Research
https://notability.com/n/esWp2sHC5ruDnSpqnyKB4
Research of dimensions and designs of furniture
Exercises
Planes, Curves, Layering Exercise
This exercise was designed to teach us about perspective and introductions the concept of 2D and 3D objects in space. This was one of the earliest exercises and it was used to transition us into being comfortable experimenting with uncomfortable objects that bend, curve, and fold onto itself. I really liked this exercise because there weren’t a lot of limitations to it and I could draw whatever I wanted like banners and title headers. I also played around with stairs because he suggested it and doing that helped me in the future when I added stairs into my room. Taylor also gave me feedback on my shadows and direction. This showed me basic structures that would add up to more complex compositions, like spheres and curved objects.
Two Point Perspective Exercise
For this exercise, we practiced drawing perspective from a horizon line. We were instructed to draw multiple shapes, squares, cylinders, and wedges. Practicing this helped show me how shapes can look so different based on their perspective in relation to the horizon line, showing with side would be shown: the top, the side, or the bottom. This was helpful to remember in the final when I was looking over my sketch for one of the last times, to make sure all my objects followed the rules of perspective to the horizon line. If one line was slightly off, or showed the wrong side, it was noticeable and I could fix it. This especially helped in the corners of my room. Most of the guidelines from the original grid lines helped me form my outline shape but this practice helped me understand what each side would look like and how much of it would be shown to the viewer. Taylor also gave me feedback and complimented how neat all my shapes looked, which started my quest for perfection on this final project.
Triangulation Practice
Taylor told us to construct our own 8×8 grid, complete with a vanishing point and horizon line. We only drew two sides on the room because this wasn’t a complicated exercise. The floor grid helped me visualize space and volume and the wall grid helped me visualize depth and height. 
This exercise greatly helped me in my process to the final because if I knew my dimensions of the grid, (1’ unit squares) and I knew the measurements of my objects (he told us to label dimensions in our mood boards) then I could build my room proportional to a real human being. During our critiquing process, I noticed how some people just guessed on the height and length of some objects and once you took a closer look, they looked odd : too short or too wide. As for me, I was very thorough when finding and measuring my dimensions of my furniture in accordance to the dimensions of my room. I wanted it to look as realistic as possible and I think I accomplished this very well. Another thing I received good feedback on was my visualization of space, more specifically my posters on the wall and how I made them retreat back into the room. You can see that the top and bottom line of the poster don’t match up, not making a perfect rectangle. If it was a perfect rectangle, it wouldn’t be properly retreating into the depth of the room and would’ve overall ruined the perfect perspective. Doing this really showed the true angle of the wall and proved the viewers perspective as where it is.
Iterations
Grid Making
My first attempt at making a grid didn’t go very smoothly because I messed up my horizon line, shifting the perspective every so slightly so that the walls didn’t match up with the ceiling in the end and I had to start over again. Taylor gave me some helpful feedback when he took me aside to teach me step by step how to make a perfect grid. He recommended placing two central vanishing points on the horizon line instead of one, making the room even more precise by ensuring the floor tiles were all straight and even. Doing this made my floor perfectly aligned and straight, therefore perfecting my walls and ceiling as well.
This was my second grid attempt, the one Taylor helped me make and it turned out beautifully. I chose not to use it because I hadn’t hit the 200 sq ft maximum dimensions and I knew I could add more space to my room.
This was my third and final attempt at making a grid. It turned out perfectly, after two test runs, I knew what I wanted and I constructed it. I made my room 15×11 and lowered my horizon line to include a ceiling because I really felt inspired to add a chandelier. I also chose to use a smaller size paper compared to my second attempt which was very large, it barely fit in the locker and I didn’t want to carry a large piece of paper like that, unprotected, back and forth from my dorm to the studio. Because I downsized, I also forfeited the opportunity to have wide vanishing points. I wanted wider vanishing points so my room could appear to have more depth. Thomas helped me out here, suggesting that I could tape paper to the sides to extend my horizon line, making it possible for the far vanishing points. He suggested this kind of as a last resort, not expecting me to take his advice and he was pleased to see that I took his advice and that it turned out nicely. Taylor and Thomas’s advice really helped me out in this part of the project, because the beginning is always the most important part and I wanted my base/ beginning to be perfect, as the remainder of the project would follow.
