sketches

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. Don’t get too
frustrated if you couldn’t 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 wouldn’t 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 shouldn’t 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 people’s

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 couldn’t 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. Don’t be worried if you think your sketch isn’t 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, don’t 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)