This exercise probably lasted the longest, even though the actual progress was relatively less. I had to draw a lot but only about 20% of the work ended up being visually productive. As instructed in the exercise description I tried drawing various items from the 1950s to better understand the mood and general design of the setting. This is especially involved drawing a lot of clothes and furniture. For clothes I looked up formal and informal clothes from the 1950s, for both kids and adults, and ended up drawing these without reference, i.e., after a couple of attempts with reference. I tried my hand at shoes too, but I didn’t really have much trouble with them. Another highlight was understanding the furniture and interiors, something way beyond my comfort zone, but something I really enjoyed working on.

This was one of the better sketches.

I eventually got down to making the final image which involved basically creating a room with a bunch of things you’d see in the 1950s with a person sitting in the middle of it. I used a lot of what I remembered from the movie “Back to the Future” where the protagonist from 1985 travels back in time to the 1950s to unite his parents and save his scientist friend from being shot by terrorists, and eventually return to the future. The movie, for the most part, uses a lot of 50s aesthetics and technology. But I was mainly paying attention to the living room, particularly the television. I guess I took a bit of inspiration from the late web-series, the Queen’s Gambit, which is set partially in the 50s.

This was the image I ended up with. I even included a 50s movie poster on the wall behind the man.