glasses | gecko
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:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMBe_OuvZd5MrwIwUCyf9zXwBbcl4SkmkVnCkbn3aMEYmIDqsfP-0pfAZxu4PmCwz0Cd8vIsowixP7CjxqQ8pVGQfuEVCzSh5iOM-LXCktfe4UwmYBvKLoLp6O8XimDdBLU4x2Bg/s320/glasses+-+16.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4TA6KZ9Q8VzKFkHhbyn0GdR2yq-GQa8Gkror6qgX_iyRNiPd9_JZgXcVbzrkKS8dnUs37T3jVYgqLFp1obX1u9YRSri7nxFo2E7Bxj_boo3PiAOrNdPbZ9NxLgTTUWNOGIeSNKw/s320/gecko+-+16.jpg)
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:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihGIrBKK-bGZ7nz9qHsTchC6HwOtMSq7rBxbaIw29iuun4SlJe-nzgx_FSEwPk5pigSJxWhY1IpqmAQnrAnSpUY3HAiU5OB8h8uS4FkaigI1PRGN1iRVi_VqFdbkcSdwOy5oIrJg/s320/glasses+-+64.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1vZECLCgz0WozdbprUwjbwbicEuto8UJNZNHArjCMeV5Q9LpB7eBhvPb83jBXFNHHhKlZhysnebTTuU279YvlwluDZ2e8sGWxxh-JWAdPdZau7uf4aRu_nH_VzfOyZPGNHl1DNA/s320/gecko+-+64.jpg)
Next use the formal methods again to make a single set of 32 new drawings, combining the glasses and gecko drawings:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj09a64iuHIXwbH60zO_BkUVTqCIB-Eqgl0u7nPynNWd_mDMdfKkPfUVKjueZVsS1lUg4hjY6u5CtVv8uFd8U0JBsCdYJNQkBo6XOlAuUOCP-cjJUgLXbiuoPG7X35GV24ghfOP-w/s320/combined+-+32.jpg)
Refine again to 16:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0j-hWfbdLFFe2E22eufi_GGQDFmmjs2k1o848rmIrRsjp-nhc6fVGmgIbRO2vB-xIfuMX_tmZcndHFDYy70vSaVala81EeEU0VLSvpOZRRdbL4uOzx_HjhB6eQ2pz5pkCJWifRQ/s320/combined+-+16.jpg)
This time, paying more attention to layout, negative spaces, blocking out spaces, etc., reduce to 8:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpdZAbiu5UFeGRfFw_KR5GC7k3k8kQlpgmYKVJyGbY4N20GaarA9qUnd5wc2GMwlxIRN9JkvUc9eMAk2XNY4EYg0l8Nyy4UuiWLg4Bjw33jOPdvmrhXGC8IzRhi2ygHVR4RHO_Tg/s320/combined+-+8.jpg)
and FINALLY refine and reduce to four final "complete" drawings:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwP-jruFoURs0rM3AavNzIAARcIFe3hcLF-AGwJ_v9KSbFyyF-QVIjck7ov79y_KGO11qoT82MvsGMAC2_DcohphA85qsV_v7vejj-vLB4gLnMylk9ApBzo4xaMN8pCA7CxBM06w/s320/final+4.jpg)
It was really fun watching the transition from those initial simple drawings to the final four. Highly recommended!