ARCH 29A Portfolio Scott Real
I find any type of creativity to be stimulating, whether it is drawing, writing or painting. It can be as complex as designing a garment, room, or building, or as simple as developing a better method of organizing one’s silverware, or sock drawer. In any type of creative endeavor, the process can easily be as important as the resulting final product. Anytime I can see results of my labor I am left with a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. Drawing is no different than any other creative process. From the initial viewing of the object to be captured on paper to the finished piece of art, the entire process can be both cathartic and rewarding. I also find the process of drawing to be very stimulating. As in any discipline, continued practice improves the technique, and resulting product. I prefer drawing in pencil, as it allows me to improve the final product. I also find drawing to be a wonderful way to pass the time, almost an escape from whatever is going on in my life. While Architecture 29A is the first drawing class I have taken since High School, I have spent time over the years drawing. I prefer drawing architecture, furniture, and greenery to people or animals. I’m not sure why that is. Probably because I am better at those models, but it could also be that they interest me more. I am studying Interior Design and have a background in furniture and Interiors. Improving my drawing skills can only assist me with this career. If I am unable to sketch an idea for a client, or for a vendor I may be unable to properly convey my ideas. I have used my drawing skills in the past to accomplish this. I draw both for pleasure, and to accomplish my goals and achieve what I want. Drawing sooths my soul and improves my confidence. Drawing allows me to express myself and to communicate without words. Drawing inspires and calms me. I also feel that being able to draw increases my credibility with someone who is unfamiliar with my creativity and talent. That is why I draw.
Week One :Self Portrait This was my first drawing in this class. Drawing people is much more challenging for me than drawing buildings, interiors, architectural details, and perspectives. This gives me An opportunity to practice sketching and to get out of my comfort zone. I am learning to draw darker. This became quite obvious to me as I worked on preparing this portfolio. Strengths: I did a good job on the hair and eyebrows. Weaknesses: proportions and scale. Opportunities: Using techniques learned in this class. Risks: None, I can only improve using my new skills.
My Living Space, exercise from week one scene in home, from memory
Our second exercise from week one was to draw our living space from memory. I feel that I remembered rather well, the contents of the room and did a decent job of capturing them. I spent too much time focusing on the black rug and door. As this was an early exercise I still had much to learn,
Living Space: Actual We went home and drew our space observing it in person. What was good was the scale and proportions of the room. A weakness was not darkening my lines or shading. We had not yet studied perspectives and horizon lines. I found these would be more helpful if I were to do this again. In the future I would commit to and darken my lines, especially on objects that are closer.
Week two we spent week two working on lines, how to draw straight lines, using varying thicknesses and various shades. I found this to be useful. Drawing straight lines proved to be more challenging than I would have assumed.
Week Three: Using Frame We used the frame more, and practiced drawing upside down, using the frame as a guide. I found this to be helpful in gaging scale, and in looking at the individual parts of the image vs attempting to draw what I think I see. An excellent exercise to help in eye hand co-ordination
Week Four: Hands We expanded on the frame usage, and this was quite helpful. I enjoyed this exercise. Going forward I will take more time and commit to my lines, Strengths: Utilizing the frame for improved spatial proportions. Weaknesses: didn’t complete all lines. Opportunities: Better relationship between areas. Risks: adding shading to enhance depth.
Negative space I found this technique helpful as a better way to see items I draw. The frame tool was helpful in this exercise as well. Using a pencil for scale also proved helpful. My opportunity was to center my drawing. I am pleased with the result
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Week Five: Perspectives & Vanishing points I found these exercises to be very helpful. I did find some of these exercises to be challenging In the future I will spend more time focusing on the vanishing points and ensuring that I follow these lines. The One Point Living Room Assignment on the next page was challenging. The space was small, and I did not draw my horizon lines for a guide. This is something I did on my next exercise, and it made a huge difference.
One point perspective Living room Strength: Scale and proportions Weakness, Angles and perspectives Opportunity: Horizon Lines Risks: None
Week six:
Two point perspectives
I enjoyed this exercise. Using the tools learned the previous week helped. Drawing the horizon lines at the beginning kept me on track. What I would do differently would be to spend more time on proportions. I didn’t get all the angles correct. I would draw more horizon lines and pay more attention to the windows. My opportunity for improvement is in paying more attention to details. The risk this implies is that I would never finish the drawing.