Mood Board
Our first exercise at the beginning of this assignment was to create a mood board to set up a theme for our space and to visualize the different types of furniture that could be put into room as well as their dimensions. As I picked out pictures for my mood board, I relied a lot on Pinterest in the beginning to visualize a completed room and what aspects I thought looked best when paired with different kinds furniture. I got distracted by colors often because I love when different color palettes intersect perfectly and we all know that Pinterest is the god of color aesthetics. However, in this project, we didn’t get the privilege of adding colors, so the final will be strictly black and white. From Pinterest, I picked out multiple couches, a staircase referral, and some interesting chair designs that I was hesitant to try out. I also found a lot of small decorations that I wanted to add, like hanging plants and little trink
ets to place on the desk or by the window just to fill up some space. I wanted my studio space to look real, like there was someone actively using it, instead of just an empty room. Out of all my ideas that I put into my mood board I only chose to bring a handful of them to life. I really liked how the palm tree leaves looked in the setting of my modern room but the sketching process was difficult due to all the detail in the shape of the leaves. 
The couch was also hard because it wasn’t a defined shape, it was combined of cushions, which is not one of my strong suits. The perspective was tricky to obtain, as it had to grow smaller as it receding to show the true length of the couch. I went through many erasers getting it perfect.
Drawing Process
When I first began adding all my items into the room, I ran into some problems pretty quickly. I underestimated how small the room actually was and it the beginning, I was really excited to try and construct a balcony on the back wall of the room. I wanted the balcony to be placed high to the ceiling so that the desk would fit underneath it but I saw that my ceiling wasn’t tall enough and if I was to go through with this idea, it would look crammed, awkward and disproportionate to a human body. I was so attracted to the idea of adding a balcony
because I knew it was different and possibly risky, but it would make my work stand out. I also followed this idea with the chandelier. I knew some of my classmates chose not to add a ceiling view, so, if I added a ceiling with a chandelier, I could further my creative thinking and make my piece stand out from the crowd. I eventually ditched the balcony idea but kept the doorway that was supposed to lead up to it. I didn’t add many clues as to what the doorway led to, which I think adds mystery. Later, I soon fell in love with another idea, one I liked even 
better than the balcony loft: A window perch. This idea was tricky to construct because there weren’t many reference photos of an indoor window perch that fit my vision well enough. I also got a bit confused about the architectural elements of constructing an addition like this. It technically protrudes from the room, therefore making its own vanishing point, and I had to do some extra thinking in order for it to look acceptable. As you can see from the picture, I could never get the lines to look right, something always looked off. As for the rest of the room, minimal planning was required. The coffee table turned out to be glass because I thought I had too many solid colored things in the room already, I also chose not to round any corners because I had yet to draw corners in this room and I needed at least a little diversity, to step out of my comfort zone. Another minor setback was determining how to distinguish mirrors from glass. Taylor told me that to symbolism glass, I should add a couple diagonal lines, which I’ve done throughout my life and the effect is as expected, everyone recognized it as glass. But, I have only drawn a handful of mirrors in my life and usually I show they are mirrors by reflecting something else in the room. Due to the position of the mirrors on the left wall, there was nothing nearby or in that angle that the mirrors could logically project. So, I looked online and found that mirrors usually have multiple diagonal lines extruding from corners to show depth, if they are not already reflecting something. This marks the first time I have combined mirrors and windows in the same room.
Lastly, to add more life into my room, I added a lot of plants. I tried to disperse them around the room evenly instead of just one corner and I think the final product matched my intention nicely. The rug was a last minute addition to fill empty space and I think the design is unique and contrasting to the rest of the room.
Tracing process
The tracing process was difficult for me because I put off my work until that last day, which is not ideal, especially for me, but I struggle with motivation very often so if I’m pressured by a near deadline, it should be enough for me to get my work done quickly. I realize that speed is not the goal aspect of this project or any other project but sometimes, it works. I wanted to experiment with line weight more than I did, but I think I did an acceptable job of portraying distance and proximity using different thicknesses of my lines. I had some struggles with these pens because of how they smear. I haven’t drawn with ink in quite some time and I had completely forgotten how cautious you must be when moving your hand or sleeve. Due to this setback, there are places in my piece that look sloppy with drag lines and random smear marks and dots spread across the page. I would’ve enjoyed my piece to look clean and precise, alas, I have already finished and I can’t go back now. Another thing about switching from pencil to marker is line weight. With a light sketchy, flicking motion, you can create the thinnest of lines either used to for outlines or very small details. This was hard to recreate with Micron pens and I even worried about it before I started tracing. I do own the .005 Marker by Micron but it still was too small. 
My solution to this was to draw incredible lightly across the paper, feathering just the tip of the pen across the very top of the paper to get those super thin lines. You can see this in the hanging plant array in the back corner of the room. It can also be seen with the items sitting on the desk. Because everything was in the back of the room, the line weight had to be even more exaggerated to show distance from the viewpoint. There are many mistakes to my final composition but I still love how my final piece turned out and I think the black outline of everything makes it look more professional and real.
Digital Version
With mirror additions and extra designs.