Sketching and the creative process. · 8:38pm May 30th, 2016

Sketching and the creative process.

A few notes. This is being cross-posted on my FIMFiction blog and the Ask Asylum Twilight modblog. This post is littered with numerous sketches I have done in the past, not all of which relate directly to the text. Think of them as windows in to my parallel stream of thought as I communicate the content. Finally, these sketches were originally posted on my Wordpress blog long ago, so on the off chance that they are familiar, that is probably where you have seen them.

It is said that some people are visual learners. Others learn better with a hands on approach. Some respond to aural stimuli. We think a lot about how people learn. Less attention is paid to how one thinks. How do we work out our thoughts? How do we process everything in our mind? I’ve been giving that a lot of thought these past few years, particularly as I move upwards in both my architecture and photography classes. For the former, I’m about to head in to the graduate program. For the latter, I don’t know what options I have for taking any higher level photography classes, given that I will be focused intently on architectural classes, but I intend to look in to it. Either way, as I go on, the essence of the creative process in general, and mine in particular, has come to occupy more and more of my mental space. This post will feature assorted musings and thoughts on sketching, what it means to me, and my general approach to it.
image

Girl in swing. 2010. Spot the illuminati.

A LOT more below the break.

I am currently pursuing an M.Arch degree. I hope to be an architect in the future, and much of my current energy is devoted to realizing that goal. Part of my architectural education has involved me coming to really see the value of extensive sketching. More than a few people, especially in the architecture department, have said that I think about, and approach things, visually. Work in architecture classes, or at least the studio classes, consists of modelmaking, drafting, sketching, illustrating, working with wood, metal, museum board, lasercutters, and now, 3D printers and CNC machines. Presentation, photography, writing, and generally communicating your ideas is all a major part of it as well. But everyone has their areas of specialization. I’ve been told that my model craft is VERY good, but that it is drawing where I really stand out. Not just in the final plan, section, iso, axo, and perspective images. But also, and especially in, the process work. The sketching. The long reams and scrolls of sketch paper, covered with drawings, gestures, notes, patterns, and more. Stuff like the image below;

Sketch roll, on the floor.

The T.A.’s and everyone else LOVED that image.I would say that sketching, letting ideas flow freely and with their true energy, is my favorite aspect of the entire creative process. Seeing ideas and possibilities unfold at such an extreme pace, then looking back over all of it, is very rewarding, as well as sublime.

Sketch roll on worktable.

When one presents in an architecture class, it is best to put up process stuff as well as final pieces. In my presentations, I’m often praised for how extensive and energetic the process material is. My final products are flanked by numerous sketches, draft models, etc. I had a problem, for a long time, in which my process stuff was better than the final product. I was in the mindset that the final result had to be more conservative, plain, and formal than the energetic process sketches. I’ve finally managed to get past that by finding ways to get creative with final plans and sections while being as creative, albeit in a different way. The results are below.

Isometric cross section for Intro to Design 1, final project.

These classes have increased my already extensive appreciation for sketching. To me, it is the foundation of all creativity. It’s how I work out ideas, how I think about things, and how I see the world. An ongoing process in which new things are tried out and ideas are constantly refined. Nothing ever begins or ends. It’s all process. One that, for me, has come to have so many layers that it feels like its own ecosystem, one that sustains the rest of my creativity.

So, lets talk about some of the components of that system; the tools.

Everything I do for the Ask Asylum Twilight tumblr, all the pixelart, photography, fic coverart, all of it is preceded by such extensive sketching that I go through sketchbooks at a rapid pace. I even have different ones for different things. Both concept and approach. Here is my sketch setup, with the usual tools I carry with me;

A rainbow of surfaces.

The red sketch if my highest quality one, for sketching architectural and industrial design things using ink and marker. The windpower ones are the basic small ones, easy to take with me and used for whatever topic I think of. The larger ones are similar, and just used when I need more detail. The multicolored ones are not sketchbooks but notebooks, each for different types of observations, ideas, and musings.

Purple is architecture and industrial design.

Yellow is graphic arts.

Green is photography.

Blue is illustration.

The Rhodia is a small gridded notepad that I use specifically to quickly sketch the layouts of buildings to analyze what makes them work (or not work).

