ego

We were finally allowed to work with colour in our final project, which was really exciting. But introducing extra elements into your designs might sometimes do more harm than good, so it was important to execute colour selections with proper planning beforehand.

IDEATION

I decided that I wanted to try implementing hand lettering into my pieces. I’m a beginner at hand-lettered typography, but I’ve been obssessed with it for quite some time, so I thought bringing this element into my designs would sum me up perfectly. From there, I thought of the look and feel of the pieces I aimed to produce. I knew I wanted to use pastel hues, because I’m personally drawn to them, and I think they represent my personality to a certain extent — dreamy and gentle.

I’ve always wanted to work with watercolours, and I’ve long admired many watercolour illustrators’ works, so I thought this project would be a good time to push myself. After watching lots of watercolour tutorials on YouTube and Pinning many watercolour illustrations, I experimented with mixing colours and varying the amount of water used, to produce colours of different intensities.

ARTIST REFERENCES

Frannerd

I really like her youthful style, and the way she illustrates her characters to look adorable, and yet not childish. Her use of pastel hues is to die for. I also like how she consistently outlines her illustrations in thin red ink, something I tried to replicate in blue ink, but I ended up abandoning the idea because my lines weren’t clean enough. More of her works can be found here.

Miranda Lorikeet (LAZY BONES)

Her works first caught my eye when I read that she does everything on MS Paint. This reminds me that the tools you have shouldn’t limit you to what you can create. I love the colour combinations used in her compositions, and the way she illustrates her human figures, with soft curves instead of angular lines.

EXECUTION

I was dealing with pale hues, so I couldn’t use a pencil to sketch out my designs on the paper first as the marks would show through the watercolour paint. The biggest challenge for me was to go in with blind faith and illustrate directly with watercolour paint. The fact that I’m not that confident in my drawing skills, and this was my first time trying out watercolour too — RISKY. But I went ahead with it anyway, and overall, I’m quite pleased with the results. I guess I like that I only had one try to get things right, and the imperfections add that human touch.

FINAL WORKS
  1. COMFORT + DAYDREAM = ME

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For my first equation, I picked out two traits that best describes me. Nothing quite makes me happy than feeling comfy and snug. In this case, comfort comes in the form of my favourite food and drinks. I’m also quite a big daydreamer, and I’m often thinking of where I’d like to travel to next or what personal projects to take on once I have time (which is never ⊙︿⊙). These two traits are combined to form my idea of the perfect afternoon — surrounded by tea and biscuits, a good book, and time to let my mind wander.

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COMFORT | I used complementary colours, blue and brown, and kept the rest of the colours pretty pale and neutral, except for a pop of red at the bottom to create some interest. I used brown for the text to look like it was written with coffee.

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DAYDREAM | I used a split-complementary harmony, with greens, blues and pinks.

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ME | I also used split-complementary colours here, with blues, purples and browns (orange). I especially like how the sky in space turned out, with a slightly smoky and mysterious quality.

2. CALM — SELF-DOUBT = A BETTER ME

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For this equation, I thought about my biggest weakness, which will have to be self-doubt. I’m constantly pointing out the negatives in my work or my appearance, and I’ve been trying to stop that. I honestly believe this will be a part of me for the rest of my life, and I suppose some self-doubt can fuel my drive to become a better human being, but it’ll definitely be great if I had more confidence especially in my creative capabilities, so I could stop being so scared about everything. I get nervous and jittery often, so I would love some calmness in my life as well. The result would be a balance of the two. Even though there’s all this negativity in my head, the sun will set everyday, and I can try again tomorrow.

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CALM | I wanted the composition to look serene and gentle, so I used an analogous harmony of soft blues, greens and purples. I drew the letters to look like squishy rubber floats.

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SELF-DOUBT | As this is a negative emotion, I decided to work with monochromatic shades of grey. The scribbles on the hands are all my insecurities and doubts, flowing within me and etched in my mind.

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A BETTER ME | The final photo in this equation is a combination of the two colour schemes, reiterating the balance I mentioned above. I like the contrast it produced.

3. SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE + GREEN FINGERS = AN IDEAL ME

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For my third equation, I thought about my aspirations. I have a great hunger for traveling, and I’ve always wanted to be spontaneous and explore a new, unfamiliar country. In my current situation, with school and other commitments, it’s pretty much impossible, but I still hold that spirit of adventure pretty close to my heart. I also strive (but fail) to be good with plants, and when I have my own place, I hope to have many cactuses at home. In the meantime, I’ll keep learning how to be better with plants from my mum. The end result: to someday go exploring in an exotic location like the desert or rocky mountains.

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SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE | I made use of analagous colours again, with greens, blues and purples.

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GREEN FINGERS | I like using pastel pink and green together (complementary harmony), and the lilac shade for the text goes well with the colour combination.

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AN IDEAL ME | I kept the colours fairly neutral and earthy for most of the picture, except for a warm ombre sky to signify good vibes.

4. ACTIVE + A JOB I LOVE = ME IN 5 YEARS TIME

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for my last equation, I focused on my future plans. Since starting school, I’ve done little to no exercise, and that’s horrid! I’m hoping I can stop making excuses in the near future and keep to a simple but consistent fitness routine. I also hope to be working in a profession I love. There’s nothing that bugs me more than not being able to do enjoy what I do. I came into media and design knowing all too well that it might not make me lots of $$, but the satisfaction from building on my passions and interests is totally worth it. If I could support myself while keeping my passions alive, then I’m all set. The end result would be being able to balance all aspects of my life.

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ACTIVE | I used a vibrant and energetic hue of orange, and selected blue for the people’s clothes to produce a complementary harmony. If I had time, I would have added more figures and made the word ‘active’ bigger and more centralised.

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A JOB I LOVE | This illustration is supposed to look like a close-up shot of a corkboard. I picked a vibrant yellow (like a post-it) for the text, so it’ll stand out from the rest of the muted blues and purples in the composition.

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ME IN 5 YEARS | I stuck mainly with shades of blue, with small accents of yellow in the background.

 

Doing up these compositions was highly tiresome, but I’m really happy that we got to present our work in such a personal way, and this project really made me think hard about how I define myself, and how I strive to be a better version of myself. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know my classmates’ individual styles through this final assignment.