Nhi Vuong #633889Visual Environments (ENVS10008)Semester 1 - 2013

Patterns in Nature

There always exists a certain pattern/relationship within an object, whether it is natural or artificial. This, however is not always obvious and often requires close observa-tion and examination. One could almost instantly identi-fy the similarities in sizes and shapes of each of a flower’s petal, yet not many are aware that trees - plants that look arbitrary and vary widely - all apply the same rule to their growth regarding their branches and leaves.

In this particular journal I decided to choose lines in the sand as my main pattern. I have always been fascinated by how breezes that have no shape or colour could influence the shape of a desert filled with sand, forming such continuous curves which could go for miles.

Exploration

The chosen image for sand pattern is placed on the right. It captures closely what these lines look like, the affect of sunlight which seper-ates them into multiple layers. As you can see they are unanimously parallel to each other despite the differences in length and width.

After examining the pattern chosen for a while and reading through “Poling – Analytical drawing” by Kadisky, I realized there is an un-canny resemblance between the sand curves and tangent lines in Geometry. This suggests that the wind blows through the area fol-lows a system of almost straight lines rather that typhoons or heavy storms where the wind direction changes now and then.These curves also come in pairs facing each other, creating inter-nal symmetry and balance naturally. The light that divides each of these sand curves into multiple layers also creates a balance in terms of colour (dark vs bright).

According to Kandinsky (Clark Pooling - Analytical Drawing), the very first step in Analytical drawing is to be able to identify con-cealed relationships in the midst of chaos. Noticing the similar shape of the curves as well as the symmetry between each pair proves to be significant in order to advance to the next stages.

Breaking down the relationships between these lines is crucial by re-ducing them into vertical, horizontal and/or diagonal lines. In my ex-periments these lines were first formed by sets of straight lines, then followed the waves as the image suggests.

Finally, it is the student’s job to turn these vectors into spatial im-ages by manipulating these newfound patterns, turning them into a more abstract and perhaps complex. It provides a new under-standing as well as another perspective regarding the nature of this particular pattern.

ExperimentsBalance and Symmetry

ExperimentMovement

As for Movement, the curves are bent according to 2 randomly drawn diagonal lines. The space between these curves is also manipulated to become sparser to represent motion. I find this particularly challenging as it is exceptionally dif-ficult to depict movement in a 2D, unanimated way. The result is not very satisfying as it somehow still feels quite flat and motionless. The reduced number of lines as well as lack of gradient also contribute to this inactivity of the pattern.

Weaving could come out useful in this situation. During freetime I shall explore more techniques in order to improve this piece.

Blending was heavily used in all 3 of my analytical drawings as it works based on different connections between the lines. For Balance and Symmetry, curves representing sands are grouped into symmetrical pairs, then placed alternatively as below to create a harmonious relationship.

Bibliograpghy

1. http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs50/f/2009/313/4/f/Lines_in_the_sand_by_Midge_cat.jpg

2. http://pcdn.500px.net/12683967/927d808b1679029ef73fc58f4c636f94620a2cb8/4.jpg

3. http://patternizer.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/chameleontail2.jpg

4. http://cdn.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000zoLSjIEzhlY/s/900/900/Patterns-in-the-sand.jpg

5. http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/wiredscience/2010/09/fractal_9b.jpg

6. http://rosafrei.photoshelter.com/image/I0000bmEt57HM4Eo

7. Pooling, Clark (1987): Analytical Drawing in Kandinsky’s Teaching at the Brahaus, Rizzoli, New York, pp 107-122.