Final Four Drawings of Combined Phone and Twig(s)

I am so happy with the way these came out. The combination of twig and phone works so well, and I am actually really excited to present these if we actually do. Though we had to draw an insane number of squares, it definitely paid off in the end. The process from literal to abstract is OBVIOUS, now that I compare my final drawings to my beginning ones.

8 Drawings of Phone and Twig (Narrowing it down)

These were the deciding eight. I really liked the balance between white and black, and the different textures and patterns created by line. Overall I just thought the compositions were really interesting and combined really well.

16 Thumbnails: Phone and Twig

These are the 16 drawings that I chose out of the 32 that I had before. I played with form and contrast a little bit more, and fooled around with different details, so I could get a more solid idea of what would look good.

32 Thumbnails: Phone AND Twig

At first I was dreading this part. I was thinking to myself, "How is it even possible to put 2 things that are so similar together?"... But it was. It was pretty neat too. I was surprised at the compositions that I was able to come up with, and this time it wasn't only about what you saw, but also what you thought would work well in your composition, so it was more personal. I think the more and more this project progressed, the more fun I was able to have with it.

64 Thumbnail Drawings of My Phone

This is my favorite section out of the 64 drawings of my phone. I tried to switch it up in terms of what images were put next to eachother. I loved being able to get really up close and personal with the phone. Haha I thought it was also really cool that alot of pattern was incorporated by using the marker to color negative or positive space.

64 Thumbnail Drawings of our Twig

This is only a section of my 64 thumbnail drawings. I thought it was really interesting how different the same section of the twig could look through a viewfinder. I played around with this in many different ways, though I will admit, when I came back to finish, I had to choose a different twig because I had lost my first =(. However, it sort of gives it a nice variety, because the two different twigs are very different.

16 Drawings of My Phone

These are my 4 favorite drawings, out of the 16 that I drew of my cellphone. I found the cellphone alot easier to draw because of the different features (the way it opened, the camera, the keys, the screen.... everything on a phone looks different, especially at various angles.) I enjoyed this one.

16 Drawings of A Twig

These are just 4 of 16 drawings of my twig. I was going crazy because my twig looked the same from left to right. It was your average twig, with a stem here or there, but nothing exciting. This made it extremely difficult to incorporate some variety into my drawings.

My Process: Idea #3

Iteration #3. This time my project has 4 folding panels instead of 1. This is so that the viewer can see the shadows from 4 different angles. I also decided to vary the height of the platforms even more to give it more depth.

My Process: Idea #2

This is my second iteration. I decided to make my model more 3D and raise it off of the ground, I also wanted to play with angles of elevation, and I decided to make the stand so that the twigs would cast a shadow all in one direction. I don't know if you can see, but I glued four rectangles of foam board on top of the base to give some variety, however, the places are purposeful. 

My Process: Idea #1

So this flimsy little thing began my entire process for my "place for 12 twigs". As I said before, in my sketchmodel post, it was something that I just came up with after seeing a piece of cardboard on my desk. However, after making it, I noticed the significance of the shadows.

ARCHITECTURE 2030

John Linn's main goal for today's lecture was Sustainability- of course, it is the theme of every theory hour. What I thought to be most interesting was the way he compared human activity to a storm. When he listed the impacts that a storm has, I was amused to see how those impacts mirrored the impacts of human activity as well as sustainability. So he wanted to convey the idea that "humans are slightly out of control". However, when he lists the impact of human activity, this activity could be positive OR negative, depending on how it was being used. For example, a storm is an agent of transformation, as well as human activity and sustainability. A storm's transformation is usually a negative impact (i.e. Katrina). Human Activity could be a transformation, but I think it could go both ways (positive or negative). Sustainability is a positive transformation in that it makes way for "environmentally friendly" thinking. 

