Understanding Forms in Space
Analyzing my dorm room
03.14.2021 — Day 1: Plan & Elevation Views
Task: Create plan and elevation views of a space you know well and have easy access too — my dorm room
Today was the first day we were briefly introduced to how spaces look and are broken down. Measuring the various objects located around my dorm room in Donner House, here are my sketches of the floor plans and elevation views done in Copic marker and pens.
I’m interested to see how these would look if they were done digitally, in order to keep a more precise measurement system. I also just realized that I did my elevation A drawing flipped.
Floor Plans & Elevations A & C
Elevations C & D
03.16.2021 — Day 2: 1 point perspective
Task: Create 3 drawings to represent three views of our space done in 1 point perspective
Planning out grid for my dorm room (5" x 6" >> 10" x 12" >> 10' x 12')
First I revisited measuring the heights of all of the furniture and objects in my room since this is critical for making 3d forms in perspective with accurate proportions next to each other. My grid is vertical since the front perspective of my room is vertical, and I scaled the proportions x2 so the 5 inches by 6 inches is proportional to 10 inches by 12 inches which are proportional to the actual room measurements of 10 by 12 feet.
Initially started working in my sketchbook —and I realized it was too small to be accurate with some level of precision so moved to 11 by 17 legal paper. Using Eric’s advice, I decided to draw my original grid onto paper, and then do overlays with the tracing paper for the different perspective views to avoid having to redraw this system. On the right is the floor plan I used for reference in addition to the elevation views when creating my perspective views.
Perspective View from Elevation D
Perspective View from Elevation A
Top View
I ran into some struggles with establishing a proper grid for these drawings. Initially, I intended to keep the same grid system, but I realized the middle center box would turn into a wall plane to a bottom plane for this drawing. I felt like the center plane in my grid was too small to accurately portray all the different objects, and also my vanishing point (the point from which the diagonals to the corner of the page are drawn) was not located in the center of the middle box. This would make my top view drawings skewed if I used the same grid. So I restarted with my grid.
Experimenting with grids for the top perspective
- First- overlayed tracing paper on top of the grid to make the center box larger. Then realized that this doesn't work since the vanishing point must change to be in the vertical center. (Figure 1) I added the squares to the center and soon realized how unnecessary all that work was and decided to start over.
- Next, I put another sheet of tracing paper on top of the tracing paper to see if I could scale down the grid to be more useable. This was a bit confusing because the boxes I previously made no longer worked for the center. (Figure 2)
- So instead of trying to fix/alter these grids, I thought it might just be more profitable to create a new grid, maintaining the proportions of my room (Figure 3)
The top view I drew was more abstracted because I wasn’t sure if I was heading in the right direction. I also think I need to make some of my objects taller and should have continued drawing the grid upwards till the end of the page.
Feedback from Eric
In breakout rooms Eric pointed out that the depth of my grid is off (must check that the diagonal through the bottom square matches the inside rectangle). The back wall needs to be pushed forwards, and that’s why the room looks like its far too backwards in space. I also realized that if I had done the grid correctly, the middle rectangle box would have been accurate, and I wouldn’t have needed to remake a new grid for the top view. I’ll definately keep this in mind for my next drawing.
03.23.21 — Day 3: 1 point perspective Room & Figures
Task: Create two 1-point perspective drawings rendered in tone, but not illsutration level detail and add 2 figures doing the same pose in different directions.
Grid Attempts
I really struggled to get my grid accurate again. At first I didn’t realize that since I was drawing the back wall, the height of my drawing is not my width but rather my height so I accidentally made it 11 feet high instead of 8 feet. I didn’t realize my mistake until I finished drawing the entire grid.
Attempt 1- Accidentally made the grid 11 feet high instead of 8 feet
Attempt 2- Oops made one side 11 inches instead of 12
Attempt 3- Finally got the measurements correct. This time I made sure to check the diagonals to make sure that the diagonal vanishing point drawn through the front rectangle is accurate with the back wall. The grid looks much better than my previous drawings.
Dimensions: (l)12" x (w)11" x (h)9" (actual measurements of the room are 12' x 11' x 9' — Creating a grid with a one to twelve inches/ one ration made it easier to accurately represent the objects
Starting to draw
Front Perspective from Elevation D
Since I was planning on adding tone through markers, I decided to draw on top of the grid itself so it would be on white legal paper instead of tracing paper. I tried the markers on the tracing paper and they turned out quite yellow.
I used a ballpoint pen for the grid, after I was sure it was correct. I tried it in pencil first and it kept smudging, and I figured if I drew objects ontop of the grid in pencil it would erase the grid later.
I then used a thin micron/ prismacolor/ staedler pens for the construction and a thick micron pens for the outlines. My thin micron kept getting blobby, which is why I had to keep switching between pens and some of the lines aren’ as straight as I intended.
I decided to add a door to represent the space better with some context. Like matt’s example, I did this pen outline in a thicker pen so that it would be more prominent and not blend in with the background.
I then began adding tone with toner copic markers
Added a 6ft figure leaning on the bed. In hindsight, I wish I drew the computer facing the other way so it would appear as if the person was working on the computer. Following Matt and Eric’s advice, I drew the people on tracing paper, which was a good decision considering how many times I messed up the figure.
Side Perspective from Elevation A
Since I drew directly on the grid for the previous drawing, I drew a new grid for the second drawing.
I feel like the center rectangle is too small and the sides are too deep again. I’m not entirely sure what’s wrong since I drew my diagonals from the front rectangles back and they intersect in the exact perfect middle.
I forgot to take a photo of the drawing with pen outlines before I added tone. But here is the image after the addition of tone.
Similarly, I added a 6ft figure
Here are the final figures — I think the hands in the second one should have been less bent to mirror the first one more accurately.
Miro Board for Class
Things to consider when analyzing drawings that Matt mentioned in class
- The level of detail that is included
- The incoproration of figures >> how detailed are the figures in relation to the space?
- The tone (whether done in pen or marker) how it helps bring out certain aspects
- Hierarchy
- Proportions of the space. Does it look accurate?
- Consider yourself as a viewer- consider the engagement you have with the drawing
- Consider interest as a viewer? what interests you? any particular representations that you spend more time on?
- Where does it draw you in first? where does it take you next?
- How to express the right amount of detail? how can you tell it's a closet with clothes?
- Why are you making this drawing and how does your drawing reflect your purpose?
- Elise’s drawing (used tone very well to show depth), Jiyeons drawing (used color really well)
Matt’s critique
- The construction lines and the grid are emphasized too heavily, takes away from the objects in the space and are very prominent. This could be a purposeful decision but makes the drawing appear very different than if the lines were not as emphasized.
- The grid is off because the very front square is more of a rectangle — especially in the second drawing which makes the depth exaggerated.
The comments were really helpful especially since I didn’t really realize this before. In the next drawing I will definately demphasize the uncessary grid lines and perhaps do them in a blue or grey color pencil that will not be as prominent. If I do the grid lines in color pencil, then I am able to do the construction lines in ballpoint pen so they do not stand out as prominently when compared to the exterior lines of the objects. I think I also need to work on how I purposefully add tone. I liked my drawing before the addition of tone in just pen, but I believe tone is necessary to help distinguish between the different objects. I think I have a good understanding of the basics of drawing spaces now, and I hope to explore this further through designing unique and more complicated spaces in the future.
