Thinking back to what I had discussed with the tutors previously, I spent some time researching and drawing different styles of wristwatches. I've always been quite fascinated about the design of a watch, wearing a clock face on a strap around the wrist makes time 'portable'. With modern technology, most people I know (including myself) rely on a mobile phone to provide us with the time. There is something sweet about wearing a watch though, especially when I researched the different types of mechanisms that can be found inside watches.
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| Quick pen illustrations on brown paper Illustrating some friends watches - they class them as 'precious', not just because they tell the time but because of the feminine designs |
- Wrist watch
- Digital watch
- Analog watch
- Pocket watch
- Diving watch
- Quartz watch
- Apple watch
I tried to answer the question... Why do people choose to wear watches?
To tell the time, a watch is an accessory for the wrist, to avoid relying on a mobile phone - the battery may run out, a watch has an analog clock so it can help children to learn how to tell the time, it could be a habit or a watch may have been given as a gift by a loved one.
Brief History of the Wrist Watch and the Pocket Watch
'The military origins of wearable tech, a century before the Apple watch' (Friedman, 2015).
The wearing of watches first became a fashion trend in 1916, Europeans were starting to wear bracelets with clocks on them. Time had migrated to the human wrist and the development required some explaining to American people.
"The telephone and signal service, which play important parts in modern warfare, have made the wearing of watches by soldiers obligatory" (The Times, observed 1916, two years into WW1).
Wrist watches weren't always worn on the wrist. Sometimes, especially in the early years, they were carried in the pocket or attached on a chain.
In the year 1574, the first known pocket watch was created but the inventor remains unknown. The watch was crafted in bronze and depicts Saint George slaying a dragon on the front and a crucifixion on the back.
In the 1700s, portable clocks such as large pocket watches became popular; people wanted to start carrying the time around with them.
Advances in time-telling technology e.g. the Apple Watch, aren't just about finding a better way to tell the time. They are often about something else too even if that something else influences the perception of time itself.
Over the past century or so, people have kept time mainly in their pockets, then on their wrists and now back in their pockets.
Watch Movements
There are three different types of watch movements - manual movement, automatic movement and quartz movement.
Manual and automatic movements are mechanical, they are both made up of only mechanical parts like gears and springs. A manual watch must be wound by hand, using the crown usually every day to operate continuously. Automatic, self-winding movements are mainly found in wrist watches, the mainspring is wound automatically as a result of the natural motion of the wearer to provide energy to run the watch, making manual winding unnecessary.
The quartz and auto-quartz movements have an electrical circuit and require a battery to run but may also have some mechanical parts. A quartz watch is regulated by a quartz crystal to keep time.
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| A collection of two watches, playing with words and the relationship between text and image |
My Ideas about Time
I went on to create a mind map about the different visual ideas I have regarding my chosen theme. Referencing one of my first illustrations - How do you like to spend your precious time? I would like to create narratives about how I personally regard and spend precious time as well as asking friends and family their beliefs on precious time and how they like to spend it.
I would personally like to reflect visually on how I have been spending my time here in Poland. My regular activities include exploring, drawing, taking photographs, seeing landmarks and sightseeing, meeting new people, going out for drinks/food, shopping, visiting art galleries...
I could also think about the day to day activities I do such as my walk to uni, my love for drinking tea and my morning/evening routines. I think I will mainly focus on the cultural side of how I spend my time as I feel this will be more interesting than illustrating general activities that most people also do every day. To summarise, I like the idea of 'capturing a moment in time' not so much in a photography sense but through my passion for drawing and observing.
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| Mind map contains alternative meanings, synonyms, research areas, time artists, further ideas, photos and artefacts I could use |
Arts exists in time as well as space. Time suggests change and movement suggests the passage of time. Art work may portray actual motion, the artwork itself moves in some way or an illusion of implied movement.
I will consider this suggestion when concluding my final piece ideas. I could think about how I could make my artwork move, this may be difficult because I plan to work 2D but I could possibly experiment with creating an illustrative paper sculpture/pop up structure. I could certainly portray an illusion of movement but this may not be necessary when considering the nature of my project theme anyway. I intend to feature clocks within my illustrations so an illusion won't really be needed.
Symbolism of Time
I have also been looking into symbolism and how it can be used to represent time. Circular shapes are always related to time because a clock face is round but time can be visualised in other ways as well. As I have researched before, line is an important visual element to consider when creating artwork about time so I intend to include line heavily within my illustration, perhaps as lines of motion.
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| Visualising Time in Art - clock spiral and clock hands |
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| Symbols that represent time - arrows, circle, sun, arrow circle clock |
Developing Illustrations - to possible Final Piece Ideas
I was told my drawing is strong so I should use it in my development pieces to a final piece. I have decided to create circular illustrations that reference a clock face and showcase how I personally like to spend my precious time. So far I have created a series of thumbnail sketches, mainly small with one larger to experiment with composition and colour palette as well as subject matter and spacing.
I am pleased with the drawings I have created so far but I intend to think of more text to include within my work and I also want to carefully consider where to place line, as I mentioned it is an important element when creating artwork about time. I have been using a mixture of first hand observational drawing and drawing from reference so will continue to do this. I won't use photography as collage, I did experiment with it in one of my thumbnails on the third photograph below however I don't think it works as well as my hand drawing because the narrative doesn't have as much of an impact.
Moving my Time Project forward
To conclude, my next intentions are to work on a larger size, possibly creating 9-12 drawings on a larger piece of paper in the same circular outline form.
I have also began to interview family and friends about their viewpoints on precious time. This will be useful within my work because it will help me to visualise other ways of illustrating time and I may possibly create little narratives of how they like to spend their precious time compared to how I like to spend my precious time.
I believe time should be cherished so I hope to showcase this within my illustrations but making them as intricate and beautiful as they can be. This project has developed to become quite aesthetic based but I think it will work well because I am also using storytelling and incorporating text and image so am able to use skills I have already obtained from the illustration course at UCA.
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