The black pouch is for loose pencils. The folder is for higher quality pens and lead holders. The largest one is for markers, when I take those with me (which is rare).

I don’t carry all of this with me. I usually grab one or two of them based on where my mind is wandering on a given day, or where I am going.

Tools are important. I have different tools for different tasks. First, for very basic rough lines, I use lead holders. These are popular for drafting, and I love the way they feel in my hand. I have two, one of which uses a harder lead, and another a softer.

The softer one I use to do fast, quick, and energetic motions. Things that won’t be inked later and probably not mixed with any other media. The lighter lines are what will be inked. Since ink is my medium of choice, I do a lot of ink sketching. Mostly with micron type pens, though I’m probably going to slowly move to staedlers since the nibs seem a bit more durable. For higher quality inking I use different things, but that might be covered in another post. Charcoal pencils have their uses as well, especially if I want to explore a larger mass and motion than can be done with the thinner lines of the soft lead holder.

I keep a small Swiss with me to sharpen certain pencils, though I generally prefer mechanical pencils. If I do a lot of non-ink hatching, I like to use a .3 or .5mm mechanical pencil.

I don’t have a huge preference as to what sort of non-mechanical pencils I use. I have a lot of Staedler, mostly because I just like the way they look, and the cases that come in are kind of nice. But I’ve used others, such as Derwent, and haven’t noticed any real difference in quality.

Same with mechanicals. I’ve used Staedler, Pentel, and a few others. When it comes to durability, they all seem about even, and none break at higher rates than others.

I mostly use markers to add monochrome tone, rather than super-detailed coloring sketches. It gives a sense of warmth or coldness when needed, and communicates volume.

One thing I’ve found that I enjoy is using black paper and white charcoal. This can be fun for sketching some very basic forms without a lot of detail, and exploring the general contours of an image.

Whenever I need to work out an idea, sketching is my first instinct. It’s worked out well so far. Doing anything creative requires knowing your own creative process inside out, and making it a part of your life. Like muscle memory. Not a thing you go out of your way to do, but something you always ARE.

When doing an entry for the tumblr, each panel is sketched out in detail beforehand. Even the sketch requests are sometimes sketched out in less detail before being sketched for the update. Think of them as shadows from the future. As you can see above, I do the same thing for coverart and other commissions.

When doing a commission, especially for an OC, I tend to do numerous sketches to explore and capture the nature of the character. This involves a variety of poses and activities that emphasize body language, surroundings, context, and personal quirks. Consider the images below;

Sketches for a commission.

And the final result.

The dynamic is always the same. This is my general approach to commissions involving pony OC’s, and any OC, really. It’s time-intensive, but I think it produces favorable results.

This is also about establishing colors, testing media, and just generally finding what is right for this particular character. It’s not a process that exists in isolation, as it is constantly communicated to the individual who commissioned it, and, if they are okay with it, getting the thoughts of others as well.

The same approach is used for coverart. The detail of each sketch varies. Sometimes they are like detailed ref sheets for a character, while others are faster, less detailed, and are more about establishing elements of composition.

Last summer I spent a lot of time in the downtown areas of the two bay area cities here, sketching and photographing the urban landscape and anything else interesting. I intend to do the same thing this summer (and might make another post on camera gear and process).

It is not just a method to move towards the realization of a final idea. I also analyze the surrounding environment by sketching it. A lot. I explore new ideas by sketching them. Not just new drawings, but also ideas for laying out rooms, new outfits, different states of minds and emotional temperatures, etc. This involves things as simple as drawing the objects around me. Just things that happen to be sitting on a desk, or a nearby lamp post, or what have you. I don’t think there’s anything I do that doesn’t get expressed in sketching on some level, except perhaps cooking, which would probably be improved if I sketched more about that. I also do a lot of compulsive note-taking, and these notes sometimes share spaces with sketches. They might even be sketches in and of themselves, especially if they happen to take the form of abstracted diagrams.

Misc. sketches of surroundings.

