i. Visual expression
1. Work toward it visually as soon as possible (don’t talk it to death)
2. Can’t talk about the visual world; have to show it
3. Start with a thumbnail sketch
4. Presentation—turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse (definition, scale)
ii. The more languages you can speak, the better the chance you’ll use the most appropriate one.
iii. Don’t make it look too precious: design it so it looks like it’s easy to modify
iv. Don’t design the “set” first—first decide what the space is like, then what the scale will be (for theater, scale to the actor), then design the environment to be built.
v. Combine 2 & 3 dimensions by mounting drawings on core-board and arranging depth (sort of bas-relief).
i. “Draw a person” gives less satisfactory results than “Draw me”
ii. Eye-hand coordination—proportions, rather than actual measure (holding the thumb or a pencil or a ruler out at arm’s length)
iii. An amateur may have talent, but a professional knows how to control it.
i. Line—are proportions correct (do the lines relate properly)?
ii. Color—tone, shade, etc.
iii. Form—mass & shape
iv. Texture—real (eg, brick) or visual (eg, marble)
i. Single
ii. Double
iii. Multiple
i. Blocking
ii. Details
iii. Tones
iv. Finish
i. Blocking
ii. Details
iii. Tones
iv. Finish
i. Number 1
ii. Number 2
ii. Louis Sullivan—Merchants’ National Bank
ii. Urban Heritage
iii. Word Map
ii. Pedestrian way
i. Paths
ii. Edges
© 2004 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 7 January 2005