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Now that we have all the jobs and their essences figured out, time to piece them all together!

 

1. Candy Chemist

Tanya, testube; both start with the letter ‘t’. What a coincidence, it must be fate.

I started off with a test tube rack as a base for the ‘T’, giving it a wooden texture to mimic the real thing.

 

Next up is the testube. I couldn’t find one of the right shape and angle that was also available in high resolution, so drawing it out with the pen tool was the next best thing. I added some reflective streaks on a translucent base to make it more glass like.

 

 

Now, for the content. To show the candy part of this, I gave the liquid inside the test tube a candy cane look.

 

 

It looked alright, but a little flat, so I masked a caramel swirl-ish pattern over it, adjusting the translucency a little so as not to cover the candy cane pattern.

 

 

I like how the test tube turned out, especially since you can see through it like actual glass.

 

 

For the ‘M’, I used a beaker as the base, using the same technique I used for the test tube.

 

 

I then gave its content a pink base, and then an ice cream texture (yes, ice cream is a kind of candy because it’s sweet and yeessssss).

 

 

 

I also added a tube to the ‘M’ for added candy flare. I used the paintbrush tool to get out the line of the tube. Next, I outlined it to covert it into a shape. Then I use the knife tool to segment the tube before colouring it like an unrolled rainbow lollipop.

 

 

And with that, I added shadows, a stone table, like that of a kitchen island, and simple wall texture for the background.

 

 

2. Firefly Mechanic

By using the pen tool and creating shapes, adjusting their structure as I went, I used the build of a firefly for the base of my ‘T’,

 

 

and where the glowing butt should be, I replaced it with a light bulb.

 

 

Just like a firefly’s butt, this light butt (whoops, I meant bulb) should also glow, so I duplicated the shape of the bulb and gaussian-blurred it to give it that effect.

 

 

Lastly, I added some gears to its back for a mechanical look.

 

 

As for the ‘M’, I gave it a side profile of a firefly as the base, starting off with gears as the mid-point. I also added the back legs and attached them to the gears.

 

 

 

The upper part of the firefly body was then added, the front legs being straight as to resemble the legs of a LED light.

 

 

 

The same steps were applied to the LED to give it a glowing effect.

 

 

Finally, for the background, I added a blueprint texture, and to make it look less flat, I created a vignette that better frames the initials.

 

 

3. Secret Stasher

For this piece, I wanted to try using traditional media. I used a black piece of paper and gold and silver pens and markers. I chose black paper to bring out the feeling of secrecy; hiding in the dark. The gold and silver are shiny and give that metallic look of locks and keys.

The two initials are mainly made out of keys, locks, and red wax, and the M is positioned on a black safe box that is chained up with black chains (so as to not overpower the other brighter colors).

 

 

I also used a white pen to create highlights on the keys, locks, and chains, enhancing the metallic texture of it.

 

 

 

As for the red wax, I used a chinese marker to colour it in, I had to colour the area with the gold marker first, otherwise the red wouldn’t be as vibrant as it should be.

 

 

Once all the drawing and colouring was done, I scanned it so that I could give it a texture using Photoshop. I used a collage or articles from magazines as the texture, because magazines have a lot of gossip, but in this case, the gossip is being kept secret and safe.

 

 

I also tweaked the colours, saturation, and levels a little to make the final image darker and more vibrant, balancing the exposures of the drawing and texture.

 

 

4. Tear Stain Remover

Traditional media was used for this piece too, mainly watercolours. I started off by drawing out the initials and covering the with tape to prevent the watercolours from staining them. I used an xacto knife to cut away the access tape along the edges of each initial for a more precise outline.

 

 

Peeling away the tape was quite satisfying 🙂

 

 

After that I continued using watercolours to paint the insides of each initials; yellow for the sponge and pink for the squeegee. Both these colours are generally more on the positive side, yellow being positivity and pink being tenderness. I then outlined the initials with a thin marker to define the lines lost under the paint.

 

 

For slight effect, I added a little bit of dripping blue watercolours below the area cleared by the squeegee, making sure to cover the cleaned area with tape again.

 

 

I scanned this one too, and for its texture, I added a picture of crystalised tears viewed from under a microscope. The image I got was that of tears of grief.

 

 

 

After that, I proceeded to edit the colours and all again.

 

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Ever thought of a weird job that you want which also doesn’t exist?

Me neither, but I now have four of ’em.

For this project, all of us have come up with new and interesting jobs, extract the essence of them, and infuse that with a name or initials that represent us.

