Creative practice: Graphite pencil drawing
Tools used:
Graphite pencils
Blending stumps (tightly rolled-up felt paper with 2 pointed ends)
Soft tissue (blend/smudge bigger areas)
Regular eraser (erase bigger areas)
Kneaded eraser (erase fine lines or pick up graphite where you want it lighter)
Brush (brush away eraser crumbs)
Eraser pencil (for detailed highlights)
Problem faced:
The problem faced by graphite pencil drawing artists are that there are way too many tools that they need while they are drawing. For instance, for a blending stump, they have at least 5 different thickness of the tips. There are also eraser pencils, kneaded eraser, regular eraser, blending tissue, and a brush to brush away the crumbs. There are also graphite pencils of different hardness, black pencils and white markers. Hence, the tabletop may turn into a mess with the number of tools involved. It may also be difficult to find what they need amidst the mess.
Idea 1: Finger Glove It
Creating a graphite pencil drawing but can’t find the necessary tools on hand? Eraser crumbs all over the place, blending tissues flying everywhere? Blending stumps, eraser pencil, erasers obstructing your artwork and cluttering the space? Don’t worry, you can now have it all on one hand with the new finger gloves!
Now, while the artist is drawing with one hand, the other hand will have finger gloves on each finger. On the pinky finger, the finger glove will be made of thin fibre brush material, and will act as a substitute for the brush, which is used to brush away eraser crumbs. On the ring finger, the finger glove have a ‘container’ that will contain soft tissues (up to 5), which is used to blend or smudge bigger areas. The tip of the middle finger’s finger glove will store blending stumps of different thickness, and functions like a multi-coloured clickable pen. The tip of the index finger’s finger glove will hold the kneaded eraser and eraser pencil. Lastly, the thumb’s finger glove will have a regular eraser at its tip.
The finger gloves will be made of breathable material such as cotton or linen. Garments made of linen or cotton are valued for their exceptional coolness and freshness in hot and humid weather.
A useless version of Finger Glove It would be if the erasers are stuck to the bottom flat side of the fingers instead of the tip of the fingers. If so, there would be accidental erases while the other hand with finger gloves is holding onto the drawing. Moreover, it is hard to control the erasers when drawing fine lines with them. Having them on the tip of the fingers would provide more precision as though holding a pen.
Idea 2: Tools Vending Machine
A relatively useless idea (unless improved): A tools vending machine that dispenses the tool needed when the relevant button is pressed. For instance, if 1 is pressed, a 4b graphite pencil would be dispensed and the user will collect it at the mouth of the machine. After using, the user can place it back into its belonging box.
However, this solution involves more steps than the Finger Glove It. Firstly, the user would have to press the button, wait for a few seconds for the tool to drop for their use. After using it, they would also have to deposit it back to its source. Hence, it is a hassle, and the user could simply take the tool from their respective boxes without the machine’s function.
I believe it could be modified to perhaps a hanging magnetic board which can store all the tools and save space at the same time, where the artist can reach out for it easily each time. However, this is still not as convenient as the Finger Glove It since the artist would not need to reach out or search for the tool; it is already on hand. Alternatively, the vending machine could be improved to have voice detection properties just like Siri, where the artist could just narrate what he wants and the tool will drop down. As the artist narrates, he could still draw on. After using the tool, he could place it into the collection area and the tool would be sent up to its original place.