4D project 1:Curating self

I had a very direct approach to this project, But after the presentation I realised the areas I could improve on and I will discuss it later in this post.

Task 1:

For task 1, I was interested in capturing the essence of me,which I feel  translates into my friendships,my love for food and loud bright fun colours and prints. Some of the test shots I took for this task are below.

The picture on the top was taken much too close, resulting in my body being cropped in a stranger manner. The focus would be more on my expression which I was not trying to emphasise in that picture itself.It also did not fully capture the colour range of the pillars as they were too close together and not well aligned.Further,the expression on my face was not as friendly as I would have liked. In the following picture my expression did not match up with the vibes I was going for.However, I did enjoy how extensive the pillars looked in this picture but it was not a focus of mine.The last picture managed to capture the cheery and relaxed feel I was going for from my expression and neutral angle it was taken.Overall, I felt that the long shot showed off the environment and the saturation brought out the colours which was the picture I eventually chose to include in task 1.

Next, I decided to include a picture that expressed my love for food. I captured the intensity of the force at which I was shoving the donut into my mouth, from the facial expression and the frosting being smeared on my face. Therefore, a close up shot would be apt in showing the details of the shot.I also ensured a white background and high exposure to make the colours pop from contrast.Ill discuss the test shots for this picture below.

In the test shot above , the lighting casted a shadow on my face which gave the picture a mysterious and scary effect.Also it defined the bumpiness of the wall behind me which I found to be quite distracting. So I opted for more direct lighting on my face and a simple white wall.

Lastly for task 1, I decided to include a picture of me and my friends.I cropped the picture to minimise distractions.I increased the exposure of the picture  and also darkened the background slightly to draw the viewers to the focal point of the picture.

Task 2:

The object I chose was a donut,because since school started I’ve been eating it regularly because it’s brightly coloured,convenient and not to mention tasty.It was pretty straightforward to me photograph  the donut on a plain white background to bring out its colours,and the details with an extreme close up shot.

The other two pictures I selected for task 2 were pretty similar. I used close up shots to bring the attention to my expression, and a slightly blurred picture as well.I felt that the blurriness made the excitement look more genuine because of the “motion” in that picture.

Task 3:

This is one of the areas in between sunset way and Clementi, which i find myself at very often because of the tranquil, peaceful atmosphere.In the original photos above i felt that the colour of the water was quite unappealing.Thus i added a filter and increased the contrast and saturation to colour correct the water and draw attention to the blue skies as i see blue itself as a very chill relaxing colour.Moreover i think the idea of symmetry added to the sense of balance/calmness.Hence, i selected the picture below as one of the final pictures for task 3.

Next I wanted to close task 3 by trying to capture as much of Clementi as I could. I went to one of my secret hangouts as I felt that it was more authentic to me and it had a high vantage point.I liked the idea of the train track as they lead your eyes down Clementi,taking you through the area.However I wanted a more warm tone to the picture,in this case everything is very blue,cold and rather impersonal.So i took to editing and turned up the warm cast. 

Before:

After:

 

I will move on to the bakery photos..

On the left was one of the test shots, I felt that it was quite impersonal and also there were too many distractions.

This picture was taken in a way where it seems like the viewer is in the bakery itself. I was also lucky enough to capture the owner which gives the picture a human touch as compared to the rest of my photos. The owner is not looking at the camera  which makes it seem casual,as if he’s just doing his day to day activities. The warm glow emphasises the cozy nature of the bakery and adds a “nostalgic” effect.The long-shot aided in capturing more of the environment and the shelves are lined up to give the photo more stability.

As mentioned in the introduction,improvements can be made, especially in task 3. I feel that i could’ve gone more in depth into bakery itself as opposed to me taking pictures of various areas in my estate.For example,I only noticed the alter placed onto of the shelves due to the test shots, despite religiously visiting this bakery since childhood.I thought it gave off a rather spooky vibe because of the soot accumulating on the celling and the bright red light which makes it slightly unusual compared to the environment of the bakery itself. A low angle would have captured the dark soot and also made the statue of the god look more daunting.Also one of my favourites from the bakery was the pandan chiffon cake because of its bright green colour and soft fluffy texture.Placing it on a red background would have brought out the green and the texture would be emphasised with an extreme close up shot.

Scaling & Framing

Today i was told to take photos of my partner which best represented the attributes that i liked about them.Out of twelve shots i had to select the best three, which are below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I felt that Esther had a shy and quirky character which can be seen in the first picture because of her pose.It was a candid picture so i thought it was more genuine.

In the second picture Esther has a friendly expression so a close up shot with minimal distractions in the background, would be apt in showing the details in her facial expression.Also the angle of the picture is eye level, to maintain the friendly nature of the picture.

In the third picture i was trying to capture esthers confident and mysterious side.I decided to photograph her silhouette leaving out details of her emotion and facial features. A low angle made her look more powerful and confident.i felt that with the sky and the greenery in the background it contrasted well with the black silhouette making it stand out more.

One of the challenges i faced was the lack of experience using a DSLR camera.I was taught how to manually focus on an object and adjusting the iso to the appropriate level(around 1600).Since i sort of know the basics of using a camera, practising would be much easier.

An interesing object & 3D sketch model

An interesting object- Clipper lighter

In this post ill combine what ive learnt/documented from the past two lessons Firstly i will talk about my interesting object, this clipper lighter.

