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Acceleration of Curvature
Acceleration of the curvature of a surface is an important way to control the composition of a form. Just as in drawing or painting, composition and proportions are critical in surface development. In two-dimensional art forms, composition is controlled through the proportions and positioning of various graphic elements. A radial
Bevel
Blister
Blister n: a distinct, convex surface emerging from a less rounded surface, delineated with a hard intersection. Opposite of dimple. v: to pull a crisply delineated area of deep convexity out of a less rounded surface. Bone n: The rounded intersection between two surfaces where highlights gather. A tightening of curvature on a surface, forming the appearance of skin stretched over a bone. Bulge n. a convex surface emerging from a less rounded surface, delineated with a very soft intersection. Also pooch. v: to pull a softly delineated area of deep convexity out of a less rounded surface. Chamfer v: To cut off the top of a protruding surface, creating a flat plateau whose edge describes the cross-section of the surface.
Chamfer Coke-bottle/ Wasp-waist n: A generally symmetrical, curved form which narrows near the mid-point. Concave a: Having negative (inward) curvature. Concavity n: Negative (inward) curvature. A depression in a surface. Cone v: To taper a surface by increasing the curvature of its crosssection over its length. Coning a: Describing the tapering of surface or highlights.
A Coning Surface Coning allows a surface to transition smoothly from a tight crosssection to a more relaxed one. Highlights will dissipate over the surface toward the relaxed end, and gather toward the tight end, giving tension and movement to the surface. Convex a: Having positive (outward) curvature.
Pooched [surface] a: An area of surface that has an increase of convex curvature from the surface around it. (kind of like a beerbelly) Also bulged. Radius n: A line segment extending from the center of a circle to its circumference. b: A curve defined by a given radius. c: A transitional surface between two or more adjacent surfaces which is characterized by a constant circular cross-section. v: To round out an edge between two surfaces by using transitional surface with a radial cross-section. Sheer a: Having very little crown, or convex curvature. Almost flat. Taut a: Having the appearance of tension.
Seeing Organic Form One of the principles that designers have observed over the years is that we don't really see form, what we see is the way in which form manipulates light before it is reflected back into our eyes. This may seem like an esoteric piece of semantics, but embracing it is fundamental to understanding how to manipulate the graphic nature of three-dimensional form. This means how to properly illustrate it, yes, but also how to truly design it with control over how it will appear from various angles and in different lighting. Designing surface reflections. is really about designing highlights and
Mirror Reflection Tracing reflections on a curved surface is simply a matter of finding the perpendicular to that surface at any given point, in other words, the surface normal. Just think of a curved surface as an infinite number of flat mirrors linked along a curve (like a disco ball). For all intents and purposes, the surface at that infinitesimal point where a ray of light hits can be considered 'flat' and the process is the same.
Cylindrical Reflection
The way in which I try to plot reflections is to find the most contrasting edge in whatever is being reflected, as this will end up being the strongest graphic element on the surface. Then I figure out where this will land across my surface. For the purposes of illustrating the form a 'horizon line' is ideal. It provides a clear
A good tool for observation is a flexible sheet of glossy or reflective material, such as Mylar. You can also spray a sheet of glossy paper or thin plastic with silver spray paint. If you spray a sheet of transparent plastic, such as acetate with silver paint, you will have created a flexible mirror for observing reflections on one side, and a silver sheet for reflecting highlights on the other. By bending your mirror in various directions, you can observe how it is distorting the world around you. Ideally, you should find an environment that has a distinct horizon, 'sky' and 'ground' to simplify your observation. Try going outside. If you roll the sheet into a horizontal cylinder, you can see that the reflections are compressed vertically, and begin to appear long and thin. Roll the sheet into your hand to form a hollow half-cylinder. The reflections have compressed in the same manner, but now reversed, with the 'sky' reflected in the lower half, and the 'ground' in the upper.
