Digital Sketching Computational Design
Process: Rhinoceros 3D with Grasshopper Visual Programming, Illustrator
The introduction of CAD software into the field of design has normalized techniques in visual representation. Extracting edges and contouring surfaces successfully convey information, but simultaneously limit experimentation. Similarly, parametric modeling is excessively used as a design tool to generate repetitive form and texture across otherwise under-articulated surfaces.
This project attempts to mimic the human hand in drawing objects, using digital softwares. Grasshopper, a visual programming plug-in for Rhinoceros 3D, was used to create an algorithm that draws seemingly random lines across surfaces. The orientation of these surfaces in three-dimensional space determines the density of the lines, simulating a directional light source. The hatching style of Alexander Brodsky's copper-etchings and the effect of chiaroscuro in Willem Kalf's still life paintings were influential in the final representation of these objects.