Learning a new Language Pt.1
- Abishai Choragudi
- Jul 19, 2022
- 7 min read
It has been a dense two weeks since the start of my journey at CEPT University. Considering the length of the course, these two weeks seem like a very short period, but I cannot overstate their importance. Before the commencement of the semester an orientation program was held which outlined the purpose of the University, the course and what is expected of us. The CFP Director, Mr. Samir Shah, expressed in no uncertain terms the stress we would face, deadlines, late nights, no sleep and pure joy, since the euphoria of seeing your work being admired or studied is incomparable to anything else. At the end, we will emerge wiser and better equipped, ready to take on the challenges of the world. It was going to be incredibly tough - but then again, I didn’t choose it because it was easy. I chose it because I wanted to push myself to the absolute limit, and become the designer I was made to be- someone with a deep understanding of people and how they interact with products, who can see and sense the needs of the community/client and is able to articulate and communicate ideas effectively.
Week 1 Shenanigans!
Monday, 19th August 2019
We began the day with an introductory session, which outlined the plan for the next week. We discussed the importance of sketching for a designer, and how it can be an invaluable asset in our arsenal. We defined sketching as our visual language, through which we discuss our thoughts and observations. Thus it is crucial to communicate effectively using it, as it will directly affect how we work, and how others perceive our ideas. For today’s exercise. we were told to pick a building and an object of our choice, and sketch them. To aid the growth of our nascent sketching skills, we were instructed to draw objects exactly as they are, along with their imperfections. We were to observe them very attentively, feel the uniqueness and individuality of that object, and capture it on paper. Little did we know what a herculean task it would be! These two sketches represented the level of skill I had coming into CEPT, and they would go on to serve an important function of being my own, personal benchmarks, against which I would judge my progress. This was square one.
Tuesday, 20th August 2019
Why do famous architects and designers sketch so peculiarly? Surely they are able to make much better and detailed drawings? Yes, but the purpose of those rough and scribbled sketches is to communicate ideas quickly amongst each other, which they did. Of course, there were people working with these designers who detailed their sketches, which later went on to become iconic buildings and products. In this way, these rough sketches were effective, and are no excuse for us to overlook the importance of proper, detailed sketching. In fact, making a rough sketch is much more difficult because we will have to pick what’s essential and what isn’t, which requires a judicious mind.
How will we pick what’s important or not? When we understand every last component- thus the need for detail-intensive sketching.
Wednesday, 21st August 2019
We reviewed our sketches along with Dilip sir and Hamid sir. Many intricate, beautiful sketches were presented, much to the disappointment of our faculty. They were able to see past these pretty sketches into the fundamental observation mistakes we made. A sketch must have its foundations right - it must have the correct proportions and sizes, which can be estimated by using reference lines, or other objects present in the frame. A quick glance at today’s work showed the mistakes, with obviously disproportionate, but well rendered drawings. Hamid Sir was very concerned about this, and asked us not to continue detailing a bad sketch, just for display. Instead, move to a fresh page and try to get the basic shape right, and don’t go any further unless you think it is accurate. He said that the most deadly weapon we have for sketching are the eyes. They always know what looks real and what doesn’t. Paying attention to what they are saying about my sketch, and correcting it is a good way to achieve a proportionate real life drawing. They must authenticate our sketch at every stage, and we must actively take corrective measures as required. A well detailed but disproportionate sketch is like a curry with a bad base, but wonderfully garnished- good to look at, but fundamentally flawed.
Thursday, 22nd August 2019
When one is learning something, the process is important, not the end result. The primary objective is to understand how we arrived at the product. The process is the learning, the end result is just a matter of time and practice. Many students were in pursuit of good looking sketches- which may have one or two remarkable qualities in them, but were not made using the right approach. If one adheres to this method, it would produce consistently bad sketches with an occasionally decent one. Drawing using proper construction lines, reference lines, well composed objects and conscious use of light and shade will produce sketches which convey the designer’s intent, fulfilling the duty of sketching as a language, not a momentary visual spectacle. Some who had prior design sketching experience found it difficult to do this, since they saw the object, identified it, and without taking a second look, began drawing it. This method fails to depict the character of that particular object, so when we show the sketch to a security guard, he will say that it looks like a bicycle, and will fail to recognize that it is his bicycle. This recognition is what we must aim for, the final goal, the nirvana of sketching. I realised that this is analogous to the design process itself; many times, we are tempted to address some more appealing parts of the process, before we have our foundations laid with clear understanding of the problem itself. Sticking to the process was going to be difficult, but absolutely essential - and the results, phenomenal.