Ed Mazria's aim for AIA 2030 seemed rather unrealistic to me when we were first introduced. However, after being informed of his plans, I was convinced that it could work. When Linn was talking about creating stricter building codes, it made me realize that it's actually possible to force people to be sustainable. I think that right now, as far as global warming goes, there aren't enough laws that enforce sustainability. I could go on and on about my views on how environmental issues are being handled, but that's not what this is about. I believe that humans could potentially kill global warming altogether if we reached neutral Carbon levels at 2030. It's our responsibility to save ourselves from "premature death" (Cradle to Cradle), as we are the one's who created this threat. The idea for "long life, loose fit" makes me think of universal design. We must think not only of our present, but of our future, and the future of other generations. "For the world is not painted or adorned, but is from the beginning beautiful; and god has not made some beautiful things, but beauty is the creator of the universe"- Ralph Waldo Emerson. If beauty created the universe, we should be making an effort to save this universe of beauty, and this product of beauty.

Twig Project Critique: September 17th, 2008

I think there are 2 themes that we talked about today that apply to my project. The first is VISUALIZATION. Form and pattern are major aspects of my project. The pattern changes as the alignment of my project moves, and the form directly contributes to the shadows. The slant and the angle are both crucial parts of my project. The higher that the back is from the ground, the further the shadows fall, whereas the closer the back is to the ground, the darker the shadows are. Pattern is also interpreted into my project because of my different elevations, and where I chose to put them, as well as where I chose to place my twigs. Four of them create an implied line. FOCUS is also very important to think about. Strategic thinking is necessary in order for my project to look orderly and clean. I must be careful about each hole I make, careful not to make it too big. How I place my twigs is also crucial in order to avoid a product that looks messy and seems like it lacks thought. Placement and strategy creates my focus: shadows.

Not only was I able to relate my project to the terms we spoke about in the class critique, but I was also able to take some advice that was given to others, and also apply that to my project. When I looked at the craft of other projects, I was given more ideas of how I could clean up my project. I observed how to emphasize negative space, and the scale and proportion of other projects also contributed to mine. I also got a general idea of expectations. I know we've been talking about expectations all semester, but today I wrote down every single thing that I heard. Do your best every time because it offers more oppurtunity for development. Be consistent. Don't be literal. A binding agent is defined however you want, as long as it holds a purpose. In order to receive a legitimate critique, you must bring your full (and visual) idea to the table. My goal is to find ways to apply each of these to my models.

Lettering of My Favorite Song: The First Single (You Know Me) by The Format

The Format is one of my favorite bands, and The First Single is my favorite song in the entire world so that's why I chose it. however, I only wrote the chorus and the last verse because the whole song would be repetitive and take up numerous pages.

Ambidextrous Drawing

I was surprised how well this one came out. The left hand I did one night, and I really focused on every detail, and it looks pretty realistic in relation to my hand. The right hand I drew a couple of days later, and though the lines are sort of staggered, I tried to capture as much detail for my right as I did for my left. I wanted to draw a less awkward position as well so I just held my hand in the air as I drew.

Drawing from Negative Space: Bike

This drawing made me so frustrated. I was trying so hard not to focus on what I was actually seeing, but it was so difficult. Bikes have so much detail that it's hard not to want to draw positive space. I think it was also really hard to draw because it was upside down so the proportions were different from what we'd normally see. I put the question mark because I only semi-drew from negative space. don't get me wrong- I tried.

My 3 Messes

So these are three out of five messes that I drew. 

One sunday, I was at piney lake with Kristen doing a bunch of homework and all of my books were compiled and overlapping and I looked at it, and I was like, "hmm I kind of want to put these books in a pile" which made me realize it was a mess. I drew the contour of the books first and then added the detail a bit later.

Trash is always considered a mess, but when I looked in my trash can, it was empty. So I had to come up with some things that might be in my trash can, like the multiple kleenex I would have to use for the cold I caught that week, or the bowls that I use for my daily meal of special k and milk in the morning.

