Art Production for Jeff Davis • Office Impart, Berlin, 2026
Mechanical Drawings is a generative series by Jeff Davis that connects digital artworks with large-format physical colour pencil drawings executed by a plotter. The compositions are based on grids of colour mixtures generated from a defined palette. In the physical works, these mixtures are translated into cross-hatched lines, with the density of each colour determining its contribution to the final blend. The digital artwork contains the composition and instructions required to execute its physical counterpart.
Background
The story of Mechanical Drawings began in 2025, when Jeff and Sofie first met during the Digital Art Mile in Basel. At the time, Sofie was showing the Studio’s new drawing machine, while Jeff had been conducting his own experiments with linear drawing techniques using graphite pencils and a plotter.
In February 2026, Jeff visited Uncorporated Studio in Zurich for an initial period of research and development. Over several days, they‘ve conducted material studies and investigated how the colour structures generated by Jeff’s algorithm could be translated into mechanically drawn lines. These early studies focused on the relationship between line density, drawing direction, layering and the resulting optical mixtures. They established the material and technical foundation for the subsequent production of the series.
Studio Work
Jeff developed the generative system, compositions and component SVG files used to operate the plotter. The Studio’s contribution focused on developing the physical drawing process and establishing a reliable method for translating these digital instructions into large-format coloured-pencil works.
A substantial part of this work involved iterative testing and fine-tuning of the machine processes. Drawing parameters were adjusted to maintain consistent line and colour quality across the complete surface, while the production workflow was developed to support long, uninterrupted drawing sessions. Particular attention was given to the automated pencil-sharpening routine. Because the pencils gradually become dull during use, changes in the condition of the tip can affect both the width and intensity of the plotted lines. The sharpening process was developed and integrated into the drawing workflow so that the machine could maintain the pencils automatically throughout production.
The drawing order and direction were optimized to improve colour uniformity and reduce the visible effects of pencil wear. This required determining how thousands of individual lines should be sequenced so that the work remained coherent while the machine completed the drawing as efficiently and reliably as possible.
Each drawing requires approximately ten hours of continuous plotter operation. The finished works measure 56 × 76 cm and are produced with Caran d’Ache Pablo coloured pencils on 300 gsm Fabriano Artistico paper.
Presentation
The first ten works from Mechanical Drawings were presented at Office Impart in Berlin from 9 June to 3 July 2026. The physical drawings were shown alongside their relationship to the corresponding digital works on Art Blocks.
Across the series, the mathematically precise blends of the digital compositions encounter the material behaviour of pencil and paper. Pigment is deposited unevenly, pencil tips change as they are used, and the texture of the paper becomes part of the resulting image. The production process brings these characteristics into the work while retaining the underlying logic and structure generated by the algorithm.
Sources
Mechanical Drawings — Project on Art Blocks About Mechanical Drawings — Jeff DavisJeff Davis: Mechanical Drawings — Office Impart, with text by Peter Bauman
Image Credits Studio and process photography: Uncorporated Studio
Exhibition views: Courtesy of Office Impart
Artwork images: Courtesy of Jeff Davis