Sunday, 11 May 2014
Tommy Kane taught me how to cross-hatch
Cross hatching has always been a mystery to me. I disliked it as a method as I never really got it. I admired what others could do with it.
As part of SketchbookSkool's last klass (sic) this semester we had Tommy Kane teach us. His work is very detailed and he takes 3-6 hours to do a drawing (sketch, detail, watercolour and then go over with colour pencils). That is a long time and you can guess what his homework assignment to us involved. As I mulled over the subject of my drawing, he posted an additional video in answer to comments in the class.
This one was about cross hatching as he drew a lemon in around ten minutes. That was amazing and I tried it straightaway and then once more as I finally got what he was talking about.
They are not brilliant but they are a massive step for me and I enjoyed making them!
What time is it? TEA-TIME
As part of SketchbookSkool's last klass (sic) this semester we had Tommy Kane teach us. His work is very detailed and he takes 3-6 hours to do a drawing (sketch, detail, watercolour and then go over with colour pencils). That is a long time and you can guess what his homework assignment to us involved. As I mulled over the subject of my drawing, he posted an additional video in answer to comments in the class.
This one was about cross hatching as he drew a lemon in around ten minutes. That was amazing and I tried it straightaway and then once more as I finally got what he was talking about.
They are not brilliant but they are a massive step for me and I enjoyed making them!
What time is it? TEA-TIME
- Outline
- Flat lines for shadows
- Turn page if need be
- Notice darker areas even in shadows
- Know when to stop
- Go over outline again
- Practice
Saturday, 10 May 2014
Monday, 5 May 2014
Visual expression - useful tips for design sketches
Design: Creation of artifacts in Society is another Coursera course I enrolled in (just for the videos - won't be completing this at all due to time constraints and other commitments).
One aspect of the course is to teach us tips for Visual expression - and I started making some notes in this area as this is related to but unlike the sketchbookskool klasses (sic) I have been following.
The basics of sketching for impact
These include
(So nothing like my notes on tracing paper in a A6 book)
Orthographic projections and Cross-sections
Orthographic Projections are 2d representations of views of the object. They are moved perpendicular facing you (side A, front, top, side B, bottom) - and give you a sense of dimensions and proportions. It is important to align the drawings so that you maintain scale and proportions.
X-sections give you a sense of the materials or set up inside your object/building - e.g. in a building, you can see where the stairs and internal doors are and in an object you can see that various materials are involved.
Two point perspectives
1 point perspective is the traditional vanishing point in the distance. This VP may be obvious or appear to be behind a wall.
2 point perspective is where you have an edge, corner and two sides which converge to two VPs on both sides on the horizon.
3 point perpective is where you look up or down a building and see the edges converge.
Rules for two point perspective
1. All vertical lines stay vertical
2. Circles are drawn as ellipses - use midpoints and diagonals to locate.
Drawing with emphasis , and Modelling tricks and techniques are to follow over subsequent classes.
One aspect of the course is to teach us tips for Visual expression - and I started making some notes in this area as this is related to but unlike the sketchbookskool klasses (sic) I have been following.
The basics of sketching for impact
These include
- fill the frame (use the page, not a thumbnail)
- use dark lines (walk 10 paces away from your drawing)
- annotate (erase pencil marks in one direction only)
- scan to high quality (1-2k pixels on longest side, cropped, jpeg/png, and scanned in colour)
(So nothing like my notes on tracing paper in a A6 book)
Orthographic projections and Cross-sections
Orthographic Projections are 2d representations of views of the object. They are moved perpendicular facing you (side A, front, top, side B, bottom) - and give you a sense of dimensions and proportions. It is important to align the drawings so that you maintain scale and proportions.
X-sections give you a sense of the materials or set up inside your object/building - e.g. in a building, you can see where the stairs and internal doors are and in an object you can see that various materials are involved.
Two point perspectives
1 point perspective is the traditional vanishing point in the distance. This VP may be obvious or appear to be behind a wall.
2 point perspective is where you have an edge, corner and two sides which converge to two VPs on both sides on the horizon.
3 point perpective is where you look up or down a building and see the edges converge.