Getting hungry, I opened my refrigerator, to find organic peanut butter, which made me think of my refrigerator at home, since it's always stocked with 2 or 3 jars. My dad was constantly cleaning the fridge because my mom would keep things for days on end even after they were half rotten. So I decided to draw, from imagination, what my refrigerator at home probably looks like right now.

Blind Contour Portrait.

no comment.

My Precedent for My Twig Project

When observing my project idea, two images came to me.

The first was a forest after it had been burned in a fire. After a fire goes through, the only thing left are branches. My project resembles this as my twigs are really thin and bare, except for the pieces that branch out.

I think the second emphasizes my concept more. My aim for my project is to emphasize the shadows that the twigs create on a white board. This reminds me of winter. It's the morning after a blizzard, the sun is beating down and reflecting off of the white snow. The trees are bare, and they are creating deep shadows on the snow because of the way the sun is shining. 

Place for a Leaf: Final Project

 4 or 5 nights before our final, I got extremely frustrated weaving multiple strips through my leaf, because at this point, my leaf was completely dead and had no strength. The curls kept breaking off and I threw a couple across the room. It was obviously not meant to be. I still wanted to weave though, and somehow "cradle" the shape of the leaf. However, I had no paper that would bend that way.

I decided to weave black pieces through the leaf, as well as through the paper, and originally when the paper curled I thought it would curl around the leaf, but then when I made it, I saw how it resembled the curls in the multiple leaves. The gold was meant to give my leaf energy, and bring light to reflect off the leaves, and then used the black strips to stand out through the leaves, while still being subtle enough to not take away from it.

Hand Drawing

This was the first hand I drew that I felt satisfied with. Though the curve on the left is pretty overboard, it still looks somewhat realistic. I was pretty happy with it, and quite surprised.

Chair from Negative Space

This chair took me two tries. I liked the difference of drawing what wasn't there instead of what was. It wasn't easy, and I definitely felt uncomfortable doing it. But after drawing negative space a couple of times, it got easier.

Sketchmodel #3

This last sketchmodel was supposed to play on the way the "skin" of the twigs was shedding. So I decided  to draw scale-looking things on the paper, and stuck the peeling twigs through holes in the scales. I wanted to make the twigs "one with the scales".

Sketchmodel #2

This was something that just came to my head while I was looking at the width of the twigs. I just thought it looked cool, but then I decided to place all the twigs so that the branches turn towards each other and create unity. I placed the one twig in the top left corner away from the rest because it was the only twig that was bare of branches.

Sketchmodel #1

This sketchmodel was the beginning of my african windpipe. I planned to start a new weave at the beginning of every new level, but make the width of the weaves small, so that you could still see the twigs through the weave. Don't mind the gold paper, it was just something I had to play with.

Layout after First Critique

In the top half of this sketchbook page, I decided to draw out the windpipe that I intended on making. I wanted to switch my twigs to bamboo to create a more international feel, and I wanted to weave leather through it to bind it. If i decided to use a paper background, I would weave the leather. But if I didn't use a paper background, I would weave with paper. I would make the weaves different and switch rhythms every time I started a new weave.

In  the bottom half, I was focusing more on my forest idea. I would play with angles and elevations of the base to create a composition. I would need to clean up the holes and use a different base that would better display shadow and reflect light. In order to better convey my idea to exclude the one twig without any branches, I would need to place it further from the group of twigs and make it more obvious.

12 twigs

After talking about our first sketches, I decided to examine my twigs a little bit more, so I drew them in size order. This reminded me of an African windpipe/ flute sort of thing. I was going to use metal sheets to bind them together to make it look more modern. 

A Place for 12 Twigs: Sketch #3

This sketch was just a  last minute thing, so i couldn't thoroughly sketch it out. I wanted to create a ball of paper in the middle and then stick the twigs through it to make it look like there were 24 twigs instead of 12.

A Place for 12 Twigs: Sketch #2

This second idea was to contrast form, and somehow stick my 12 twigs into a curvy paper form. I was trying to create direction and movement as well by having the twigs and the paper far away from eachother in the beginning, and then having the two meet at the end.

