Which Reminds Me, I Need to Make an Appointment!

Alrighty everyone, so after two weeks of drawing/sketching/staring into the bristles of a toothbrush, I have come up with my top 5. For all kinds of different reasons, these five compositions are what I consider successful.

1. This was one of my gesture sketches. Our assignment was to spend 10 seconds, interpreting what we saw in front of us on a piece of paper. Being an uptight perfectionist in the art world, gesture sketches are not normally my forte. But I chose this because I think it gives a really interesting angle. It's the moment right before you slather those bristles with toothpaste and shove it in your mouth for some high-purpose cleaning. I also think the simplicity gives a simplified view of the object and highlights the basic functionality.

2. This is one of my many negative-space drawings. Done all in Sharpie, it breaks down the object's tonal values until only black and white are left. I love the high contrast here. I chose a bigger scale so I could emphasize the darks and lights within the bristles.

3. The third sketch is part of the blind drawing series. With this assignment, we were banned from looking at our paper. Your eyes had to remain glued to your object as you blindly drew line after line on your paper. What resulted was a very abstracted version of my toothbrush. To some, you might wonder why I even took the time to upload this image. Well, this is me, finally letting go. I need to teach myself that perfection isn't always necessary in a composition, sometimes mistakes can bring out the best ideas.

4. This sketch is part of the scribble drawings. With this composition, I focused on keeping the tip of my pen consistently on the paper. So this is kind of like a combination between scribble and long contour. I really like the looseness of this drawing and it reminds me of Tim Burton's style, the sketches that Tim showed us in class a couple days ago.

5. This last sketch is a culmination of all the techniques we've worked on the past couple weeks. It's loose but still concise. The focus is on the shape and functionality of the object. If you look close, the tonal qualities are there, but like I've learned in these initial design labs, the shape and contour of the object is more important than the shading and tonal qualities.

So there you have it, an array of drawings of a toothbrush. Yes, a toothbrush. Little did I know that's what I would be spending majority of my design class with, but you know, the knowledge I've gained (and am still gaining) throughout this project is going to carry me through my future in the design program.

And with all this thinking about toothbrushes, teeth, and brushing, that reminds me, I need to call Dr. Doyle for a teeth cleaning!