Drawing and Imaging – Second Project Upload

Rebuilding Systems and Networks: Similarly to my last project upload for Drawing and Imaging, this project consisted of both analog and digital aspects. I feel that as I work more fluidly between the two I put in more effort and consequently enjoy my final for the project more. For this project, we began by drawing interiors from life – I worked on the fifth floor of the University Center. Then there was more flexibility with where to take the project. I decided to trace and fix my lines in Illustrator as well as add and subtract furniture from the scene, then I brought those lines and filled them with a gradient in Photoshop and added my symbols from the previous project. I then printed onto Arches 90lb. Watercolor Paper and did four little studies to see what colors would work and at what saturations the watercolor worked best with the whole image. I finally printed out an 11″x17″ and watercolored the final.

Process Step 1: Drawing an Interior from Life, 2-point Perspective

This was the first half of the analog process. My process went analog to digital to analog. This was just drawing an interior from life so as to make sure angles were correct and the interior was visually feasible. This is a digital scan of the drawing.

After this step, I brought the image into Illustrator and fixed vertical lines and straightened all of the lines.

 

Process Step 2: Working Between Illustrator and Photoshop

This was the digital part of my process. I first traced the lines of my drawing and added and subtracted furniture in Illustrator and then brought it into Photoshop where I added a fill to the lines, added a gradient, and added my symbols from the previous project. It should also be noted that I worked in CMYK since my final piece would be printed and viewed.

The next step in this project was to do test prints and little studies before the final piece.

 

Process Step 3: Printing and Studies

For this part of the process, I began to work again in analog with watercolors and a white pen. I printed my studies and my final on the plotter in the Design Lab on the 10th floor of the Parsons building. I printed four small prints about 5″x7″ to test different watercolors on the bed, floor, walls, etc. I then was able to see which colors worked visually and which didn’t. This helped me choose what colors to use in my final piece. I was also able to test out how a white pen could add to the stars in the sky or the pattern on the bed. This also helped me decide what small details to add for the end piece.

After this, I chose colors that I believed that worked and watercolored my final print for presentation and critique in class.

 

Reflection

At first, this project seemed daunting to me. I had remembered my previous struggle at the beginning of the semester with two point perspective, but this time I decided to face it head-on. It was surprisingly easier, and I realized that as the semester progressed I had become better and had acquired more skills in my analog and digital drawing. I also took a leap of faith for this project. When I first submitted my proposal I was teetering between analog to digital and analog to digital to analog. The latter seemed like more effort, planning, and testing, but the thought of the possible work that could be created out of it was enticing to me. I became more and more attached to this project as it progressed and I began to love the process of working between analog and digital fluidly. This project opened my mind to being more open to different workflows and it also proved to me that I can face challenges and have success. I’m really proud of the work I created and want to work on it more, thus my implementation of this type of work into one of my final projects for another class. This project was really inspiring and opened me up to a whole new type of work that I didn’t have the confidence to face before.