1. All vertical lines stay vertical
2. Circles are drawn as ellipses - use midpoints and diagonals to locate.
Drawing with emphasis , and Modelling tricks and techniques are to follow over subsequent classes.
Watercolours and vegetation
As part of SketchbookSkool's class I struggled with Jane LaFazio's klass (sic). The assignment involved making a grid in pencil, and making a composition of fruit or vegetables (for example) - we could use watercolours. We were to add some text, and a border.
A useful exercise in observation - I discovered that pine cones (NOT acorns) have more interesting 'leaves' then I knew. And that shades of brown watercolour on non-watercolour paper doesn't dry well.
Jane's style was time-consuming with various media introduced into it (e.g. collages, stictching etc.) - it became obvious that I needed to spend a bit more time on my second attempt. Her site has several tutorials for your perusal.
Using watercolour soft pencils worked better and I mixed her and Koosje's tips to do it again.
If you are interested , check out the list of teachers for semester one (a new session of this runs from July)
Semester two starts soon as well (July).
Sunday, 4 May 2014
Saturday, 3 May 2014
badger, badger, badger, badger...
Was introduced to Roz Stendhal in my Sketchbookskool class today. She does animals and I did not expect to enjoy it but her class was great.
I started making notes from her class
but then could not resist having a go.
Then I took her advice for when you cannot go out....draw toys etc. So I reached for the badger.
I started making notes from her classbut then could not resist having a go.
Then I took her advice for when you cannot go out....draw toys etc. So I reached for the badger.
Of course this meant I ended up with the earworm of the Badger song from all those years ago...
Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Attended baggage
Sunday, 27 April 2014
Submitting for Reading Arts and Music Week 2014
This year, inspired by all the various things that have happened including joining Sketchbookskool,computational arts homework as well as these:
we came up with a submission idea for Reading Arts and Music Week 2014 (in June)
Title: A sketchbook collaboration for the people by the people – warning: your work may be amended
"Visitors are invited to collaborate by drawing on paper provided and put these up on the walls/noticeboards. They can choose to amend drawings already on the wall/noticeboards "
Here's the submission image:
we came up with a submission idea for Reading Arts and Music Week 2014 (in June)
Title: A sketchbook collaboration for the people by the people – warning: your work may be amended
"Visitors are invited to collaborate by drawing on paper provided and put these up on the walls/noticeboards. They can choose to amend drawings already on the wall/noticeboards "
Here's the submission image:
Night of 1,000 Ukes
Part of Readipop festival - one evening, lots of uke bands playing lots of ukes.
We're talking around fifty in total but one thousand sounds a lot better (if you see what I mean)
My approach when faced with so many (and the desire to enjoy the event) was to draw silhouettes and hint at something for each person I had managed to cover.
We're talking around fifty in total but one thousand sounds a lot better (if you see what I mean)
My approach when faced with so many (and the desire to enjoy the event) was to draw silhouettes and hint at something for each person I had managed to cover.
The daily commute
Sunday, 20 April 2014
sketching at a live music event
@altreading suggested we head down to see Sir Richard Bishop at South Street last night so I did not really knowing what to expect.
I did a rough sketch and put the book away...
...until the sun skeleton solo said he was terrified as it was his first time singing solo so I thought it's my first time at a gig.
Have to admit my fave act was Stoddler and my favourite sketch was of Sir Richard Bishop. Sam was charming but stayed perfectly still till I finally got the sketchbook out.
I did a rough sketch and put the book away...
...until the sun skeleton solo said he was terrified as it was his first time singing solo so I thought it's my first time at a gig.
Have to admit my fave act was Stoddler and my favourite sketch was of Sir Richard Bishop. Sam was charming but stayed perfectly still till I finally got the sketchbook out.
Friday, 18 April 2014
Keeping a sketchbook journal
I wanted to start drawing again and love sketch books - here's what happened when I had a go by joining another online course - this time, Sketchbookskool
Learning about Computational arts and crowdsourcing my homework
Introduction to Computational Arts is a course provided by State University of New York on Coursera.
I decided to do it as my Photoshop and Gimp skills were not too great and I was intrigued about the arts aspect of it.
