I took quite a journey throughout the 300 sketches assignment. I started by taking my time and averaging about 10 sketches per hour. I quickly realised I didn't want to spend 30 hours just sketching, so I had to try something different.
Therefore, I have four sections of sketches:
1. Initial 'pedantic' sketches
2. First attempt at quicker sketches
3. Shrinking back into my comfort zone
4. Sketching an object 10 times, each sketch 30 seconds
1. Initial 'pedantic' sketches
2. First attempt at quicker sketches
3. Shrinking back into my comfort zone
4. Sketching an object 10 times, each sketch 30 seconds
Section 1
At the start, I tried to use pen not to be too pedantic, but that proved not to be very effective. I started by drawing whatever object I could find first and then tried to find similar objects around the house.
I like this section, but they weren't drawn using good habits. I think this style of sketch is better suited to refined ideas than initial ideas, which is the type of sketch I want to improve at throughout this assignment.
This section has 55 sketches.
Section 2
In this section, I moved to pencil (but left my eraser in the other room so I couldn't be tempted) and tried to draw quickly. At first, I was pretty terrible at this (I considered naming this section a comedy of errors). Near the end of these sketches, I could go quicker than the first section while still producing good quality. So, I'm happy that I was able to improve my technique with these sketches.
This section has 45 sketches.
Section 3
I started to slow down to a more comfortable speed with these drawings. Since I was trying to develop my quicker sketching skills, I decided to try some digital sketching to see if that would be any different. This was a good idea as I completed the digital sketches faster, improving my feel for sketching on a tablet. I was inspired by movement for the digital sketches.
This section has 19 sketches.
The last sketch on the right was my attempt at representing the paths people take as they walk through the open space on level 4 of the engineering building.
Section 4
In the final section, I decided to utilise a 30-second timer and pick 18 objects to sketch 10 times, each sketch taking only 30 seconds. This was quite challenging, and I only managed to have a few sketches out of the 181 that I was really happy with. However, I learnt the importance of breaking down more complex objects into basic forms to quickly sketch the object's shape. I feel that I was able to improve on this with these sketches.
This section has 181 sketches.
Reflection
After 300 sketches, I feel a lot more comfortable just drawing the basic shapes I see, knowing that I can always draw them again later if I need to clean them up. This allows me to be more free with sketching, loosen up and enjoy it more.
I know I am better prepared now than at the start of the assignment to get ideas out of my head and onto the page in a quick but understandable manner.
This has given me more confidence in my sketching ability and motivation to continue to develop my skills, as I still have a lot of room for improvement.
