GUEST ARTIST: “Simple And Efficient Sketches Of Life” by Agus Ramdani

Hi, my name is Agus Ramdani. I was born and live in Bogor, Indonesia. My social media name is Aagoziemas/AR Goziemasthu, a little bit of a Japanese name. The story behind the name is because of my hobby of drawing, especially Japanese cartoons. I prefer Japanese cartoons to other countries’ cartoons because it has many tricks and techniques in its simple and efficient presentation, along with maximum story value.

My preference toward Japanese cartoons does not make me good at drawing figures. Even today, I cannot draw a good figure, yeah that’s awkward. I see Japanese film from other perspective such as setting view, social life, and its environment.

From these points of view, I see the uniqueness, the busy life, the crowded traffic, the slum areas because of the limitation of the land. I learned a lot, though I have not visited Japan yet. I apply this simplicity and practical technique here.

The amazing thing about Japan is its thrive in architecture, yet keeping the simplicity and efficiency, because of the limitation of natural resources. This is the reason I am interested in architecture as the gate to see the phenomenon of the world around us and learn a lot about environment, society, humanity and buildings. I took architectural classes at Pancasila University, Indonesia and I now work in the field of architecture. Also I am doing my hobby which is sketching, especially the environment.

Trees, pedestrians, rivers, stones, bridges, markets, vehicles, heritage buildings, slum areas, narrow alleys, etc, are the preferred objects. These objects tell many stories and move very fast from our view. The fast movement challenges me to record the life phenomenon. Sketching brings me relaxation, and I enjoy every line that I draw on the paper.

I am not a painter, I am a sketcher and that is the reason I do sketches on the spot not in a studio. There are times I sketch by using photos, but in the process I find many obstacles. It is hard to draw line by line, since I do not get the chemistry with the atmosphere of the environment. When it happens, I will come to the spot to feel the warmth of the sun, the blow of the wind, the environment. By doing so, I am involved with the spot and I am able to draw the lines when I get back to the studio. It is weird….but it is art.

Back to the principle of “simple and effective.” I always apply this in the selection of the media used, materials, and tools. I choose obtainable and reasonable tools. I try to maximize my design. Until now, I use only a drawing pen and paint color. The emphasis of my sketches is the lines, whereas color is just there to emphasize the theme I am delivering or just to set the material.

I do sketching by ignoring the theory of applying good paint color. I am doing this on purpose to invite my beginner friends not to trap themselves in the election of the material first when constructing a sketch, because it will obstruct them from starting to sketch. They can start by choosing a theme, then draw lines to start their sketches. I can prove that only by using drawing pen and a little color produces the creation of a sketch.

The object of my sketches is mostly my home town, Bogor, Indonesia. There are many stories that I can tell though sketches about my unique city. Through this media, I introduce my hometown, Bogor.

It takes a lot of energy to create a sketch. We will be faced with people, traders, heat of the sun, the election of a good spot, which sometimes limits our terrain motion. Sometimes, we lose the object because they move. Easy to carry, simple and efficient tools are very important to fight the fast movement.

The scope of the object must be fit to the paper media used. Start by deciding the object that is going to be sketched and we can start directly drawing the lines. Next, we can develop the nearby objects. Do the detail in the last session because it takes times and energy.

Never stop reading and observing the creations of masters because by doing so, we can increase our knowledge and enrich our techniques. I love reading the experience and art work of James Richard. He is very concerned about society and very good at locking the spot. I love his technique. The next master I love is a Japanese artist, Masato Watanabe. His artwork is outstanding. He can catch a dramatic situation and draw it with paint color in detail. These are my favorite artists.

Sketching is very helpful for me as an architect. For me, sketching is a way of transferring information about the facts of the environment around us. It brings a message for others to start thinking about environment and organizing a better layout of cities.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Charlie O’Shields for giving me the opportunity to share my writing on Doodlewash.

Agus Ramdani (aagozie)
Instagram
Facebook

Recommended4 recommendationsPublished in Featured Artists