So, here are the four jobs I’ve thought of for myself:

1. Candy Chemist

 

 

I’m sure there’s a job like this in the real world, but ‘Candy Chemist’ probably isn’t the correct term.

Anywho, by my interpretation, I feel that the essence of a candy chemist would include items like test tubes, beakers, colourful liquids, and of course, morsels of sugary goodness.

 

 

For the font, I feel a serif one would reflect the seriousness of a chemist, and I want to try making it look semi-realistic through the use of textures and masking.

 

 

 

2. Firefly Mechanic

 

 

I’ve never seen a firefly in real life, so this job would be the perfect opportunity to shed some light on how their glowing butts work.

To show the mechanic side of this job, I picked out, circuits, blueprints, and gears as the main key elements.

 

 

As for the firefly part, all I could think of was their glowing butts, so, light bulbs and LEDs.

 

 

For the texts, I want to try going for a 2D vector style (simplistic and flat like a blueprint), and add layers for the various ‘components’ of a firefly.

 

 

3. Secret Stasher

 

 

When told a secret, I manage pretty well in not divulging it to the world. I keep them all to myself in a little safe, locked up nicely for added security.

This secured stash of secrets can be boiled down to items such as safe boxes, locks, keys, chains, and wax seals.

 

 

For the font, elements such as the keys and locks will be merged together to form the letters (not just arranging them as they are, but distorting them a little to fir the shape of the letter).

 

 

4. Tear Stain Remover

 

 

As much as possible, when a friend of mine is down and need some comfort, I’ll be their listening ear and try to cheer them up. They may have cried, but I’ll fight water with water and wash away those tears.

Obviously, cleaning is a big part of this job, so a few of the essential items would be sponges, squeegees, bubbles, and water.

 

 

 

 

 

My first instinct was to do this piece using watercolours, and the fonts will be in a cartoon-ish style.

 

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G̨̛͕̭̻̜̱̮̗̀̔̎͐͊̃̃͂̕͜ͅ

Ļ̙͉̘̩̞̘̺̦̤̒͌̅͛̈́̊͑̕͝͠

i̢̯̝̙̥̼̱̝̤͑͗̏͒̂̾̍̅͐̕͜

t͍̫̼̣̪͉͉̱̖̤͆̅̓͒͒͗̀̾̔͂

Ç̢̲̼̤̙͍̖̎̓̾͑͋͒̓̚͘͜͜͝

 

ẖ̢͖͇̥͖̠̫̥̌͗̏̋̂̌̊̒̅͜͝

 

Today, we learned how to create glitches in images, and this is a glitched portrait of myself. With four people in a group, we took turns editing and distorting one another’s portraits.

Since everyone could edit each photo as they pleased, there’s no way for the subject to control the process or know what the final image would look like. This mini-project is somewhat similar to a Do-It-With-Others (DIWO); There is a lack of control on the creation of the glitched image as everyone is free to edit, warp, and distort the portrait, working together to create the artwork.

For this portrait, it gets grainier and more distorted as it goes through each group member, but up till the second last image, we can still make out the outline of the hand and other elements. The last edit, however, with the enlarged cells, makes the portrait completely unrecǫ̴̢͇̙͓͕̲̳͂̂̊̏͞͡ͅgnisable. If anything, we can only make out the dark patch in the bottom-right corner to be my jeans.

Overall, I think this glitch could be improved (ironically, considering how I used to think that glitches were mostly accidental errors), by making the finally product retain certain key visuals, like the hand, while keeping the distorted look.

Nonetheless, no one has full control over the outcome of each portrait, and that’s alright;

