Project 2: Form + Composition

My professor assigned us to create five quick, abstract sketches of five words that were given to us. Below I attempt to record how I went about drawing them while also unwrapping my deep intuitions and inclinations I had towards them.

The first word is Order:

This word felt pretty easy and intuitive to me. When I thought of order, I thought of symmetry, army, rules. In Gestalt’s principles, it meant equilibrium. The first pic is that of simple lines formed by squares of two different sizes. In hindsight, it reminds me of bricks. The second picture is somewhat similar but it shows motion due to continuation of the squares outside the canvas box. This definitely screamed army to me, a drill of soldiers maybe where they are being taught how to walk in straight line, in an orderly manner. The third pic is just squares stacked in ascending order and because it is directly placed in the middle of canvas (I did that unknowingly) it feels balanced and at equilibrium. The fourth box is similar to the first box but now there is more diversity of sizes and they are in decreasing order. The fifth picture is also just centered around equilibrium. I am pretty sure when I was thinking about it, I was like “oh i want something balanced and equal”. The sixth picture is also just symmetry and equilibrium and I have tried experimenting with sizes but more importantly the spaces between the squares. The larger four squares are placed farther apart from each other than the smaller squares.

Second word given to us was Tension.

Tension for me means worrying. All of my small sketches reflect that. In the first pic, there is the tension of the big blocks falling on the small block (and the same goes for the second block). In the third one, I felt the smaller blocks were free and merry while the two big blocks have tension between them and thus “are not talking”. I tried making this apparent by putting more space between them than the space present amongst the smaller blocks. The next box is creating tension and a constant worry that the chain of small blocks is wearing off and the bigger box can fall at any moment. The last picture is of stairs. This means moving forward in life which is daunting for me and thus is a perpetual tension in my mind.

Third word given to us was Congestion:

Congestion means suffocation for me. I am claustrophobic (slightly) and I had hopes to portray that through these sketches. The first box can depict anything from a busy street to a cupboard overflowing with items. The second sketch box has very less negative (negative space gives room to think and counterbalances the positive space but that is being disabled here). Third box is similar to the one for “tension” because sometimes those feelings overlap and occur simultaneously. The small block is supposed to feel congested as it has nowhere to go. The small block in the fourth picture is representative of a lump in our throat (esophagus) and is thus creating a congested throat. The last picture is when I realized that I was actually claustrophobic. This is a view from what is seen from inside of a CMU Buggy. Since I am short, I tried to be a driver and even though I fit perfectly inside the buggy, I immediately felt congested and panicked. The negative space in the form of the triangle is supposed to be the windshield and the rest is just supposed to be darkness.

Second last word given to us was Playfulness:

So playfulness means carefree, enjoyment, constraint-less, funny. The first box is small boxes maybe havign a gathering, playing merry-go-around. Second box is supposed to be legos/corgi’s butt. Legos are fun to play with and I am on a Facebook group called “Disapproving Corgis” where people post pictures of Corgis and often their butts. The third picture is me not having any constraint and playing around in all directions with the small boxes. A thing I would like to experiment in the future is varying the box sizes. Fourth picture is that of a swing. I might have become too literal with this one and I will keep that in mind for future. The last box depicts a toddler playing with a toy while their mother is in the background. I have tried to make it clear that she is in the background through the difference in spaces between the block. The child and toy blocks are placed close to each other and mom block is far apart.

The last word was Comfort.

Comfort means sense of warmth and support. In the first picture, the child block has two guardian figures/blocks surrounding it. It is reflective of how my parents made me feel as a child, safe and conforted. The second picture is a bra because it supports the breasts and brings comfort to a large majority of the population in their day-to-day lifestyle (in hindsight it might not be that comforting though). Third picture is a circle of friends and the perception is from the back of one friend (this was imagined and brought to reality in Avatar:The Last Airbender when the gAang does a group hug). Friends are supportive and bring comfort when life does not go our way. The fourth picture is also similar to the first one but now we have a single guardian in replacement of two. The last picture is supposed to depict “roof over the head” to describe that the block has a shelter and something it can always reside in. In hindsight, I should have drawn two big blocks to support it because now it just looks like a hanging ceiling that can fall anytime thus conveying tension rather than comfort.