.

Originally, i thought it was interesting because i liked the contrast in the colours and material,orange/silver and metal/silicone respectively.Also because it was symmetrical from most angles.However, after the lesson i realized i was not observant enough it showed me a new way to look at a products design.The images below shows what ive learnt so far,

Legend: Dominant (D )subdomninant(SD) subordinate(SO)

The orange part is the largest part taking up nearly 75% of the product is known as dominant,while the silver area is about 25% making it the subdominant and lastly the clipper logo makes up about <10% of the product making it the subordinate feature.The metal part is roughly 1/4 of the total size,which means it does not follow the rule of thirds. However i still find my lighter very aesthetically pleasing.Lines of symmetry exists in all angles except for the side view. I also noticed from the side view is that if the part that juts out was another colour it could be considered a SD feature as well.From the top view a negative void is seen as labeled in the picture above.When viewed from the bottom theres no SD only a D and SO as there are only two visible features.

3D sketch model analysis

In the following exercise, i drew the word “void”,so i had to somehow express that by using 3 boxes also known as a 3D sketch,keeping in mind that all three boxes should be visible regardless of the angle its viewed at.I used foam to replace the boxes that i didnt have as some were too big to be the subdominant part or some were too small to be considered subordinate.i had to use the foam cutter to size my boxes accordingly. The method to nice clean cuts is to push the foam against the metal frame supporting it with a gentle but firm pressure at a steady pace. Wedging,cradling and piercing were some techniques i learnt and applied to improve the arrangement of the boxes which also helped me visualize my own and my classmates’ 3D sketches in many other ways. The results are below.

I tried to express void by making the negative voids in both sketches  as large as possible and also to find a way to incorporate it in all angles.The sketch on the left illustrates more of a cluster of contrasting volumes whereas the one on the right displays more similar shapes.In certain angles you can see the contrast between the sizes of the negative voids depicted by the green and red markings in the diagram below.I also decided to mark out the voids from all angles of both the 3d sketches so they can be viewed as a whole.The dominant,subdominant and subordinate features of both the 3D sketches are apparent and all three boxes for each sketch are visible from every angle.

This is what I’ve got so far and have documented(as much of the process as i could).I feel that even though my 3D sketch models demonstrates the word “void” ,some further improvements can  be made.For example ,since i already attempted to show the rule of thirds in my sketch, try incorporating maybe “mirror” to give it an interesting touch.

Artist research-Sol Lewitt and Agnes Martin

Sol Lewitts wall painting-“scribbles”

Background on artist

Sol Lewitt is an American minimalist artist whose working years were from the   1960’s to early 2000’s. His art comprised of lines,basic shapes and simplified colours. Lewitt’s 2D and 3D work ranges from outdoor installations, wall drawings to sculptures.

Practice & style

Image result for sol lewitt scribbles

Sol LeWitt – Scribbles

Sol’s wall paintings were mainly executed in graphite directly on to the surfaces of large walls. His series of ‘scribble’ wall drawings, so termed because they required the draftsmen (he usually had assistants to put his art together for him as he felt that each person had a different perspective/understanding on drawing lines) to fill in areas of the wall by scribbling with graphite. The scribbling was done at six different densities to create an illusion of a gradient and depth, which gives his 2D work a 3D tone. Although the scribbling looks rather random and chaotic,they were drawn according to an exacting set of guidelines,to give the final outcome a consistent, well put together look when viewed from afar.

Take aways

I found it interesting how there is a “system to the madness” type feel to his work. When viewed from up close, the details are very apparent- the messy, almost random curvilinear lines. When viewed from afar, you are able to see the big picture,the gradient effect, which looks orderly and simple, Both of which evoke completely different emotions in me.This gave me exposure on the various ways I can express different emotions through mark making in a piece of art.

Cai Guo-Qiangs gunpowder drawings

Background on artist

Cai guo-Qiang was born in China that was formerly a calligrapher and traditional painter.He was exposed to western literature and traditional Chinese art forms as he spent worked at a bookstore. He grew up in a setting where explosions were common, Therefore, he used gunpowder as his medium to create art.

Practice&style

Image result for cai guo qiangs gunpowder drawings

http://www.artandsciencejournal.com/post/38981362625/cai-guo-qiang-gunpowder-drawings-wan-hu-was-a

Cai Guo-Qiang: Gunpowder Drawings

http://www.artandsciencejournal.com/post/38981362625/cai-guo-qiang-gunpowder-drawings-wan-hu-was-a

Cai initially began working with gunpowder drawings to foster spontaneity and confront the suppressive, controlled artistic tradition in China. While living in Japan, Cai explored the properties of gunpowder in his drawings, which eventually led to his experimentation with explosives on a massive scale and the development of his signature “explosion events”. When he ignites his work,it gives the feeling of tension and release-due to the amount of planning and labour it took to produce his art, and it makes his work like a “performance” per se.

Takeaways

Cai has incorporated western and Asian elements in his artwork,which gives his art an interesting touch because you would not typically expect an artist to use gunpowder as a medium to be used in traditional Chinese art. When i think of gunpowder i immediately think “destruction”, but his works have shown the opposite.By using gunpowder, he created works of art. This gave me more insight on how i can incorporate various cultures and mediums to make my own work more exciting.