A Place for 12 Twigs: Sketch #1

This first sketch was with hope to outline a 2-D paper form with a 3-D form made of twigs and contrast dimensions.

Place for a Leaf: Sketch #4

I know this looks funny... but I had an idea of taking strips of paper from the outside and weaving it through my leaf. The leaf I ended up using, was dead. so I had the primary idea of coloring the strips green as if I were weaving life through my dead leaf, trying to bring it back.

After making my first model, I took some advice and decided to switch from mass to the fragileness of the leaf. I made my base smaller and i played with different sizes of my weaving strips.

Place for a Leaf: Sketch #3

This leaf was my favorite. Though I'm not 100 % sure if it counted as one leaf, it had multiple leaves on it. What struck me most was the mass and the unique shape of it. 

The first idea that I had for it was to connect it in a shape that was simple and geometric, to contrast the complexity of my leaf, to the simpleness of its place.

My second idea was a bird's nest. It was extremely literal, but when we broke up into groups it was what my group chose. When I thought about the mass of my leaf, I tried to think of things I could do to either compare or contrast mass, so that's why I wanted to create a "nest" of other visually-weighted things and create a weighted balance. Before class, I quickly threw together a messy paper nest, with crumpled circular papers inside of it, and stuck my leaf in there.

This was the leaf that I ended up choosing for my project.

Place for a Leaf: Sketch #2

This second leaf had many things that I could play on. The leaf was perfectly flat, and did not curl at all the first week. It was very small, and it almost looked like it had never been touched. It was perfect in every way. It also had a bright yellow color to it. I also noticed that it was symmetric.

The first idea I had was to emphasize size. As you can see in the bottom left corner, I planned to place the leaf inside something extremely large, to contrast scale. I also wanted to use a pattern of the same leaves on the outside to play on the unique qualities of this leaf I had found.

The second idea I had was to contrast size and form, and somehow connect this perfectly flat leaf to a series of raised and differently sized forms. It was supposed to be a "mini-city" which is extremely literal, but I wanted to symbolize the little amount of credit nature is given compared to industry.

The third idea I had was to play on the symmetry and create a structure with folds in it that would hold my symmetrical leaf, but be completely asymmetrical.

Places for a Leaf: Sketch #1

After finding 5 leaves, I picked 3 that were my favorite. This was the first. This leaf was an unordinary brown, but the texture struck me as extraordinary. The front of the leaf was thick as leather, and felt like it too. But when you turned it over, the back of the leaf felt like velvet.

My first idea was to create a place that would reflect the texture. I wanted to contrast, so the place I created was raised with jagged folds, as I was hoping to make them look like pebbles. This sketch is the one in the bottom right corner.

My second idea was to compare textures. I wanted to create a surface that looked like a lilypad on water, because lilypads are also smooth in texture. This idea was quite literal, and the sketch is in the bottom left corner.

My third idea was to create a place from other fall colors, such as red, orange and yellow, to make the brown pop, and give it energy. I was going to make a boxy-looking thing and have the edges cascade and fray as if it was "falling". This was also extremely literal, and the sketch is in the top left corner.

5 things you could find in my purse

AUGUST 31, 2008

Sitting in Brittany's room over labor-day weekend, this was the only work I had left to do. However, I had not brought a purse, so I grabbed some stuff from my overnight bag, and Brittany gave me some of her stuff from her purse, and I played with the objects. I attempted to draw my phone, but it was too curvy around the edges and I couldn't get it to look right. I also had no patience, because the first thing I drew was the Orbit Gum. It took me about 45 minutes to draw that one thing. That was when I decided I'd need objects requiring less detail.

I tried to mix up the objects a bit instead of focusing on just makeup, or just food (yes I could have made one of just food). I also tried to play around with the angles of the objects to make them look more interesting, as they'd be boring if they were straight on the page. I think this assignment was my favorite so far.