Read more about the what I learnt and how I crowdsourced my homework here...
I decided to do it as my Photoshop and Gimp skills were not too great and I was intrigued about the arts aspect of it.
Read more about the what I learnt and how I crowdsourced my homework here...
Sunday, 5 January 2014
Making do over Xmas
Made some time over Xmas to play with a few things and follow some examples from t'internet. The aim was to learn so I can play some more.
Doodling in 3 dimensions - initial thoughts and findings
3Doodler is a kickstarter project I backed so have been super excited about how it works but waited patiently till December before starting to play and encourage friends and family to use it as well - seeing the way they use it is also inspiring. As my friend pointed out, it's just a printer nozzle. Well, yes it is but the experience is so unexpectedly different. Firstly, your hand is not as steady as a 'traditional' printer (albeit one that is only 1 year old!). This can pose problems if you think of drawing in the same way as you have watched the printer work (i.e. lattices and layers). However, the freedom it offers makes it more than just a nozzle. Also, you can do this on a cork mat and spin it around to get movement like a pottery wheel.
We tried both PLA (better for the environment) and ABS (less good for the environment) 'ink'/plastic with the pen. ABS is better for building up (i.e. vertical lines without having to layer plastic as printers do).
PLA is better for stencils - though I saw JiP make a series of lattices and then stick them together for a 3d pyramid - it's what we use in the 3d desk printer and is brittle when not layered. ABS is very springy and stretchy- as you can see we used it as a string for baubles for a handmade Xmas tree.
The things I would like to try include
- Adding details to other objects (3d printed or otherwise),
- Using the surprisingly springy properties of this material,
- Trying to do a 3d still life.
- Mixing materials (e.g fabric, solder etc.) would be of the most interest
- Using a robot arm on it to see if I can get more control on it and also, because it would be fun though you'd lose the free-flow drawing aspects. Just typing this out has made me prioritise this one.
Sewing bags and looking for patterns
I had been making lots of totes following this craftsy tutorial as Xmas presents (and some for me). The lady says her 9 year old daughter can make it. Having been quite bad at needlework, it took me a lot of time and swearing. But once I got into the swing of things it was better. Unlike in the tutorial, I used plain fabrics with colours that suited the folks who were getting them and added fabric pens to the gift.
I spotted this 1 hour bag (took me 3 hours naturally)
which pushed me out of my comfort zone as it includes curves, wading and magnetic snap buttons which are AMAZING. As you can see, I haven't quite got the hang of the curves yet. Oh, and I'm not a fan of sewing wadding but resentfully acknowledge its worth.
-
Playing with making bags (straight lines!) made me realise that there are only a few patterned fabrics that I like and are affordable. Plus, I would like to personalise them. Though I had explored making wearable tech I discovered a few hurdles along the way. I need to get better at stitching and electronics first.
Which made me open to the ideas of printing on the bags.
Inkodye by Lumi
Luckily, a couple of years ago, I attended Kinetica Art Fair 2012 where mindsetonline were exhibiting. Upon browsing their site for ideas this Xmas, I came across Inkodye. It seemed to be what I was looking for in terms of exploring making interesting things on fabric and other materials.
Today's experiment was just that, an experiment, using the guides. We used transparencies for printing out the photo and 3 small plastic spoons worth of blue dye. It was a very cloudy (and a bit rainy day) so the table was left inside by the glass door - which did not help. What the guides also don't convey is how stinky the stuff is.
Next time:
- Will use a roller brush rather than a paintbrush to coat the ink evenly.
- Masks and working with the windows open should help alleviate the smell
- Try it on unvarnished wood
- Transparencies may not have worked - may try darker pictures or stencils.
- UV light flash is probably best used in the dark
- Work on a brighter day
- More ink?
- Mixing inks to create more colours
The details in the leaf and some of the net came out but the photo only had some details come through.
Looking forward to a sunny day when inspired and not busy. May have to wait some time for that.
As an aside, in anticipation of this ink and the ability to use UV lights I received this brilliant gift - a UV flash light from Maplins - just an excuse to solder, really. I doubt it made much difference today as it was used in the light on the net bag.
