SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: SHUM LI SZE

STUDENT ID NO: 0322822

WORD COUNT: 785

ENGLISH 1 (ELG 30505)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: PROCESS ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 11th MAY 2015

Pre-writing essay Ones can deliver or present their ideas of an object through many ways such as mind mapping, writing down notes and sketching. However, I prefer sketching as we can have a deeper level of understanding by producing and looking at a sketch. A sketch is a rough drawing that give the essential features of an object. By sketching, we can record our own interaction with the object which causes us to be more sensitive towards our surroundings. This can help us in our architecture drawing in the future as we are trained to be more patience and sensitive. Therefore, it is crucial to learn how to produce an attractive sketch. There are few steps to be followed in order to produce a quality sketch. First of all, you need to choose a suitable object to sketch. For example, you can choose kitchen utensils such as spoon, knife or spatula as it is better to start with a simpler object for the beginners. While choosing a suitable object to sketch, you need to take its colour, material and texture into consideration. After comparing a few kitchen utensils, I decided to sketch the traditional Chinese spoon. The traditional Chinese spoon which is also known as the duck spoon is made up of ceramics which causes it to produce a brittle sound when it is collide with another similar spoon. It has the length of 4.5 inches and it has a short and thick handle that extends directly from a deep, flat bowl. Furthermore, it is coated by an attractive shiny surface that gives the spoon a smooth texture. At the end of the spoon, there is a picture of a rooster on the flat bowl which symbolize the Chinese tradition in the early days. I use it when I am having soup or rice as the shape of the hollow part at the end of the handle was designed to prevent the liquid to spill easily. After choosing the right object to sketch, you have to prepare the drawing tools that you need such as paper, pencils and eraser. It is important to select the suitable texture of the paper as it will affect the quality of your sketching. You are advised to choose the smooth surfaced paper with the weight of approximately 75 to 90 gsm (gram per square metre) as it is suitable for media such as pencils. On the other hand, both HB pencil and 2B pencil should be prepare if you are not using a mechanical pencil. Erasers such as kneaded rubber eraser or tuff stuff eraser stick can be used to produce highlights and details easier. Besides than that, you must have a clear and comfortable workspace for you to produce your sketch so that you will be free from distraction. When the drawing tools are all prepared, it is time to start your sketching! First of all, sketch the outline of the traditional Chinese spoon with a HB pencil before sketch it with a 2B pencil because it is easier to erase the thin light lines than the heavy dark lines. Sketch the spoon with a 2B pencil only if you are sure and confident about the its outline already. Next, shade the spoon with a 2B pencil carefully. You are advised to shade from the left to the right, and from the

top to the bottom to prevent your hand from touching the graphite. Then, in order to produce an attractive spoon that has lighting and shading, you need to be able to control the 2B pencils to make subtle gradient. While shading the spoon, move your wrist evenly and rhythmically and apply pressure to darken areas. You must remember not to rest your hand on the finished part of drawing. Finally, mark the highlight of the spoon with the kneaded rubber eraser to produce a better visual effect. It was a great satisfaction to finish an attractive sketch as I enjoyed the one hour process very much. In order to produce an attractive sketch, we must be patient in doing our sketches. Do not rush to finish your sketch or get frustrated when you do not produce a perfect sketch. We must remember that sketching is not about looking perfect but it is more about getting concepts and ideas. I would like to practise sketching more as it will help me to record down my ideas in a better way as well as strengthen my drawing foundation which can help me in my architecture drawing in the future.

Essay One can deliver or present their ideas of an object through many ways

such as mind mapping, writing down notes and sketching. However, I prefer sketching as we can have a deeper level of understanding by producing and looking at a sketch. A sketch is a rough drawing that gives the essential features of an object. By sketching, we can record our own interaction with the object which causes us to be more sensitive towards our surroundings. This can help us in our architectural drawing in the future as we are trained to be more patient and sensitive. Therefore, it is crucial to learn how to produce an attractive sketch. There are a few steps to be followed in order to produce a quality sketch.

First of all, you have to choose a suitable object to sketch. For example, you can choose kitchen utensils such as spoons, knives or spatulas as it is better to start with a simpler object for the beginners. While choosing a suitable object to sketch, I took its colour, material and texture into consideration. After comparing a few kitchen utensils, I decided to sketch the traditional Chinese spoon. The traditional Chinese spoon which is also known as the duck spoon is made up of ceramics which causes it to produce a brittle sound when it collides with another similar spoon. It has a length of 4.5 inches and it has a short and thick handle that extends directly from a deep, flat bowl. Furthermore, it is coated by an attractive shiny surface that gives the spoon a smooth texture. At the end of the spoon, there is a picture of a rooster on the flat bowl which symbolizes diligence in the Chinese tradition. I use it when I am having soup or rice as the shape of the hollow part at the end of the handle is designed to prevent the liquid from spilling easily. After choosing the right object to sketch, I prepared the drawing tools that I needed such as papers, pencils and an eraser. It is important to select the suitable texture of the paper as it will affect the quality of my sketching. We are advised to choose the smooth surfaced paper with a weight of approximately 75 to 90 gsm (gram per square metre) as it is more suitable for media such as pencils. On the other hand, both HB pencil and 2B pencil should be prepared if we are not using a mechanical pencil. The HB and 2B on the pencils indicate the degree of hardness and both pencils are essential for the sketch. Erasers such as kneaded rubber erasers or tuff stuff eraser sticks can be used to produce highlights and details easier. Besides that, we must have a clear and comfortable workspace for us to produce our sketch so that we would be free from distraction. A table lamp with good lighting should be prepared as lighting was also a concern to produce a quality sketch. When the drawing tools were all prepared, it was time to start my sketching! First of all, I put the Chinese traditional spoon on a white piece of a4 paper and placed it under the table lamp. Then, I sketched the outline of the

spoon with a HB pencil before I sketched it with a 2B pencil because it was easier to erase the thin light lines than the heavy dark lines. Next, I shaded the spoon with a 2B pencil carefully. We are advised to shade from the left to the right, and from the top to the bottom to prevent our hands from touching the graphite. Then, in order to produce an attractive spoon that has lighting and shading,we need to be able to control the 2B pencils to make a subtle gradient. While shading the spoon, I moved my wrist evenly and rhythmically and applied pressure to darken areas. I also remembered not to rest my hand on the finished part of drawing. Finally, I marked the highlight of the spoon with the kneaded rubber eraser to produce a better visual effect. It was a great satisfaction to finish an attractive sketch as I enjoyed the one hour process very much. In order to produce an attractive sketch, we must be patient in doing our sketches. Do not rush to finish your sketch or get frustrated when you do not produce a perfect sketch. We must remember that sketching is not about looking perfect but it is more about getting concepts and ideas. I would like to practise sketching more as it will help me to record down my ideas in a better way as well as strengthen my drawing foundation which can help me in my architectural drawing in the future.