P-004MAKING

KEYBOARD DRAWN BY ME

A birthday gift for my friend.

001

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Project note

A hand-drawn keyboard made as a birthday gift for a friend.

The film follows the drawing process from a blank surface to a finished personal object.

A Meal I Still Owed Him

A close-up of the keyboard shell being covered with hand-drawn characters and lines — Drawing directly onto the keyboard shell.

The story starts with a meal I still owed Teracota for. Simply paying him back felt a little too deliberate—too much like settling a balance and calling it done. His birthday had also come around, and I still had not prepared a gift for him. So I decided to combine the two: the money I owed and a birthday present.

The Keyboard He Mentioned

A hand signing the finished keyboard shell — Signing the finished piece.

I remembered a conversation in which he casually said how nice it would be to have a keyboard of his own. The thought stayed with me. We talked about keyboards a few more times, which gave me a rough sense of what he liked.

The completed hand-drawn keyboard shell with TERACOTA across the center — The completed keyboard, ready to become a gift.

He probably did not realize those conversations were quietly becoming research for a gift. That was when I bought this keyboard.