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[axonometric; series of parallel lines; projection technique to create a drawing of an object by rotating it on an axis...in this case a landscape design. allows you to 'feel' what it might be like to be 'in' the garden]
hand drawing is possibly becoming a lost art in the world of design with the intro of auto cad computer programs. I think it also maybe something some of us take for granted, i know i did. my mind didn't easily make the leap from one dimensional corporate worker girl to tools in hand 3-d drawing very easily, and i definitely have a long way to go. i usually sat staring at the assignments a.k.a blank piece of trace or vellum for well...let's say, thank goodness the office and 30 rock run back to back. i know no t.v. while doing homework!
a few of us were offered an opportunity to take some semi private classes lead by the instructor from this class, she's an amazing landscape designer and i am so grateful to be a part of this learning process. Most interesting is she confessed to going through much of the same process, staring, internal chatter 'i can't do this, i can't think of anything'...last night she put us to the 'be loose' test.
[drawing a cross-section from plan; analyze views, vertical and hidden elements and internal structures just some of the benefits. placing people allows a person to relate to the design]3 house styles, 30 minutes - design 3 relevant fence AND details, 10 minutes per fence. let it flow, connect the pencil to the paper then move it, don't think. i think most of us felt sick, oh my gosh why am i here, i can't do it....in the end we all came up with great designs. all different, all our own style and all of us loved it.
when i look at these assignments, i still wonder... how did i ended up doing these again? did i really draw these? where the heck would i start if i had to do them again? just starting is half the battle...the best lesson i seem to keep learning :)
ah the big assignment, when the teacher showed us, i said, 'yeah right!'. we were all given the same structural layout; our task to apply the design, hard surfaces, structural elements, planting etc the black and white was handed in as one assignment, next was to apply the colour and ta da the final plan. although this was the 'big one' we had assignments due each class, my favourites are actually the felt marker and ink drawings we did, cross sections, trees, axonometrics (what?).
now what? right i promised myself to enjoy the proces, stay in the moment, let it go where it needs to go, easier said the done, i really loved it and already miss it. :) glad to have some time to blog again though! looking forward to visiting you all!
Note: Herringbone pattern box is empty. I have my graphics class tonight, in the landscape design course I've enrolled in. I have been working on the #*)@^ (aka herringbone) box for 4 days now, I've drawn 17 other patterns and textures of the 18 needed representing decking, brick work and just plain grass. I graduated with decent grades, I work on multi million dollar projects, I pay my bills on time, I have even participated in some fairly impressive renovations on my house. So WHY can't I create a herringbone pattern! I feel like I'm looking at one of those dizzing patterns that everyone else can seem to easily see the 'bird' in, 'can't you see it, can't you see it? it's right there?!' I can't see it! I tell you I can't!!! Doesn't the universe know that its stuff like this that keeps me from blogging and paroozing the blogsphere in general? Oi!
I love tools. My Dad gave me a toolbox when I got my first bachelor apartment. When I was a little girl some of my most favourite memories were going to the lumber yard and hardware store with my Dad, the smell of wood and Old Spice, that's my Dad! My husband commented once 'how the heck do you know where everything is in a hardware store?" as I quickly found all the plumbing parts and pieces we needed to install our new sink in our renovated kitchen. My son absorbs lines from movies and the Simpson's, I absorbed where all the stuff is in a hardware store when I was kid.
Apparently most landscape designers use software programs to produce plans these days, but the course I am enrolled in is teaching us old school. Yesterday's lesson was in architectural lettering, and with that comes and array of new tools that I have never heard of or used! Hooray! Unique pencil leads in a variety of sizes, lead holders, a special lead sharpener, rulers and t-squares, and the Ames lettering tool which draws the guidelines for the lettering and the paper, oh the lovely paper vellum and trace, love it! The instructor makes it look oh soooo easy, but I know I will be practicing long and hard on this assignment this weekend, recycling box get ready...
Starting class tonight! I decided to start taking classes in an area(s) that interest me, for once with no end goal, no real plan, no career growth, that's what I say out loud anyway! And this program is not at all related to what I do in my current 8-6 and sometimes checking in at 9 p.m. bberry always on and weekends too job. I enrolled in a Landscape Design program, this is the 3rd course I've taken in the program so far, I completed both Horticulture I and Plants I in Dec. Plants I was really all trees, 72 in total and no 'plants' but an extremely interesting albeit tough course.
Well I'm really excited about this one, tonight's course is Graphic Fundamentals, old school drawing, planning and design. In the previous courses I just loved the teachers and people they were all so passionate, it's contagious.
Well, I really hope I like this one and what I really hope is that 'it' likes me!
