a framework for toolmaking
What you’ll need:
A piece of paper, a pen.
Excercise:
Describe the process of drawing a circle on a piece of paper with a pen:
In 5-10 steps
In 10-15 steps
In 20-25 steps
What you’ll need:
Fine tipped pen (black). Foam brush or Painters brush (2″ or larger) and Acrylic Paint (black). 4 Large pieces of paper.
Exercise:
- Get out two pieces of paper at least 8x10 but preferably 16x20 or larger.
- With the large brush draw a field mouse or bug. Try to make the picture fill the page.
- On the next sheet of paper use the fine-tipped pen to draw an elephant or large building. Again, try to make it take up the same amount of space on the page.
Options:
- Bust out some finger paint and try to copy the pictures you made.
- Try your drawing of the mouse or bug again, this time using a handfull of pencils or markers
- Try drawing the elephant or building again, this time trying to block out a percentage of the mark that the brush orignally was making.
Questions:
- What happens if you go back and draw on one of the pictures with the other drawing tool?
- Did you hold the two tools the same way? Did you use the same muscles?
- Which was harder for you? Keeping the large brushed drawing on the page or to make the pen drawing fill the page?
- On a scale of 1 to 10 what “volume” would you say each of the pieces is?
Excercise:
Pick a software application that you use commonly, for example, Adobe Photoshop. Looking at the drop down menus pick around 6 commands and invent gestures for them. Start with hand gestures, move to arm gestures and then try to use your whole body. Try to do this quickly. Use at least one down a level. Record your gestures as video, photographs or drawings.
Questions:
- What kind of application did you pick? Was it a text editor, a video editor, a graphics program? How do you think it would have been different if you had picked something else?
- Which was the hardest to do, limit the movement to your hand or spread it to your whole body?
- What did you use to record your gestures and why? Did you learn anything from the process? Did you revise your motion?
Hello.