A couple of weeks ago, I received an assignment to create a photorealistic watch. This was a completely new challenge to me, and the sketching process seemed to be a little useless at first. As I began creating watch parts and figuring out the shapes, sketching became much more useful. 

Sketches 20 through 24 helped a lot in creating the little knob on the side of the watch. I based the shape on those sketches, and built the parts similar to how I sketched them.

This was my first draft on the right. It took me a little while to figure out which watch I would use as a model. I needed to find a watch I liked, and one that had high quality images to study. I settled in a classic Timex watch because I had used one for two years as a missionary in Texas. I lost it recently and thought it would be nice to recreate it. There was still a lot to do. I received feedback on the lugs and it was recommended that I use gradient mesh.

The gradient mesh had a bit of a learning curve, but I thought I'd keep trying. It proved to be a very helpful tool. The gradients I was able to pull from the original picture helped to create smooth, realistic transitions and even helped make the edges look curved.

I searched for the typeface that timex used, but couldn't find it, so I ended up recreating the numbers. I used a lot of guides to get the right shape. It was like using graph paper. I have gained a fond appreciation for guides.

I worked up to the deadline and was really happy with several aspects. There were some aspects I wasn't satisfied with, but all in all, I'm happy with how the text looks when it's small. 

Here's the final watch with everything highlighted. You can see there was a lot that I put into this thing. There's still a lot more that I would like to put into it.

This is the final watch. I feel like I accomplished the goal of making a photorealistic watch, at least at a small size or when I squint. The leather still needs some work, and there are some reflections I would like to add. The colors aren't quite there, and the straps have some issues, but all in all, I feel proud of what I've accomplished.