Now turn your original cylinder vertically. You will notice that any roughly horizontal line below your eye level in the environment will appear to 'climb' or bend upward in its reflection as it goes away from you, and hence toward the vanishing point on the horizon. The opposite is true of lines above your eye level. As well, any subtle variations in the height of what is being reflected around you become drastically exaggerated as they are compressed by the curvature of your cylinder. These simple observations are the foundation of understanding how complex rounded surfaces distort reflections, and, more importantly, how form can be described by the application of these phenomena to your drawing. Now take out your 'diffuse' sheet, and bend it into a positive horizontal half-cylinder. Rather than making it perfectly cylindrical, however, pinch it more toward the center so that it forms more of a loose bend through the middle, like a 'v' section on it's side with a rounded point. You will notice that the area where the sheet is bending brightens up, as the metal-flake in the paint gathers diffused light. You have created what is called a 'bone' in the surface. This phenomena is a very powerful graphic effect, and can serve as strongly as a line to control the balance of your form.
Coning Reflections Keeping the "pinch" at one end, let your sheet unroll into more of a regular cylinder at the other end. Notice how the highlight 'flares' out and diffuses as the curvature of the bone lessens. You have just created a 'coning' bone in your surface. Coning is also a very powerful tool in surface development, and can be thought of as the three-dimensional equivalent of varying your line weights in a drawing.
Designing to Control Reflections and Highlights Once you begin to understand the powerful graphic effect of reflections and highlights on surface, the object is to control that effect. It is not enough to have a reflection fall just perfectly from a particular angle, only to fall off or distort in an unattractive way as the view is changed. A key to controlling light is in the intersections of surfaces, and the creation of 'bones' at those intersections. As described in the glossary, a 'bone' in a surface is a localized area of increased curvature. Go back to your flexible 'highlight' mirror, and form a bone in the surface as described above. Move the surface around, and change your vantage point. You will notice that from just about any angle, that 'bend' will still be picking up highlights and consequently is well-defined. This is because unlike a flat surface, which will only pick up glare from a light at the exact right angle, the amount of curvature gathered in the narrow area of the bone will always have some part of its surface facing the light source and, in fact, probably several light sources within the environment. This allows it to always be concentrating highlights along its length. This allows a great deal of control over the graphic effect of highlights on the surface. For example, compare a radiused cross-section to a 'boned' section covering the same area and depth. If you watch the highlights and reflections on the rounded surface, they will move up and down the surface depending on your point of view. Because the 'boned' surface concentrates most of the change in curvature to a narrow section, the essential graphic quality of the highlight is unchanged, even as the highlights crawl across the surface. Essentially you have constrained the effect within the transition from one surface to another. The tighter the bone, the stronger the highlight and the more it is constrained. As well, the reflections have been concentrated by the localized change in surface. Instead of having one continual rounded surface where the demarcation between reflecting 'ground' and 'sky' depends on your viewpoint, the boned surface divides the section into two more shear surfaces which are distinctly oriented toward different reflections, with the bone controlling where the transition edge (or horizon line) will fall. It creates the same effect as having two planes in terms of defining the surface, but the soft transition between them allows the reflection to 'complete' itself within the
Designing with Transitions Once you've recognized how transition areas can be used to control the graphic appearance of your form, the next step is to incorporate it into your design thinking. Visualize your object as a flow of graphic elements in threedimensional space, wrapping around the various views of your object. Design your primary transitions first as a series of edges between surfaces. The surfaces necessary to create those areas of focus will naturally fall into place. Secondary transition areas will naturally occur. As a surface follows an edge around a corner, for example, the change in direction creates another transition which is likely to pick up highlights and distort your reflections. You can control the tension between those areas and your primary transition areas by balancing the tightness of them. The tighter the transition, the stronger the highlights will read, creating a hierarchy of compositional elements in your three-dimensional form. You can control the amount of 'movement' over surfaces and the contrast between adjacent surfaces by adjusting the amount of crown in each surface and therefore the steepness of the transition between them. Keep in mind that it doesn't take a great change in the angle of a surface before it picks up a significantly different character of light and reflection from the world around it. Then you can control the softness of the transition by increasing or decreasing the tightness of the bone, or choosing to use an edge, radius or a bevel. In the end, the primary character of your design will be consistent regardless of the view or viewing conditions. You will be able to control the graphic flow of your forms, as well as how and where reflections and highlights fall across your surfaces to define their shapes.