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1. SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN
FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT
NAME: SHUM LI SZE
STUDENT ID NO: 0322822
WORD COUNT: 785
ENGLISH 1 (ELG 30505)
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: PROCESS ESSAY
LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION DATE: 11th
MAY 2015

2. Pre-writing essay
Ones can deliver or present their ideas of an object through many ways
such as mind mapping, writing down notes and sketching. However, I prefer
sketching as we can have a deeper level of understanding by producing and
looking at a sketch. A sketch is a rough drawing that give the essential features
of an object. By sketching, we can record our own interaction with the object
which causes us to be more sensitive towards our surroundings. This can help us
in our architecture drawing in the future as we are trained to be more patience
and sensitive. Therefore, it is crucial to learn how to produce an attractive sketch.
There are few steps to be followed in order to produce a quality sketch.
First of all, you need to choose a suitable object to sketch. For example,
you can choose kitchen utensils such as spoon, knife or spatula as it is better to
start with a simpler object for the beginners. While choosing a suitable object to
sketch, you need to take its colour, material and texture into consideration. After
comparing a few kitchen utensils, I decided to sketch the traditional Chinese
spoon. The traditional Chinese spoon which is also known as the duck spoon is
made up of ceramics which causes it to produce a brittle sound when it is collide
with another similar spoon. It has the length of 4.5 inches and it has a short and
thick handle that extends directly from a deep, flat bowl. Furthermore, it is coated
by an attractive shiny surface that gives the spoon a smooth texture. At the end
of the spoon, there is a picture of a rooster on the flat bowl which symbolize the
Chinese tradition in the early days. I use it when I am having soup or rice as the
shape of the hollow part at the end of the handle was designed to prevent the
liquid to spill easily.
After choosing the right object to sketch, you have to prepare the drawing
tools that you need such as paper, pencils and eraser. It is important to select the
suitable texture of the paper as it will affect the quality of your sketching. You are
advised to choose the smooth surfaced paper with the weight of approximately
75 to 90 gsm (gram per square metre) as it is suitable for media such as pencils.
On the other hand, both HB pencil and 2B pencil should be prepare if you are not
using a mechanical pencil. Erasers such as kneaded rubber eraser or tuff stuff
eraser stick can be used to produce highlights and details easier. Besides than
that, you must have a clear and comfortable workspace for you to produce your
sketch so that you will be free from distraction.
When the drawing tools are all prepared, it is time to start your sketching!
First of all, sketch the outline of the traditional Chinese spoon with a HB pencil
before sketch it with a 2B pencil because it is easier to erase the thin light lines
than the heavy dark lines. Sketch the spoon with a 2B pencil only if you are sure
and confident about the its outline already. Next, shade the spoon with a 2B
pencil carefully. You are advised to shade from the left to the right, and from the

3. top to the bottom to prevent your hand from touching the graphite. Then, in order
to produce an attractive spoon that has lighting and shading, you need to be able
to control the 2B pencils to make subtle gradient. While shading the spoon, move
your wrist evenly and rhythmically and apply pressure to darken areas. You must
remember not to rest your hand on the finished part of drawing. Finally, mark the
highlight of the spoon with the kneaded rubber eraser to produce a better visual
effect.
It was a great satisfaction to finish an attractive sketch as I enjoyed the
one hour process very much. In order to produce an attractive sketch, we must
be patient in doing our sketches. Do not rush to finish your sketch or get
frustrated when you do not produce a perfect sketch. We must remember that
sketching is not about looking perfect but it is more about getting concepts and
ideas. I would like to practise sketching more as it will help me to record down my
ideas in a better way as well as strengthen my drawing foundation which can
help me in my architecture drawing in the future.

4. Essay
One can deliver or present their ideas of an object through many ways
such as mind mapping, writing down notes and sketching. However, I prefer
sketching as we can have a deeper level of understanding by producing and
looking at a sketch. A sketch is a rough drawing that gives the essential features
of an object. By sketching, we can record our own interaction with the object
which causes us to be more sensitive towards our surroundings. This can help us
in our architectural drawing in the future as we are trained to be more patient and
sensitive. Therefore, it is crucial to learn how to produce an attractive sketch.
There are a few steps to be followed in order to produce a quality sketch.
First of all, you have to choose a suitable object to sketch. For example,
you can choose kitchen utensils such as spoons, knives or spatulas as it is better
to start with a simpler object for the beginners. While choosing a suitable object
to sketch, I took its colour, material and texture into consideration. After
comparing a few kitchen utensils, I decided to sketch the traditional Chinese
spoon. The traditional Chinese spoon which is also known as the duck spoon is
made up of ceramics which causes it to produce a brittle sound when it collides
with another similar spoon. It has a length of 4.5 inches and it has a short and
thick handle that extends directly from a deep, flat bowl. Furthermore, it is coated
by an attractive shiny surface that gives the spoon a smooth texture. At the end
of the spoon, there is a picture of a rooster on the flat bowl which symbolizes
diligence in the Chinese tradition. I use it when I am having soup or rice as the
shape of the hollow part at the end of the handle is designed to prevent the liquid
from spilling easily.
After choosing the right object to sketch, I prepared the drawing tools that I
needed such as papers, pencils and an eraser. It is important to select the
suitable texture of the paper as it will affect the quality of my sketching. We are
advised to choose the smooth surfaced paper with a weight of approximately 75
to 90 gsm (gram per square metre) as it is more suitable for media such as
pencils. On the other hand, both HB pencil and 2B pencil should be prepared if
we are not using a mechanical pencil. The HB and 2B on the pencils indicate the
degree of hardness and both pencils are essential for the sketch. Erasers such
as kneaded rubber erasers or tuff stuff eraser sticks can be used to produce
highlights and details easier. Besides that, we must have a clear and comfortable
workspace for us to produce our sketch so that we would be free from distraction.
A table lamp with good lighting should be prepared as lighting was also a
concern to produce a quality sketch.
When the drawing tools were all prepared, it was time to start my
sketching! First of all, I put the Chinese traditional spoon on a white piece of a4
paper and placed it under the table lamp. Then, I sketched the outline of the

5. spoon with a HB pencil before I sketched it with a 2B pencil because it was
easier to erase the thin light lines than the heavy dark lines. Next, I shaded the
spoon with a 2B pencil carefully. We are advised to shade from the left to the
right, and from the top to the bottom to prevent our hands from touching the
graphite. Then, in order to produce an attractive spoon that has lighting and
shading,we need to be able to control the 2B pencils to make a subtle gradient.
While shading the spoon, I moved my wrist evenly and rhythmically and applied
pressure to darken areas. I also remembered not to rest my hand on the finished
part of drawing. Finally, I marked the highlight of the spoon with the kneaded
rubber eraser to produce a better visual effect.
It was a great satisfaction to finish an attractive sketch as I enjoyed the
one hour process very much. In order to produce an attractive sketch, we must
be patient in doing our sketches. Do not rush to finish your sketch or get
frustrated when you do not produce a perfect sketch. We must remember that
sketching is not about looking perfect but it is more about getting concepts and
ideas. I would like to practise sketching more as it will help me to record down my
ideas in a better way as well as strengthen my drawing foundation which can
help me in my architectural drawing in the future.