Hey I'm Sachini and these are my 300 sketches.
At first when you say "300 sketches" it seems like a lot, and IT IS. For someone who hasn't studied art and design in her life, ever before, this assignment was a great challenge.
I practically had to teach myself how to draw and handle a pencil in a way that would give me the image I wanted. I had to discover my artistic style and play around to figure out what works best for me, all within 2 weeks.
I divided my journey throughout this challenge into different stages as I developed my
(non-existant) skills.
Stage 1 - Learning how to draw
I realized that before drawing a full on sketch I should start from the basics like drawing a straight line and simple shapes. I got a chance to practice this in our studio class aswell. This really helped me to use my sketching tool with more control over the strokes I made for my drawings. Specially the "connecting dots" exercise. As Hans explained how to perform this very simple exercise I didn't realize how truely challenging this would be, but by the end of this session I got the hang of it.
I then started drawing objects that I found around the house. I found myself constantly rubbing out what I drew and re-drawing the image a couple times as I couldn't get it to look symmetrical. Even though we were instructed to not touch the eraser for this exercise I simply couldn't resist.
Stage 2 - What do I have to do exactly?
To be honest I hadn't really understood the assignment thoroughly upto this stage even though I read the assignment brief quite a few times. In our studio session we were asked to draw a couple objects in class. This is when I understood how I was to approach this assignment.
Learning Factor - Draw objects in different angles or maybe seperating the object into pieces and include labels(annotate)
To be honest I hadn't really understood the assignment thoroughly upto this stage even though I read the assignment brief quite a few times. In our studio session we were asked to draw a couple objects in class. This is when I understood how I was to approach this assignment.
Learning Factor - Draw objects in different angles or maybe seperating the object into pieces and include labels(annotate)
I came home that day and started drawing objects with the knowledge I had gained from the session, labelling details of each object as I went.
Then I finally started noticing some improvement in my sketches. I was erasing less often and I could see that my sketches looked more cleaner.
Stage 3 - Experimenting
I experimented a little and started drawing a couple doodles with a pen. I had no subject but just to draw random things that came to my mind. I switched to a pen because if I used a pencil I knew I would be erasing and perfecting each little doodle I drew and so drawing with a pen would simply make it impossible for me to do that.
I experimented a little and started drawing a couple doodles with a pen. I had no subject but just to draw random things that came to my mind. I switched to a pen because if I used a pencil I knew I would be erasing and perfecting each little doodle I drew and so drawing with a pen would simply make it impossible for me to do that.
Stage 4 - Sketching with a pen
Doodling kind of helped me be comfortable to use a pen. I challenged myself a little here because this meant I can't rub things out if I didn't like it. For some reason I felt that "sketching" meant it should be neat. Not like doodling where it's pretty when the doodle is messy.
Doodling kind of helped me be comfortable to use a pen. I challenged myself a little here because this meant I can't rub things out if I didn't like it. For some reason I felt that "sketching" meant it should be neat. Not like doodling where it's pretty when the doodle is messy.
This was way harder than I thought because I was so used to erasing what I drew and
re-drawing it about 5 times wasting so much time on a single sketch. Although, on the bright side, it made me more efficient as I finished alot of sketches in a short amount of time.
This was great since this whole assignment was a battle between time.
Stage 5 - Switching my media
I then tested out my capabilities and changed my media from a physical sketch book to a digital one. This was quite interesting because I had access to an unlimited colour palette so I can finally add some colour into my sketches.
I then tested out my capabilities and changed my media from a physical sketch book to a digital one. This was quite interesting because I had access to an unlimited colour palette so I can finally add some colour into my sketches.
I haven't done digital drawing before so I had no knowledge on what softwares I should be using. The application I used for these sketches does not have a lot of tools and cool effects I could use but I managed with what I had and came up with the following sketches.
Stage 6 - Testing my skills
Once I got comfortable drawing on a tablet I wanted to test my abilities and actually draw a product I need. This is a simple idea but can be very effective.
✨handy dandy organizing pouch✨
My laptop bag is quite small and compacked, so it is such a hustle to find things in there. The main things I need to be able to access easily are my purse, laptop charger and pencil case.
After a bit of thinking I came up with a little pouch that I can just slip into my bag. It would have 3 slots to put things into.
I initially thought the whole thing would be made of a non-stretchy fabric like material (hopefully a recycled material), but then realized it would be more convinient if the 3 little slots on the pouch would be made of some kind of a stretchy material. I tried to depict it on the sketch by using a different textured tool.
Stage 7 - Testing my skills(some more)
I then thought it would be fun to create an animation. Even though this animation is so simple it was a learning experience and I enjoyed doing it.
Stage 8 - Having some fun
I didn't know what else I could sketch so I did some artwork for fun. I played around with some fonts and did some other creations.
Reflection
This assignment was such a great learning experience. There were so many ups and downs throughout these 2 weeks and at times I felt super stressed thinking that I won't be able to finish these sketches on time but I was also excited for the outcome.
At the beginning I didn't know how to draw at all and now I've gotten so much better. I still have a lot to improve but this was a great starting point.
This assignment really tested my time management abilities aswell. Initially I was perfecting every little detail wasting so much time on a single sketch but I quikly realized I have to be much faster.
Experimenting with different tools helped me figure out what works best for me to create designs. I really like the sketch book drawings a lot.
As a design student willing to become a product designer one day, I think this assignment helped me understand how important it is to be able to draw what you want to make because visual images communicate better than words and it is much easier to show people what you want to create rather than explaining it.