Raspberry Pi and physical computing
When we attended the Mini Maker Fair in Elephant and Castle in 2013 (last year!) I had a go at this workshop on 'Web-based physical computing with Raspberry Pi'). Now that I have access to a Pi, I decided to do the 'tutorial' again and play. At the time of the fair, it was the first time I had played with a breadboard so my thoughts were not on the software side.
Connected to the Pi, I found it quite tricky to work with it. So, I had help and used this book to use my laptop to control it. Then I found the program that went with the tutorial quite limited and hard to amend quickly so I wrote my own program in python to interact with the LED and switch and blink SOS or prompt user for 'dots' or 'dashes'. Since the idea of a morse-code LED messager seemed a bit dull to me I gave up and looked for a way to interact with the LED/switch in a web app.
I discovered that GPIO pins are not what they seem (22 when using node and GPIO library provided in the tutorial, 15 for 22 in GPIO library I used first in the simple python script and 22 in WebIOPi) ! Thankfully, the book helped.
WebIOPi was fun as it seemed to open up possibilities and the tutorial I used was easy to follow though the web page styling was really tricky to amend. I didn't follow the tutorial entirely. Instead the user would enter the number of times the LED should blink in a text box or just press the button on the screen as a switch for the light. To be frank, the outcome was also boring but doing the tutorial got me closer to thinking about connecting some of my devices to make something fun or useful.
Next time:
- Project with an interesting device
Something to consider for the future though.
These projects have meant I can play some more in 2014.
Doodling in 3 dimensions - initial thoughts and findings
 |
| Packaging and first doodles |
3Doodler is a kickstarter project I backed so have been super excited about how it works but waited patiently till December before starting to play and encourage friends and family to use it as well - seeing the way they use it is also inspiring. As my friend pointed out, it's just a printer nozzle. Well, yes it is but the experience is so unexpectedly different. Firstly, your hand is not as steady as a 'traditional' printer (albeit one that is only 1 year old!). This can pose problems if you think of drawing in the same way as you have watched the printer work (i.e. lattices and layers). However, the freedom it offers makes it more than just a nozzle. Also, you can do this on a cork mat and spin it around to get movement like a pottery wheel.
 |
| Ship made by Max |
We tried both PLA (better for the environment) and ABS (less good for the environment) 'ink'/plastic with the pen. ABS is better for building up (i.e. vertical lines without having to layer plastic as printers do).
 |
| One of the doodles turned out to be long enough to make a string. |
PLA is better for stencils - though I saw JiP make a series of lattices and then stick them together for a 3d pyramid - it's what we use in the 3d desk printer and is brittle when not layered. ABS is very springy and stretchy- as you can see we used it as a string for baubles for a handmade Xmas tree.
The things I would like to try include
- Adding details to other objects (3d printed or otherwise),
- Using the surprisingly springy properties of this material,
- Trying to do a 3d still life.
- Mixing materials (e.g fabric, solder etc.) would be of the most interest
- Using a robot arm on it to see if I can get more control on it and also, because it would be fun though you'd lose the free-flow drawing aspects. Just typing this out has made me prioritise this one.
Sewing bags and looking for patterns
I had been making lots of totes following this craftsy tutorial as Xmas presents (and some for me). The lady says her 9 year old daughter can make it. Having been quite bad at needlework, it took me a lot of time and swearing. But once I got into the swing of things it was better. Unlike in the tutorial, I used plain fabrics with colours that suited the folks who were getting them and added fabric pens to the gift.
I spotted this 1 hour bag (took me 3 hours naturally)
which pushed me out of my comfort zone as it includes curves, wading and magnetic snap buttons which are AMAZING. As you can see, I haven't quite got the hang of the curves yet. Oh, and I'm not a fan of sewing wadding but resentfully acknowledge its worth.
-
Playing with making bags (straight lines!) made me realise that there are only a few patterned fabrics that I like and are affordable. Plus, I would like to personalise them. Though I had explored making wearable tech I discovered a few hurdles along the way. I need to get better at stitching and electronics first.
Which made me open to the ideas of printing on the bags.
