glasses | gecko

Last week I came across an interesting drawing exercise at Mithi's Creative Journey (via Suzanne over at AN [OPEN] SKETCHBOOK) and knew I had to try it out.

The point of the exercise is to recognize the importance of drawing as a medium for working out ideas - visualizing forms which, through a process of editing / refining, become more removed from their intial source material. Basically you start out with two objects (I used my glasses and a ceramic gecko) and work on a series of drawings, using formal methods and combining elements to end with a final four.

This is my set:
First 16 quick line drawings of my glasses and then another 16 of a ceramic gecko:




Next, 64 quick drawings based on the original 16 - using the formal methods of exaggerating, distorting, simplifying, enlarging, reducing, repeating, rotating, combining, cross-referencing, and layering. Glasses first, gecko second:



Next use the formal methods again to make a single set of 32 new drawings, combining the glasses and gecko drawings:


Refine again to 16:

This time, paying more attention to layout, negative spaces, blocking out spaces, etc., reduce to 8:


and FINALLY refine and reduce to four final "complete" drawings:


It was really fun watching the transition from those initial simple drawings to the final four. Highly recommended!

the gang's all here

Three generations of my family (and our pets) from Florida, New York and England have descended on my parent's house in rural Virginia to celebrate the holidays. All those kids and dogs in one place can be more than a little chaotic. To make things even more exciting, Kimbo decided to roll in something *fresh* in the yard just before we started breakfast yesterday. Or, I should say, just before everyone else started breakfast because Kimbo and I spent that time bonding out back over a little shampoo and frigid water. Two rounds in fact. Plus a later swabbing with listerine. I'll be keeping a closer eye on her after that.

The kids have kept me busy drawing their new toys. It's been a fun way to try out some of my new supplies. Here is what we have cataloged so far:




More to follow....Happy New Year!