1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT NAME: Tay Jit Ying STUDENT ID NO: 0319002 WORD COUNT: 840 ENGLISH 1 (ELG 30505) WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: PROCESS ESSAY LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA SUBMISSION DATE: 2ND MAY 2014

2. Steps Involved In Producing An Attractive Sketch What is an attractive sketch and how to produce it? I am sure many of you out there, including me is asking the same question during sketching, but first let me acknowledge you what a sketch is all about. A sketch is actually a freehand drawing made up of lines and a little bit of shading to record visual, explore ideas and demonstrate ideas. Types of sketches varies from ideation sketches which record ideas, explorative sketches which are probably the most fun types of sketches, explanatory sketches which are useful in the research process to persuasive sketches that attracts the audience attention and to sell the particular design concept. Before you start off, find a location which is bright enough to observe your object. Besides, a good posture when sketching will definitely enhance the quality of your sketches. To avoid wasting too much time, you are advised to place your stationeries within reaching distance. Moreover, the drawing kit is essential in producing an attractive sketch. Just spend good money in buying a good drawing kit and drawing paper and it will definitely make the whole process more enjoyable! The drawing kit I had mentioned includes hard graphite pencil, which has different grades, ranging from 9H to 9xxB. Grade H pencils are hard and are handy, especially for low tone sketching which means they have the ability to go from light to dark tone while grade B pencils are soft and giving pressure to the paper will affects the lightness of the line. Therefore, you need a good eraser, layout pad, black pens with various thickness, pencil sharpener or a sharp knife. You can always use charcoal, which is better in capturing sweeping gesture and motions than pencils, however you are reminded that pencil is less messy compared to charcoal and obviously easier to be erased. 3. I suggest you to warm up a little by drawing a few parallel lines, intersecting lines and squares in squares before getting into real work just like what you did before a sport practice. First and foremost, choose your subject wisely. This step is critical as you might get frustrated when the subject is always moving and you are unable to sketch it properly. Nevertheless, why not try taking a picture of your subject on your cell phone or your camera? Furthermore, it will save the tone and lighting of your subject before changes can occur. You can always use a viewfinder or so called homemade cardboard frame that helps us eliminating unwanted distractions. Start a sketch with light lines, then build up thickness as you get more confident as thicker lines play the role of hiding mistakes as well as lending weight and highlighting. Remember, it is always okay to draw the line further than you need to because you can always correct the overdrawing line with dark colours. Dont get too frustrated if you couldnt draw the line you have wanted badly. As long as the more you sketch, the better artist you will become. It is important for you to imagine drawing your sketch in a box even if they are invisible so that you wouldnt run out of scale. Last but not least, here are some tips you will need in producing an attractive sketch. Initially, draw all the vertical lines before sketching the horizontal line as it will make the whole sketch looks more systematic. A sketch shouldnt be a scribble, but you have to do it quickly so deciding what to leave out will helps in these circumstances. Get to know your subject well and you can make them look three- dimensional. For example, if you are sketching a ball, try drawing some curve lines to make it pop-up! Shading your object by using your imaginations to determine which parts of object are light or dark in colour will cause the effect of contrast, blending, saturation and colour schemes. We all know colour will attract peoples 4. attention, but when comes to sketching, it is better for us to use only two or three colours to make people pay attention to your work. If you are colouring your sketch in grey, the different tones should be just 10% lighter in colour to make the whole sketch more realistic by achieving evens shading. By the way, you should not give too much pressure to the paper as it will leave unwanted marks that couldnt be removed by an eraser. In conclusion, it is critical for you to follow all these steps I had mentioned to produce an attractive sketch. Dont be worried if you think your sketch isnt beautiful enough as long as your sketch is able to explain ideas and understood by others. If your sketches failed to do so why not try labelling your sketch? Good label saved many bad sketches! Anyway, dont get too disappointed if your sketch did not look like what you had expected, as Mistakes are okay. Keeping them makes it a sketch rather than a drawing, said Sam Smith. (The art of sketching interfaces, 2012)