Inkodye by Lumi
Luckily, a couple of years ago, I attended Kinetica Art Fair 2012 where mindsetonline were exhibiting. Upon browsing their site for ideas this Xmas, I came across Inkodye. It seemed to be what I was looking for in terms of exploring making interesting things on fabric and other materials.
Today's experiment was just that, an experiment, using the guides. We used transparencies for printing out the photo and 3 small plastic spoons worth of blue dye. It was a very cloudy (and a bit rainy day) so the table was left inside by the glass door - which did not help. What the guides also don't convey is how stinky the stuff is.
 |
| Initial layout of photo and objects |
 |
| After 30 mins |
Next time:
- Will use a roller brush rather than a paintbrush to coat the ink evenly.
- Masks and working with the windows open should help alleviate the smell
- Try it on unvarnished wood
- Transparencies may not have worked - may try darker pictures or stencils.
- UV light flash is probably best used in the dark
- Work on a brighter day
- More ink?
- Mixing inks to create more colours
The details in the leaf and some of the net came out but the photo only had some details come through.
Looking forward to a sunny day when inspired and not busy. May have to wait some time for that.
As an aside, in anticipation of this ink and the ability to use UV lights I received this brilliant gift - a UV flash light from Maplins - just an excuse to solder, really. I doubt it made much difference today as it was used in the light on the net bag.Raspberry Pi and physical computing
When we attended the Mini Maker Fair in Elephant and Castle in 2013 (last year!) I had a go at this workshop on 'Web-based physical computing with Raspberry Pi'). Now that I have access to a Pi, I decided to do the 'tutorial' again and play. At the time of the fair, it was the first time I had played with a breadboard so my thoughts were not on the software side.
Connected to the Pi, I found it quite tricky to work with it. So, I had help and used this book to use my laptop to control it. Then I found the program that went with the tutorial quite limited and hard to amend quickly so I wrote my own program in python to interact with the LED and switch and blink SOS or prompt user for 'dots' or 'dashes'. Since the idea of a morse-code LED messager seemed a bit dull to me I gave up and looked for a way to interact with the LED/switch in a web app.
I discovered that GPIO pins are not what they seem (22 when using node and GPIO library provided in the tutorial, 15 for 22 in GPIO library I used first in the simple python script and 22 in WebIOPi) ! Thankfully, the book helped.
WebIOPi was fun as it seemed to open up possibilities and the tutorial I used was easy to follow though the web page styling was really tricky to amend. I didn't follow the tutorial entirely. Instead the user would enter the number of times the LED should blink in a text box or just press the button on the screen as a switch for the light. To be frank, the outcome was also boring but doing the tutorial got me closer to thinking about connecting some of my devices to make something fun or useful.
Next time:
- Project with an interesting device
Something to consider for the future though.
These projects have meant I can play some more in 2014.
Sunday, 25 August 2013
Project in a day - Researching Whitley Constellations
Sunday, 21 July 2013
A project in a day involving conductive thread and wearable tech
Inspired by Mini-maker fair, I imposed myself the challenge of creating a project on 21 July on the day of the Strength Collective meetup....here's what happened when I did this.
Sunday, 23 June 2013
Strength Collective #17: If You Go Down To The Woods
The metal band around this box must be there to keep the bears in, right? But then again, they must be pretty small bears so can't be all that dangerous. Can they?
Closer inspection of this photo turned up what looks like an eye peering out of the hole in the top-right. Which is a bit weird.
Anyway, I've no idea what the true motivation was for this modification, but I liked it all the same.
Saturday, 22 June 2013
Strength Collective #16: Emerging Faces and #18: Reach For The Sky
I wasn't sure what to make of these sculptures when I first saw them, only that they were strangely appealing, almost other-worldly.
Thinking about it since taking the photos (and I know nothing of the original motivations of the sculptor Jens-Flemming Sorensen) it struck me recently that, combined, they become suggestive of Humanity's exploding population, leading to over-crowding of our planet and our desire to reach for the stars and other places to call home.
Strength Collective #13: In Case You Weren't Sure
This sign is one of those that might be considered surplus to requirements. Maybe it's just me but it did seem pretty obvious which way the path went. Still, better safe than sorry I suppose.
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