Marks, lines, forms and more lines

Here are some of my select explorations, experiments and of course, module assignments

Mark makers and Mark takers

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/F_Keeping_Cool_With_Shadows.html

1.https://science.howstuffworks.com/crumple-theory.htm;

Form finding in Scribbles

This was a super fun exercise. I was initially finding random objects and as I explored and experimented more, I tried to connect the elements that appeared into a scene of some sort.

Left to right — A group of stick humans playing soccer; a woman creating pottery; Two figures standing next to each other and talking.

Forms in motion

Exploring movement — The assignment was to explore shapes and forms created by movement. Oh well, I have a tendency to freeze in front of the camera, so I used digital 3D mannequins to simulate movement and captured the same. Some interesting forms generated by some hip-hop moves.

Some interesting forms generated from — left to right — a man jumping (How did I manage to make the jolly jump look so sinister), swinging his arms in side profile (mirrored/unmirrored )

Perspective study through photographs

As a person with a background in biology, I am used to drawing flat sections and drawing in three dimensions was completely new to me. I found perspectives particular challenging. So to begin with, I took some simple objects and changed camera angles to visualise and understand the perspectives they create.

Perspective exploration with a stack of books

In the previous exploration with photographs and the ones that followed, I realised I didn’t enjoy taking photographs. So to sort of motivate me, I took random objects from around the house and created a story around these objects to keep myself entertained while exploring photography. Some experiments with perspectives using objects at home. Top — Storm shadow leaves the cobra commander to be a football star. Bottom — Time and his friends or the lack thereof.

End-of-Module Assignment

The end of the module assignment is a culmination of all explorations from this module.

Man-made object

Left to right: Sketches, Perspective and Isometry; Experimental — The lamp was foldable and therefore a perfect subject for studying form from movement.

Natural Object

Indoor space

Left to right: Isometry; Line drawing 2 point perspective

Experimental — left to right: Isometry; Acute perspective; One point perspective.

Outdoor space

1 point perspective sketches of outdoor scenes. Top — My brother had sent a picture of a bridge from his university and I really liked how it captured the essence of a one-point perspective. I experimented with a brush pen for the fluidity of strokes. Bottom — Space between 2 rows of apartments converging at a single vanishing point (line sketch)

Experimental — Outdoors (Chennai Central Railway station)

Isometry/ Shading— Inspiration: Hampi Stepwells from a visit back in 2018.

Humans

left to right — sketch of my father and an experimental representation. For the sketch, I tried a continuous line sketch without taking my hand off the paper when drawing resulting in multiple overlapping lines. For the experimental approach, I tried to do the opposite by keeping lines to the minimum and representing my dad with as few lines as possible but to a recognisable extent.

1 point and 2 point perspective sketches of a human head. Drawing a human head in perspective was as interesting as I was challenging.

Shading and Volume

Dry Pastel experiments — Shading for Volume

Final Thoughts

This module made me conscious of the fact that I did not enjoy exploring nor was I paying attention to the physical space and objects around me. Thanks to the pandemic and lockdown, I had equated in my head that most of the physical space around me was mundane and uninspiring. Through this module, I challenged myself to go out and to not only observe and draw but also to question the physical reality and my interactions with it.