it simulates the interesting inconș̸̪̖̻̳̾̓́̋̉͊͟͜͡i͔͔̺̱̍̉̍͆̌̾̇̕͜s̴̨͔͙͚̼̖̣̩̅̉̿͂̃͋̎̏͘͟ṯ̨̠̟̩̠̪̬̦͋́̉̿̀̈̄͞͡é̡̨͔̲̗͈̟̰̝̗̔͆̂͌̆͌̕͠ṋ̡̨̛͇̼͔͎̐̑̎̓̄̏͂͊č̩̠̤̱̞̿͂̎̌͡į̷̢̰̰͚̜̖̬͛̊̀͑̇͞e̷͚̘͓̯̖͈̥͂͂̍͐͗̔̉͐̅͢͝s̛̭͚̞̱̗̝̗̹̤͗͂͒̑̃̕̚͟ ĉ͕̩͙͈̩̪̃̊̀͂̕a̪̮͖͈̺̜̍͛̀̏͌̑́̕͘u͍̣͉̰̞͉̹͈̍́̾̃̅͐̀ṡ̢̧̮̺̤̞̰͐̄̍̍͑̕̚͞͞ͅe̵̡͓̼̩̥̪͑̿̍͑͌̐̃͟͡d̶͍̣̳̺̘̗̀͊̂͊̆̍͝ b̡̧̪̯̜̼͚̯̼̈͑́̆̀̆̂̿͢y̷̨̟̰͉͍̳͑͗̓̓̔͐̆ g̨̱̟̥̩͉̃͒̎͒̑l̵̮̪͍̣̫̃̾͛̌̄̓͡͞i̛͎̺̦̪̝̎̈́́͂͡͞t̷̡̟̮̪̠̳̘̙̐͌̈́̇̎́͘͘͝c̡͓͓̱͔̈̊̈̎͂̀̚͝h̸͕̹͓̦̫̹͕̭̜̏̌̋̐̀̄̔͑͠͝į̤̞̜̼̃̊̾͑͊̆́̾͝͞ͅn̴̛̬͓̥͚̮̈̅͑̀̈g͖̯͍̼̰͚̹͊͌̌̂̾͋̎̂̏͢.̶̢͔̮̗͉̺͑̈͒͟͞͠ͅ

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For this mini-project, done on Facebook live, my team experimented with the concept of a third space to show a day in a life of a normal girl.

 

To describe the third space, I would say it is a combination of both the physical and virtual platforms; like a bridge that connects these two platforms, allowing for people to interact with one another, regardless of the physical distance between them. It challenges “the limitation imposed by physical boundaries (between countries and bodies)”. Likewise for our mini-project, we were tasked to create a video on Facebook live, one of the requirements being that we have to film in different locations.

 

Despite not being able to talk face-to-face to one another, the boundaries of the third space collapsed through the fact that we were able to get a real-time reactions from one another. For example, one side of the scene in the video shows the girl crumpling a piece of paper and throwing it over her shoulder.

On one side of the screen, we see a hand crumpling the paper before it moves up towards the camera and out of frame.

Consecutively, on the other side, we see the girl throw a paper ball over her shoulder. This shows that despite the boundaries of not being physically side by side, we were still able to synchronize our actions on the third space.

 

Furthermore, intimacy can be created through the third space by making the viewers and even the participants think that this platform is real. As stated by Randall Packer in his article The Third Space, “The third space is a fluid matrix of potentiality and realizable connections to the most far-reaching remoteness.” In this case, the similarity and coordination of our movements on each side of the live video created the illusion that both videos were taken in the same place of the same person, just from two different perspectives. Having to react in real-time during the feed also forms a sense of connection between us as participants in the video, although there was a significant amount of distance between us.

 

Aside from the crushed up paper being thrown over the shoulder, there is another scene where the girl reaches over to close her laptop.

While watching this portion again, I felt as though I was really closing the laptop by myself, when in actuality, there was nothing in front of me to even touch, and that Joey was the one who had the laptop in front of her. This is an example of how the third space fuses the real and virtual worlds together to create a platform that allows is to connect to one another, whether we are physically far apart or not. The real-time aspect of it further strengthens this illusion of realness by allowing us to see and hear things live and interact with one another simultaneously.

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For my group’s crowdsourced artwork, we tried using airdrop to gather photographs from random students in ADM, creating a collage of images that give us a glimpse into the the personal lives of strangers around us. Through this project, we wanted to show the common consciousness amongst ADM students.

 

 

 

Unlike traditional art made by a single artist, this project requires the used of an open-source, allowing anyone to send us image via airdrop and vice versa. This is similar to an artwork done by Craig D. Giffen called ‘Human Clock”; a website based artwork that showed the time using the images sent in by participants.

 

This interaction with and contribution from the participants makes them part of the process, as compared to having them just be observers of the final product of a traditional art piece. As Marc Garrett described in his article on Do-It-With-Others, “it challenges and renegotiates the power roles between artists and curators.” Likewise, in this project, participants were allowed to send us any picture they wanted, we would not have full control over what the end product would look like.

Unfortunately, the project was unsuccessful, mainly because it was conducted in an uncontrolled environment, where we faced higher chances of our invitation to strangers to participate via airdrop being rejected or ignored.

Nonetheless, we learned from this experience that it is better to start off with a controlled environment, such as in-class, where participation from classmates is guaranteed, before stepping out to get strangers to participate.