Drawing for Designers

I've been flipping through DRAWING FOR DESIGNERS since i got it not too long ago but hadn't really sat down and read the chapters. Some of the reading are hard to get through without losing my attention/ interest. This book looked a little more like a textbook than a fun book so I was sort of avoiding it. I did finally read chapter 3:TOOLS AND MATERIALS (p.72-89) and the case study on David Goodwin (p.106-107). I was surprised with how much i enjoyed the tools and materials chapter. I thought, "how interesting can pencils really be?" Turns out it had a lot of good information like an overview of the material,  descriptions, history/inventor, and how to use/helpful tips. My favorite part of the book are the pictures. I love to see other peoples sketches. I think it's fascinating how people put their ideas on paper and to see everyone's different styles. No one sketches a like and i think that's so freakin cool. 

[off the topic: i want the book "New Perspectives in Drawing"!]

 I never thought of pencils as the "most economical and eco friendly drawing implement, capable of creating a wide range of marks, which can be easily erased" (p.72). Today we do take a simple pencil (+colored and mechanical pencils) for granted, apparently back in the day pencils were "worth 

their weight in gold" because there were so few and such a high demand. I knew there were different grades of graphite pencils but i didn't know what everything stood for, etc... Now i know. The example sketch by Isao Hosoe for the pastels(oil+ chalk) was really nice. I wish my rendering sketches looked like that! Pens are normally used during the concept stage. It's done free hand with various types of pens like ball point, fiber tip, brush, or dip. Brush pens are especially popular because you have the freedom of a varied line. I think technical pens (mircon) are  more for the presentation sketches with stencils, if they aren't done on the computer. I love to work with pen, a gel or ball point for all my sketches. I never use pencil. I don't know why i wouldn't use a pencil because i could erase but I just love drawing with pens or brush with ink. Markers are nice for presentation sketches because nice ones can be blended like prisma colors (if you can afford them). Paint and ink are another one of my favorite mediums. Watercolor, gouache, or transparent drawing inks can all be used in rendering. Airbrush was a really popular technique to get photorealism but it has mostly been replaced with computer graphics. Sometimes computer drawings can be more accurate than hand drawing.... i said it, okay? David Goodwin felt the same way but i'll get to that later. 

Drawing instruments are used when the designer wants clean lines/ curves and is not rendering in the computer. It's better than free hand drawing but not as good as the computer. Drawings done with tools like a compass, dividers, rulers, protractors, squares, and curve stencil templates can make a presentation much neater and crisper. *"Computer generated curbes are now more accurate and controllable" (p.89). Another factor that can take your presentation to the next level, is making sure you use the right paper with the right mediums. There are different textures, weights, thicknesses, and qualities. Vellum paper is a favorite among engineering drawings. Drawing boards are still used in design studios where they only do CAD but they are great for brain storming too. 

I think we should all to sketch in different mediums like paint, ink, etc to experiment because something might just work for you. I love using watercolors and ink in my sketchbooks. I'm not a very neat designer, i'm more gestural. I'm working on it by using graph paper and a ruler. Also, the more i read, the more i find out how important computer skills are... I actually want to learn that stuff now (sorry for doubting Jan).