Jessie Kathy Interiors

Chapter 3 covered a variety of subjects including shape, figure, form, perspective, and structure. Ching first establishes that from makes reference to both internal and external structure and establishes a sense of a 3-D mass or volume. To accomplish giving an object its form, we start with a simple shape, just as stated in the third video. By simplifying everything, you are given the fundamental shape for an object. This simple shape turns to an analytical drawing, such as a cube, to establish a volumetric framework for the object. These lines represent the underlying geometry and structure on an object. When drawing an addition to a surface (such as a lens on the face of a camera) another analytical drawing of a cube can be added just for the lens. The same process can be done with subtraction. I found analytical drawing to be extremely helpful when I was drawing my glass bottles and cylindrical objects on my desk at home. By using this technique, I noticed that the object I was drawing was much more proportional than if I tried to freehand draw it. Drawing both unseen and visible part of an angle helps to make it easier to gauge visible angles. All lines remain visible in the final drawing to intensify the depth of the image and reveal the constructive process by which it was generated and developed.

Another technique that helped to give my images more dimension was the use of shading on an object. As practiced in the Euclidean rendering exercise, each shape portrays light differently. Techniques for portraying light on different surfaces was expressed in videos 1 and 2. For example, when a cylinder is lit, it is darkest at the bottom, has a streak of light through the middle and has light shadow at the top. I wish I would've listened to this advice more while I was drawing, as I didn't use this technique while shading my cylinders. This would've definitely given my drawing more depth.

Chapter 2 in Ching's book explores how your eyes see light and how your brain perceives it. "The light and dark patterns we see emanate from the interaction of light with the surfaces of objects around us." The term value was introduced as the most critical thing when it comes to drawing and shading. Value is the relative darkness or lightness of a color. We can show value in our drawings through techniques such as: hatching, cross-hatching, scribbling and stippling. All techniques were practiced in our assigned homework for the week. The best advice I learned for these techniques through the reading was that the most important characteristic for these types of shading is the spacing and density of the strokes or dots. Larger spaces portray a lighter area shading while smaller spaces portray a darker area. Hatching and cross hatching are my most favorite techniques as I find them the most simple to use while adding value. Another technique introduced in the reading was mapping, in which inquires reducing many tonal values into just a few. I have yet to try this technique but I plan on doing so in the future.