Monday, October 20, 2008

ARCH1142 Reflection

Due to the range of skills and mediums employed in this course through its alternating electives, it has been a highly beneficial and insightful experience. A major highlight would be our ability to choose what we want to learn, whether it be a first encounter with such techniques/concepts or a desire to further hone our skills. Some new concepts i learnt was the importance of navigation, from the Atlas of Colour, and proper use of white space so as to enhance images. That was honed by my study of a precedent book in the Atlas of Colour, and compositional issues in Technical Drawing. Meanwhile while i was already experienced and confident with drawing, i felt that Technical Drawing further disciplined the values of patience and precision, while Fluid Thoughts taught me the importance of letting go of previous conceptions and attitudes, as experimenting allows one to further develop their skills and thinking.

Lowlights and the greatest challenge, would have been the pressure of time constraints, which i felt especially in the Atlas of Colour workshop as the cohesive presentation & navigational system (a huge aspect of the course) had to be left to the final week when all exercises had been completed. I have always been proud of my time management skills and desire to perfect what i do, so it was quite frustrating to have to present without being 100% satisfied with my final work.

I will definately carry on in further years, the skill of a sophisticated approach to composition, correct use of white space and successful sequencing. I also desire to change my rigid approach to art - sticking only to the techniques and mediums i am confident with - to instead embrace all approaches and methods. This course has taught me a range of ways to capture 3D space on 2D mediums, where i need to keep an open attitude so as to further my learning.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

ARCH1142 Fluid Thoughts

A few photos of the daily day&night, interior&exterior sketches we had to do :)
At first i made the mistake of using pencil - sorry!!! But from week 2 i switched to charcoal.




This was one of my favourite sketches, because although simple, it really explores light and shadow during the day in a subtle, beautiful manner.






Another one of my favourites! I like the scratchy/grainy texture i managed to achieve with the charcoal (a first!) and how the scattered shoes add a human quality to the space...in again a subtle manner.
Charcoal is quite amazing for the various shades of grey and extreme black it can achieve! I think this tonal exploration is quite evident in this sketch.





I like the dramatic contrast between the untouched white paper and grey/black shadows.

I was quite surprised and happy with how i achieved such opacity/transparency/reflection with the media here! A celebration of the qualities of light :)
Final Drawing Presentation

3 views of the Sydney Opera House as one composition, so as to capture movement and a spatial experience. I found transparency the greatest technique, but looking back upon it, i should have further explored the other 2 techniques. I rushed my sky and so it's quite flavourless - just grey smudges.
Anton and Chrissie's desire for us to draw quickly and capture an impression, meant that i couldn't use the charcoal medium in the way i was accustomed to; slower, more traditional sketching, where the result would be a realistically shaded and rendered image. This 2nd drawing was achieved in such a manner, because we had more time and only needed to capture one view.
The still life exercise although our objects weren't moved until a long time later, and so we didn't get to finish our drawings. As evident through the cup, i carried over the technique of transparency i learnt from the Sydney Opera House experience. I also tried to intersect images...although that wasn't finished in the drawing. Another interesting technique i learnt was using the eraser to take away some of the previous drawing (especially as my tones were quite heavy), and work over the space again.

It was difficult at first to break the mindset of subtracting some of the drawing we had done, but i realised this experimental, unrestricted attitude to drawing was neccessary for one to embrace all possibilities in capturing space and sensations of movement.
Another unfinished drawing ( of a view from the Red Centre and then a close-up element placed boldly over it. As i knew i couldn't finish my background sketch in time, i was purposely selective with the elements i decided to shade, so that i could provide an impression of my intention. I chose the trees for their whimsical character, and in contrast the building with its defined rectilinear edges and strong shadow/light relationship. Through transparency, i was able to preserve the original fabric of the drawing and make it of almost equal strength to the close-up, despite being unfinished. I like how dark the shading is on the left of the funnel, as it's quite bold and dramatic :)
Finally our group collaboration, where Alise gave me a description of the space. I personally am not too happy with this drawing as i feel - by drawing off my imagination - it all looks a bit cartoonish rather than realistic :S And therefore, may be a bit restricted in conveying a true spatial experience? Therefore I tried to get the shading right so as to bring forth some realism.