Exercise 2.0

Rapid sketches

My objects

I collected a few objects by my door and bag; all objects that I pick up or leave lying around for that transition between going out of the house and returning. These were: a shoe, my purse, some lipstick, a biro, a compact mirror and my car keys. I chose to use fine liner because, in previous tasks where I have had to sketch quickly, using a pencil seems to make me want to take my time and shade and add detail. A fine liner is bolder, mistakes cannot be erased, and allows me a kind of freedom with mark-making – I know it will not be perfect.

Rapid sketching

I thoroughly enjoy the process of limiting the time in which I have to draw; it instantly takes the pressure of reaching perfection away and forces me to ‘just draw’. The first sketch – which had a 3-minute time limit – was a tricky angle to achieve the shape of the shoe but, after this first sketch was complete, I started to feel more comfortable.

3 minutes: I spent too long on the shoe, but this loosened me up for the following sketches.
I like the texture achieved in this drawing. I spent less time on each shape which gave me chance in the lasy few seconds to go over some lines and add some scribbles of texture.
I definitely gave the impression of a “tall” shoe in this angle. It seems like everything is a little stretched and out of proportion.
This felt flat; I did not achieve the depth I had been managing in other images.
As this was such a short time limit, I was purely focused on getting the outlines of the objects onto the paper. I quite liked this angle and the final image is scruffy and sparse, but readable.
Again, a race to get everything on the page, but, from this angle, I managed to get some more details on there in the time limit. Some of the shapes and angles are not quite right, but I think some objects are definitely recognisable.

Moving objects

I wanted to try objects in the sink, as they move a little anyway (as some fill with water) and then change positions again as the water drains. I deliberately chose objects that were different colours, because I had the idea of using coloured materials (fine liners, watercolours, pencil crayons) to distinguish each object as it moved across the page. I kept the sketches quick, but did not set myself a specific time limit – all five pieces were finished within 20 minutes.

Second attempt: I managed to get more on the page in the process of the sink draining and enjoyed the overlaps created. Some of the objects did not move very much, whereas some changed position more frequently. As I was completing this sketch, I thought about ways to make each individual object’s journey clear to the viewer, and decided to experiment with colour.
Fine liners
Coloured pencils: I like this effect because some objects are bolder and come to “the surface” whereas some fade into the backgrond, as if sinking underwater.
Watercolours: A little more abstract.

Overall, I found this process freeing and enjoyable. I was no longer focused on absolute perfection or creating an image that was exactly the same as the reality in front of me; instead, I worked on capturing the objects, the lines, the general shape of the scene. It was interesting to see what jumped out to me straight away and what I captured in the limited time I had. With the moving objects, I tried to experiment further with materials to see which effects matched the image.

Leave a comment

close-alt close collapse comment ellipsis expand gallery heart lock menu next pinned previous reply search share star