Started a new class this week, and I’m really excited for it.  Seems like it’s going to be very hands on as well as research based.  Very exciting!!

Here’s the first assignment:

Assignment 2: Design and Composition Exercise

Teapot, Teacup composition drawing exercise.

By Thursday, October 8, respond to all PARTS of this assignment. Submit your responses to the appropriate Discussion Area. Be sure to give the reasoning behind your responses.

This exercise is to help you develop your design skills and to push your thinking beyond standard image layouts. What’s so hard about drawing a teacup and teapot in an interesting composition? Not much actually. However, the real design journey begins after the first dozen or so. What happens is that you will resolve the simplest and most straightforward solutions and then begin to struggle with unique and interesting element compositions. This is where the true designer/artist begins the process of creating a unique picture. .

Exercise
Layout a 1.5’’ by 1” grid on an 8.5 x 11 sheet of white paper.
There should be fifty rectangles.
In each rectangle draw a teapot and teacup. Each rectangle must be different in composition.
Use scale, proportion, viewpoints and cropping to generate 50 unique drawings.
You should not spend more than 30 minutes on this exercise. (Don’t use a stopwatch, just draw until you’re finished.)
Scan the drawing and save a JPG image file.
Post to the discussion thread.

Think about the following discussion points. By day 4, post your thoughts on any 2 of them in the Discussion Area. Your response should be ten to fifteen sentences long. You may then respond to your classmates’ comments by the end of the week and submit your response to the Discussion Area. Try some of the techniques that others liked and report your results. You may also let us know about any new discoveries you have made since your initial response.

1) Of the design techniques you tried, which one do you find most interesting? Why?
2) Did you discover any additional tips or tricks for using these techniques?
3) If there is a concept of using composition, how can it be improved?
4 How successful was this process in actuality? What can you learn from it for future reference?

Note: Discuss any challenges you encounter in this assignment or any other assignment in this course in the “Problems and Solutions” Discussion Area. Also share useful tips and tricks and possible solutions to problems posted by your peers in this forum. The “Problems and Solutions” Discussion Area will be present each week. Therefore take advantage of this discussion forum as much as possible.

For the two discussion questions I chose:

Of the design techniques you tried, which one do you find most interesting? Why?

I tried a couple different techniques for this assignment.  I tried to use some aspects of distance and size by using different sized pots and cups.  I tried using different types of cups and pots, mostly just by altering the size and placement of spout and handles.  I also tried changing the viewing angle of the cups and pots, some are straight on while others may be upside down or viewed from above.  I think the most interesting technique I used was having a large cup covering four rectangles, but still keeping to the rule of having a cup and teapot in each square.  It just seems to jump out on the paper as the most different of all the designs.

How successful was this process in actuality? What can you learn from it for future reference?
It was a successful process.  It required a lot of thought and planning, as well as just starting and seeing what evolves.  For future reference, this just shows how different compositions effect the final design.  It also shows that planning ahead in your rough draft stage will help you get started on the correct path.  Although the process seemed tedious at 30 minutes, it would save time from having to redo a design because the composition just seems a bit off.  It seemed a bit odd to me at first that I was doing these designs on rectangles instead of squares, but it really turned out to have no differing effects.  The pieces still felt balanced to me.  Fun project!