[DAB510-Users] Spatial requirements for users

Spatial requirements for the node at its most basic will include:

• Comfortable seating, suitable for both adults and children.
• Work surfaces, again, suitable for adults, children, but also accessible by those in wheelchairs or the disabled.
  Additionally, the site itself will provide an interesting backdrop and a host of subject matter to inspire participants. Some activities will require users to venture out of the node and engage with elements of HSW itself, such as that of frottage. Frottage is the process of taking a pencil or other drawing tool and making a rubbing over a textured surface. Pictured below is an example of this technique and its use in pieces by surrealist and frottage pioneer Max Ernst. 

8B graphite on Yorkshire flagstone

Max Ernst, La Forêt Pétrifiée (1929), graphite on paper

Max Ernst (c.1935)

• Display space
  A vital part of the learning experience, this allows for users to see what others have done (both in their class and from previous participants), providing a forum for feedback and more importantly, a feeling of accomplishment at creating something and thereby encouraging users to come back for more lessons. At this stage, I feel like internal AND external displays on the facade are the most feasible, as this not only gets participants actively engaging with the node and HSW by walking around and through the node, it also acts as a sort of advertisement for passersby to see what is going on in the space. The fleeting nature of the displays (as classes will ideally be run a few times a week, both during the day and at night) draws people back to the node to see what new drawings have been produced. I also think the fleetingness of this adds a very informal and community-based atmosphere to the node, which is a very important element for this design - this is by no means a gallery for the accomplished artist.
• Adequate lighting, both inside and out for workspaces and displays.

 As a learning space, the

[DAB510-Users] The needs of a mark-making node

In order to allow for a wide range of people to use the node, the range of supplied drawing materials will be kept to a minimum in order to encourage deep experimentation. For those more experienced or wanting to try something new, they are more than welcome to bring their own medium to play with, however, the minimum materials supplied will include:

• Material to work on/substrate
  This will mainly be discarded paper sourced from surrounding businesses and All Hallows School. However, some bought recycled paper in bigger sizes such as A2 and A3 will also be provided, or even just a big roll of butchers paper like we have in J-block studios which users can tear off to a size of their liking.
  Users are encouraged to bring other materials to work on.

Edwina Ashton, Untitled (2005), pen and watercolour on found envelope

• Drawing media including:
  pencils - 2B and 6B lead, and coloured pencils
  pens - biros and fineliners
  pastels
  In order to provide an inviting learning space, supplies definitely need to be well-maintained and plentiful. There's nothing worst and off-putting than broken stubby pencils and pastels, or dry pens. As there is only a small range supplied, this should be easy to maintain.
• No erasers!
  The one thing that I've learnt to embrace (both from architectural design and art) is that iteration is the best form of learning. In architecture, a wobbly line adds so much more character to a sketch, and in mark-making, a 'mistake' can be experimented with (the whole point of the learning node!). No-one likes using a blackened rubber after someone before them has rubbed off half a page done in 6B, and more importantly, the amount of rubber waste brushed off the work surface and ultimately entering the wider HSW and river environment is definitely something to be avoided.

[DAB510-Users] Drawing, mark-making, and users

The activity I've chosen for my node is simply that of 'mark-making', or learning how to draw.

This is a very broad term and for the purposes of teaching and learning, I will term the activities themselves as 'mark-making', with the final product a 'drawing'. I feel like this distinction should be made at the offset, as 'drawing' as a verb has a sense of formality about it that oftentimes intimidates would-be participants in to thinking they have to produce a finished, formal piece, or emphasises polished skills. My node will be the opposite of that, encouraging experimentation with medium to equip users with a range of drawing skills.

Carolee Schneemann, Up To And Including Her Limits (1976), crayon on paper, rope and harness suspended from ceiling.
This photo for me encapsulates what mark-making is about; a physical recording of the body's movements and of ideas that go beyond just a static subject matter or landscape. That said though, the node will allow for beginners to express their mark-making through examining physical objects and landscapes but with those subjects as a means to an end, not the end itself.

I have just begun my minor in Visual Arts this semester, but have been drawing for as long as I can remember; my earliest memories include using my mum's lipstick to draw on the entirety of a mattress, and hiding under my grandpa's desk and doodling obscenities (such as butts and the like) on the underside of it with my brother when we were kids.

I am currently taking KVB110 - 2D Media and Processes, and I feel this course exemplifies what could be taught in my node. Although it is an introductory course, I still feel like I have learnt how to explore the extents and constraints of a medium despite having used it for years. This has allowed me to produce some interesting drawings with techniques I would never have even thought to use (or forgetten).

Flicked lines using a pen

Experimenting with lines using ink and Copic markers

Playing with perspective and distortion of a skull

As a result, I feel like drawing lessons as taught in the node would be suitable for beginners, amateurs, and the experienced alike. The location of the node means that once HSW is revitalised, a range of people will be able to use the space at different times of the day. These can include:

• Families on the weekend;
• People on their way home after work and needing some down time;
• Those in the Valley or New Farm's cultural precincts looking for an activity after dining out etc;
• Primary and high school students (All Hallows for example), and university students from QUT via Riverwalk or UQ via ferry.
• Exercisers or the general public using the Riverwalk or revitalised parkland.

Additionally, from DAB525, the Riverwalk feeding in to HSW acts as a very defined path along an edge and this makes anything at the end of it very much a landmark or destination, enticing more users to the space.

As I plan on having regular classes, the class size will be limited to about 5 users and 1 instructor, but outside of class times the space acts as a gallery open to the public to peruse.


In relation to unpacking the activity, there are multiple ways in which to draw. The 3 common methods include:

1. Drawing on a flat surface (usually a table)
2. Drawing on an angled surface - an easle
3. Drawing in a book or other substrate that is held or rested on your lap

 All three methods involve a substrate, a support for the substrate, seating, and of course drawing media. I will choose to explore option 1 for my design as this is the most common and ergonomic form for beginners to practice on.