VEGETATION STUDIES

learn character from trees, 
values from roots and 
change from leaves

Tasneem Hameed

INTENT

VSR, scheduled as the beginning of each day, is intended as exercises in centering ourselves: bringing our mind & body together through an undisturbed engagement of an hour in sketching and drawing. This brief focuses on observing and knowing vegetation. 

TEACHING-LEARNING STRATEGIES

This brief focuses on drawing trees and plants across five types: a type each morning of the weekdays. The process will be interspersed with conversations with peers during group interaction through the week and tutor comments on G.Classroom. Feedback and insights need to be incorporated into subsequent works, even though the subject of the drawings is likely to change.

Students are expected to watch the following video references and discuss their notes with peers:

1. Fantastic Fungi, Netflix
2. The Queen of Trees; YouTube
3. Lecture/ Presentation on Environmental Design by Parag Mody, AR2031-S21

Work created for the scheduled hour everyday is to be submitted as PDF as well as posted on the assigned Miro board by 0930 hrs on the same day – before the studio session with the tutors’ begins.

Regular update of the Reflective Blog is a mandatory requirement of the studio. You may choose to blog daily or weekly or with respect to briefs or exercises; however, stick to a chosen schedule for at least 4 weeks or through a module.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The reference videos, along with ten hours of exercises and a couple of hours of reflection will help in identification and representation of the form, scale, structure, texture and parts of plants/ trees/ vegetation chosen by students. Deliberate on what our relationship to trees is and what do trees mean for the planet.

Besides documenting the processes and recording its highs & lows, it’s necessary to reflect on these aspects and note the consequent deliberations in the Studio Blog.

DELIVERABLES

Drawing Format: A3; Medium: Pen & Ink/ Graphite/ Charcoal/ Water Colour etc. on Cartridge Paper

Please submit the reference photograph or image along with each morning’s drawing. 

Pick one of the five types of vegetation to draw for each VSR hour of the week:

1. Mid-size Trees : Coconut, Moringa (Drum Sticks), Mulberry etc.
2. Short Fruit Trees : Guava, Apple, Custard Apple, Papaya, Banana, Citrus, Peach, Apricot etc.
3. Tall Grasses/ Plants : Bamboo, Sugarcane, Sarkanda, Water Lily, Genda, Hibiscus, Aparajita etc.
4. Vines/ Climbers : Bougainvillea, Orange Trumpet, Money Plant, Juhi/ Parijat, Madhumalati etc.
5. Ground Cover : Verbena, Gunpowder Plant, Wandering Jew/ Pendula, Iresine, and grasses

You may choose from outside the examples provided above; however, make sure that the vegetation you choose is relevant to your context. It will help if you have personal associations – past or present – with your chosen vegetation.

On each A3, draw the elevation plan and parts of the selected vegetation at appropriate scales. Record the form, scale (draw a human profile at relative size), structure and textures in your representations. Start early, if you are not confident of completing each exercise within an hour. Repeat the process in the second week with a second variety of vegetation from each category. 

Reference outputs shared in the brief are only suggestive.