search  current discussion  categories  books & magazines - books 

on becoming a designer . was ceramic design books

updated thu 3 aug 00

 

iandol on tue 1 aug 00


Dear Susan=20

I think we all get the chance to draw when we are in primary school, =
though not all of us are able to continue to develop those early learned =
skills.

I taught from the basis that Art is getting and refining the mental =
ideas, Design is turning those ideas into images from which we can =
construct something which is real, Craft is the collective =
constructional skills and technology which we use to change those images =
into objects, Criticism is a way of inspecting and refining things until =
we can make a positive Judgement or Evaluation about our efforts.

There are many ways to get there, some with a few short cuts. I am in =
total agreement with you that achieving skill in basic drawing is one of =
the most helpful acquisitions for any person engaged in any craft. But =
unless a person can attend classes, or, as you were, is fortunate to be =
able to gain the necessary experience in a college, then getting those =
skills can be very difficult. I am interested in finding out if this =
situation can be corrected for those who did not get that chance to =
learn. I believe there is an opportunity of doing this through using =
electronic media; E-mail, scanning and so on which means those who are =
interested must have access to these facilities. But first I have to =
master web page construction so I can present study materials to people. =
And I have to be convinced that there is a wider need than that already =
given to me.

Thanks for your contribution and good wishes. A valuable two cent's =
worth.

Ivor Lewis.=20

Timakia@AOL.COM on wed 2 aug 00


You might find it interesting to know that I tried several times on my own
before to learn how to draw, without any success. Recently I am teaching
myself again, but on the hand of the book of Betty Edwards. For the first
time I have some progress. She mention in this book that in doing some of the
exercises, students previously reported a lot of tension. I know I will get
there eventually, but I even find myself delaying the exercises. If this is
the case with the drawing part, how many obstacles are there in the way for
design for people like me? On the other hand if I make a small example of
what I want to make in the end (in Afrikaans we called it a "market",
emphasis on the "et" of the word), I got carried away as can be.
I still wonder how much of ceramic is done by left and how much by right
brain function.

Antoinette.(who is learning with the horses behind the wagon.)

Antoinette Badenhorst
PO Box 552
Saltillo,MS
38866
http://hometown.aol.com/timakia

John Vandermeulen on wed 2 aug 00


Antoinette,
1. Do not worry over your drawing if you can do your thinking out loud with a
'maquette' . I do this all the time in my metal work where I can not get it down
on paper as a drawing.
2. If you really want to draw, do a small exercise or two every day. My wife has
done that, and she is improving steadily. Unhappily I am one of those with drawing
as a born-in skill, where she has not. But she is doing darn well.
If you like I will try to find the title of the book that she uses. It is very
good for your needs.
John

Timakia@AOL.COM wrote:

> You might find it interesting to know that I tried several times on my own
> before to learn how to draw, without any success. Recently I am teaching
> myself again, but on the hand of the book of Betty Edwards. For the first
> time I have some progress. She mention in this book that in doing some of the
> exercises, students previously reported a lot of tension. I know I will get
> there eventually, but I even find myself delaying the exercises. If this is
> the case with the drawing part, how many obstacles are there in the way for
> design for people like me? On the other hand if I make a small example of
> what I want to make in the end (in Afrikaans we called it a "market",
> emphasis on the "et" of the word), I got carried away as can be.
> I still wonder how much of ceramic is done by left and how much by right
> brain function.
>
> Antoinette.(who is learning with the horses behind the wagon.)
>
> Antoinette Badenhorst
> PO Box 552
> Saltillo,MS
> 38866
> http://hometown.aol.com/timakia
>
> ______________________________________________________________________________
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at melpots@pclink.com.