially 'sick mate'.

I will not use text to explain how the rope is being used and leave it open for the viewer to decide.

I will use the central figure in the picture below in a similar position. A happy accident that works well visually as a focal point to arrange the other vignettes around.

 

Experiments with black ink, oil pastels and using rope to create rope marks.

                                            
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Photoshop workshop

As I know the basics for Photoshop, the introduction workshop was a good opportunity to play around with the images and practice the basics again which gave me a chance to remind myself of the really useful tools on Photoshop. 

OUIL404 - Sketchbooks (Observational drawing)

Sketchbooks - observational drawing

I continued to draw objects and people outside of college to improve my understanding of good observational drawing. 

The train station is good for practicing quick, basic drawing of people moving or stationary. 

Animals like birds and dogs are useful for trying to capture the shape and movement with just a single line.  

It's important to look at drawing as a modern tool. Drawing can be used in new and different ways to bring an object to life. The sheep's skull is aesthetically beautiful so it's interesting to experiment and draw lots of versions quickly and realise the fluid movements capture the curves and details of the skull in a much more personal way. A typical sketch could of been anybody's drawing but the more fluid and honest quick drawings are a true visual representation of what I see. 

    


     
         
       
The use of pink ink could be used as an overlap with the black ink.

I will try drawing the same object using different colours but I also like the contrast of the black drawings next to the vivid pink drawings.










              

       

Observational Drawing - OUIL404

The three pieces I picked were the ones that stood out to me because of the use of negative space and silhouettes. They were simple and beautiful with sharp visual impact. One has a is a stripped back, cartoon which looks to be a section of the plant and like the others is abstract and only the plant's shape and outline can be identified yet these images were much more clinical with the way you can immediately identify them as plants.

Drawing from memory.

Drawing from memory was an interesting task and showed how we memorise certain features of the human body. My first attempt showed how visually hardwired we are at remembering faces as that's all I accurately drew. The second time I remembered more of the shapes and body positioning but the model's expression was still something I naturally tried to express in each drawing, the third being more focused on the shading pattern of dark and light tones.

Drawing from reference

This task was a challenge in my eyes to draw the photo reference in an interesting way that captures the mood of the model but is aesthetically non realism or a photo real copy. Using brushes and inks meant less control which allows experimentation and mistakes to happen.

I started with a detailed drawing of my plant before focusing on only using lines.

Picking a small section of the plant allows an exploration of new shapes and patterns not seen when drawing the plant as a whole. New shapes and textures appear with closer observations.

It was difficult to keep concentration and not end up simply copying what I saw which sometimes led to outcomes where I was perhaps forcing things to happen.

A good observational drawing doesn't have to be a life like representation of the object being drawn. The key features and distinctive aspects of the object should be the main focus. The observational drawing should be a new alternative version of the original object and be an interesting piece of work rather than a show of how technically skilled you are at drawing things accurately. 

I drew another plant which suited more fluid strokes and faster hand movement which suits me better. Another good mistake was flicking the ink which helped add a movement to the picture.

Look, think, draw

Drawing moving objects like animals and people is the most difficult aspect of observational drawing. Static objects like the statue can be represented more accurately but I found when drawing people, the character and distinctive facial features of someone is extremely difficult to capture when they are moving. Quick lines can show the body position and head but the face is difficult to draw and sometimes needs to be left very minimal or even blank to bring the body lines to life.  

It's impossible to capture every detail of a tree just from an observational drawing. Using pink ink was an unusual colour for 'organic' objects but the outcome was my most successful aesthetically as it had a slightly surreal tone. I focused on drawing the empty spaces within the tree, used minimal shading and avoided trying to get a perfect representation of the tree and instead tried to draw the shape and lines of the tree.