I wanted to add this sketch. It was my first Architectural Sketch, before I began using my sketchbook, and before I learned the tools I have acquired so far this semester. I look forward to improving my skills in drawing.
Week Eight In week eight we studied 8 different shading techniques, Dots, Horizontal, Vertical, Diagonal, Cross, and Smooth Hatching, as well as scribble shading. And smudging.
Strengths: Discovering which technique works for me, as well as when to use different techniques. Weaknesses: Some methods were less successful than others. Opportunities: Practice more. Risks, Only using the smudge ( my preferred ) method.
Week Nine This exercise involved drawing household items in tone. Strengths: I captured an accurate resemblance of the items, with good composition. Weaknesses: My lines are too pronounced, Opportunities: Pay more attention to the objective of the assignment, using tone to indicate shadows and shapes. Opportunities: Spend more time on drawing, and more attention to tones. Risks: Having the finished drawing understandable to the observer.
Week Ten :Shading Methods This portrait of Helen Sears in tone was more challenging than I expected. Strengths: Getting overall tones correct. Utilizing a grid was extremely helpful. Weaknesses: The face was difficult to capture depth using tones. Opportunities: Spend more time on this exercise, paying more attention to subtle differences in tones. Risks: I don’t foresee any.
This exercise was done in weeks 11 and 12. It was a section of an overall shot . Each class member took a section. I used a grid on both the original and my section. What was good was using the grid, as it allowed me to maintain a relation of each object in the drawing. What didn’t go as planned was that I went around the perimeter in order to match up with my classmates, and then had some issues matching sections of Cloud Hall. Another weakness was that I initially attempted to draw each pixel from the image in the sky, and spent too much instead of focusing on tones, and ended up rushing some more important parts of the drawing. I would definitely spend more time on more important aspects if I were to do this again.
Self Portrait My last homework assignment, a self portrait. A definite improvement over the first day of class. Strengths: using the grid, and frame. This helped my proportions. Weakness: I should have read the instructions, as I didn’t shade initially as instructed. Opportunities: Shade initially, and erase more as a technique. Risks: Its easier to add color and tone than it is to erase.
As I reflect back on the semester, and grateful for all that I was able to learn The techniques I found to be the most challenging were tones, shades and shadows. I enjoyed using the frame and the horizon lines to assist me in perspectives and relationships. I also enjoyed gesture drawings, figure drawings, and the last week with portraits. As far as which subject matter I enjoyed, it’s tough to pick, so I’ll narrow it down. The hands, the Interior vignettes, and the tree were probably my three favorite subjects to draw. I enjoyed the hands because they looked like my hands when I had finished, and it was enjoyable to draw a subject at such close range. It was also lovely for my instrument and my model to be one and the same, The living and dining rooms were enjoyable as I was able to evoke emotive quality of my subjects. The tree I found enjoyable because the subject matter is so beautiful, and I learned a new technique for drawing greenery, which I plan on using rather often in the future. My favorite assignment is another tough question to answer, as there were a few I really enjoyed. The tree was fun, and so was Michael. Both because the subjects were beautiful. I think I had the most fun with my last assignment, the chameleon. I’ve included each of these in this portfolio. My number G314 pencil was my favorite instrument. It gave me the most versatility as far as color depth and ease of use. I feel like I made the most improvement in tonal drawing. As far where I could use the most improvement, that is probably a tossup between tones, shades & shadows, and linear perspectives, I’m also still experiencing difficulty with noses and lips. I am pleased with the progress I have made in this class and look forward to taking ARCH 29B
Favorite Assignments Michael
Chameleon
Botanical
Survey Semester Employ procedure in sketching correct proportions Express form, value & textures with shade & shadows Demonstrate use of freehand linear perspective drawing Contour (pure line drawing) Tonal rendering Ability to represent & render visual information Create a compelling visual composition Ability to rapidly sketch ideas Evoke emotive quality in drawings
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