Described below is an acronym I made, to help me remember some basic sketching guidelines:
CPR:
Compose
Proportion
Render
The order is paramount.
Compose- What you draw is just as important as how you draw. Composing your sketch right is the first step to a nice sketch. First, get a good view of your subject and make sure it fits well onto your sketchbook, for it is foolish to sketch a tall building with your paper in landscape (unless that is your intention; but at this skill level it is inappropriate).
Proportion- A badly proportioned drawing gives off a visual stench; people will feel uncomfortable and recoil while looking at it. Surely this is not the intention of a sketch? This is the easiest to correct, as our eyes will scream “this is wrong!” when we draw something disproportionately.
Render- While watching stonecutters working, one is astonished when the cutter lands the final blow which divides the huge rock perfectly, and maybe even applaud. This doesn’t mean that the previous blows, which seemed to do nothing, were in vain. Rendering and shading is like the last blow; one must be able to make a sketch look striking, with accurate light and shade, but this step can wait, while we get the other two fundamentals right, which are critical in setting the stone up for the last blow.
Friday, 23rd August 2019
The exercise for today was to sketch a small object of our choice, from any angle. We were instructed yesterday to pick an object, and I feel that was when the exercise started. Many people picked something easy to carry, or easy to sketch, while I went out and bought a manual hand drill. The reason for picking this particular object was that it has lots of geometry; ellipses, lines and curves which will make me pay attention and observe the drill, while also testing my composition and line quality. The faculty were impressed with my choice of object and commended me for it even before I put pencil to paper - this was an important takeaway for me, reiterating the lesson that choosing what to draw is just as important as how I draw it. A good composition, view or object will motivate you subconsciously, since it would be pitiful to do a shoddy job of sketching it or leave it incomplete. Today’s sketches turned out to be much better than the previous ones, and my faculty attributed it partly to the fact that seeing is not the only way of understanding the object, holding and feeling it conveys a lot of information about it too. This changed my formerly unidimensional way of perceiving an object, and I have since tried to feel the objects before I started sketching. It primarily helps in noticing textures, details and provides a reference for the hands as to which part is big, small, how wide it is, etc. since one need not estimate it from afar. My sketch of the drill was one of five sketches in my unit selected to be scanned and preserved, and that really cemented my learning, since the other sketches were much more beautiful to look at than mine. There was something that I was doing right, and I was determined to keep repeating it. If my sketch was not selected, I don’t think I would have been able to validate my sketch as much as I have now; I’d still have considered myself to be on the right track, since I trusted the process and followed the principles of construction, and ended up with a decent sketch - but I would have missed the positive reinforcement I got due to the appreciation, which built my trust in the process.
Saturday, 24th August 2019
One must focus on depicting reality as it is because many times, we look at something and assume the rest of the information, since paying attention to that object carefully requires much more patience than just throwing a couple of lines and curves on paper and then shading it. Such observant sketches take time to master, and are much more rewarding to practice, since we are constantly learning while doing so. “Oh, I didn’t see the pattern in which the bricks are arranged- how beautiful! Maybe there is a reason why they chose this particular one. Look! That wall has a different pattern. I suppose the use of a wall determines what brick laying pattern must be used. Or is it just for aesthetics and beauty? What other kinds of patterns exist? I must ask someone and find my answers- there goes a senior!” In this process of observing the brick wall, one could make an accurate sketch, learn about different patterns and even build a relationship with a person. How much more valuable it is, than to draw an easier pattern and submit the sketch. Many of us (myself included) did this, and threw away so much by doing so. Thankfully, this was only the fifth day, so thank God I realized it early.
Sketching puts us through a process of observing, pushing us past the cursory seeing phase. It is a time of respecting the object, spending time with it, uncovering its identity and discovering its purpose.
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