Sometimes these sketches are fast. Some are more detailed. They’re always relaxing. Sketching doesn’t just allow me to analyze external things or focused topics. It lets me sort out my thoughts, quiet my raging emotions, and work through any problems I’m having. Everything slows down even more than usual (quite a task given that I tend to perceive time as moving increasingly slowly as I get older). Even if a sketch isn’t turning out the way I want it to, I never get angry over it. I just let it flow in to another form. There’s something so organic about how it works that an error doesn’t seem like an error. It’s just a momentary formation bound to become something else in time. I feel like ideas are just flowing from me to the paper, and it’s an extension of my body.

It’s the ultimate calming experience for me. Like ambient music, or really good vaporwave. Or strolling through a nice quiet museum or old library. It’s interacting with mystery, potential, and the sense of something waiting to be discovered.

It is also, of course, vital for practice, as seen below in this hand-sheet. Hands are something I still have issues with.

But it’s not just illustration or architectural models. I do this for photography as well. My street, urban, and landscape photography doesn’t need any real sketching, of course. A lot of that, even when intentional, is very spontaneous and guided by the surrounding environment. It’s spur of the moment. Instances that exist only in that moment, captured to film and photo.

But I also fell in love with conceptual photography this semester, and that involved things like sketching and storyboarding to really work out my ideas. One project that utilized this approach focused on the concept of creating a temporary event/installation in an area. Something non-permanent. My idea concerned creating interventions in outdoor settings. A series of colored cords would be used to create a cryptic language/symbology communicating information about the surrounding area. Once again, sketches were employed to realize the basic form, system, and concept. This was meant to look haphazard and spontaneous, but there was an element of preplanning to it.

Different settings, colors, tools, etc. were worked out, and the final result was these;

(Click the link for the full image).

http://i.imgur.com/2HcI4nY.jpg

Sketching is both a means to an end, and an end in and of itself for me. It’s a feeling.

One of the ways this feeling is expressed is to create elaborate sketches in my sketchbooks, so detailed that they enter a borderlands between sketch and illustration. Narrative, collage-like in their composition, and organic in their grown.

Venetian mask, 2012.

Many of these are far from refined, and have technicaly issues. The purpose is practice, and just letting ideas rain down.

I love seeing the process work of others. Especially the sketchbooks of other artists and designers. This is relates to my affinity for concept art of various sorts, from film production images to industrial design sketching, the latter of which often has a distinctive look. Tumblr and Pinterest both have a wealth of amazing images pertaining to industrial design and architectural sketching, exhibiting a level of skill that I can only dream of.

One thing that I try to do with sketches, even of seemingly static, inanimate objects, is to capture and convey motion. To me, sketching is motion. This effects how I see other things as well. Many of my assignments in my architecture classes have ended up being as much about movement THROUGH a space as it is about the space itself as a fixed arrangement.

Tori and Jack, 2011.

These rough, messed up sketches sometimes have text and calligraphy. I’ve drifted a bit away from this approach, but I want to do it again.

Atari chair, 2011.

Tone and perspective practice and exploring impractical notions is important. Especially the latter part. Exploring seemingly absurd ideas can lead to other more practical concepts as you work through your thoughts, especially thoughts as to where those implausible ideas came from.

Futuristic barrier, 2011.

As stated before, I sometimes see these as visions, echoes, shadows from the future, casting backwards through time. So dynamic and powerful that they seem to have a life of their own. I see this in all sketching, not just my own.

Crystals, 2012

It also allows me to explore specific nice interests that are too particular and small scale to be worked in to a larger, more formalized concept. There’s not enough substance to make it in to a full illustration or whatnot, so it becomes a sketch, worked out to perhaps join some other ideas later, or serve as a marker of what I was thinking of at the time.

Colors, 2011.

Exploring formal issues of composition, technique, shading, line, etc. are also part of the driving force with these. They refine the view of these tools and methods and show what they can do in an area with fewer constraints than you have when doing a more representative drawing.

Dreamaxe, 2011.

A lot of these were also about exploring emotion, fear, speculation, and issues that were relevant at the time. Stream of thought imagery. The futuristic wall/barrier image a few drawings above, for instance, was created as a response to my fears of what right-wing reactionary politics were doing to the nation circa 2011, so I began to think about a situation where more progressive, social justice-inclined individuals would have to wall themselves off for self-defense in a post-apocalyptic scenario. It was an instinctual response. So it went on paper in terms of a mechanism for defeating that fear.

Geometrics, 2011.