Ego equations

I was really excited to start on this project as we were free to use any medium to interpret our equations. It took a bit of time to consider what I wanted to include because…there’s just so much that makes me, me.

To be honest, it was all a bit of a mess when it came to planning… evidently

and the mess just grew and grew…

But the end was perfect, I am very proud of what I’ve accomplished

This equation is me, represented by paper outfits.
At times I’m a colorful mess, though I am am also super particular about structure and order, therefore my end product is a series of origami dresses(which I would totally wear) flying on a pegged line.

I chose origami because it represents a series of orderly steps which I really need most of the time, yet the prints celebrate my love for color and patterns.

Inspiration: Morgana Wallace

BETTER ME
I’m really scared of lots of things and sometimes it can be an impediment for me to go out and try new things. To be a better me, I would like to be a braver person, like the song goes

“Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl
Frozen in the headlights
…
I must become a lion hearted girl
Ready for a fight”

For an adventurous spirit, I used Suzy Bishop as a symbol as I really liked her in Moonrise kingdom. I feel that she best represents an unrestrained adventurer with a few quirks I can identify with. I included her iconic binoculars and suitcase.

For the second image I used a color gradient to show the depth of the pool. I chose to paint in primary colors on a dark background to make it pop.

Inspiration:

Suzy Bishop-Moonrise Kingdom

Rabbit heart- Florence + the Machine

The Lion King

IDEAL ME
I’ve always wanted to be a farmer, to plant things or dreams, good thoughts and friendships and watch them grow. I also really want to be a tree, to grow where I’m planted, confidently at my own pace. The only thing that would make this journey of planting and growing more meaningful, is to be able to share it with others.

Elements used:
Construction paper, tissue paper, clay, acrylic paint

Inspiration:

Katie Sokoler
Night gardening- http://colormekatie.blogspot.sg/2012/03/night-gardening.html
Pop-up garden- http://colormekatie.blogspot.sg/2012/06/pop-up-garden.html

ME IN 5 YEARS

In 5 years time I would like to marry my love for craft and baking into something or rather someplace that I can earn a living with.

Inspiration:

Color study

1. Complementary colors
Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are considered to be complementary colors. The high contrast of complementary colors creates a vibrant look especially when used at full saturation. However this color scheme must be managed well so it would not be jarring.

Complementary colors are tricky to use in large doses, but work well when you want something to stand out.

Eg: Orange and blue

2. Analogous colors
Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match well and create serene and comfortable designs. Analogous color schemes are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

Choose one color to dominate, a second to support. The third color is used (along with black, white or gray) as an accent.

Eg: Yellow, blue, Green

3. Triadic colors
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel. Triadic color harmonies tend to be quite vibrant, even if you use pale or unsaturated versions of your hues. To use a triadic harmony successfully, the colors should be carefully balanced – let one color dominate and use the two others for accent.

Eg: Red, Blue, Yellow

4. Split-complementary colors
The split-complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme. In addition to the base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to its complement. This color scheme has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less tension. The split-complementary color scheme is often a good choice for beginners, because it is difficult to mess up.

Eg: Pink, Orange, Green

5. Tetradic colors
The rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses four colors arranged into two complementary pairs. This rich color scheme offers plenty of possibilities for variation. The tetradic color scheme works best if you let one color be dominant. There should be a balance between warm and cool colors in your design.

Eg: Pink, blue, orange, green

6. Square colors
The square color scheme is similar to the rectangle, but with all four colors spaced evenly around the color circle. The square color scheme works best if you let one color be dominant. You should also pay attention to the balance between warm and cool colors in your design.

Eg: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green

Color you color me

/Red/
Courage, strength, warmth, energy, stimulation, masculinity, excitement, aggression, visual impact

/Orange/
Physical comfort, warmth, security, sensuality, passion, abundance, fun, frustration

/Pink/

Physical tranquillity, nurture, warmth, femininity, love

/Yellow/
Optimism, confidence, extraversion, friendliness, creativity

/Brown/
Seriousness, warmth, nature, earthiness, reliability, support, heaviness

/Blue/

Intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, coolness, reflection, calm, aloofness, unfriendliness

/Green/
Harmony, balance, refreshment, rest, restoration, reassurance, equilibrium, peace

/Purple/
luxury, authenticity, truth, quality, decadence
/Grey/
Neutral, dampness, depression, lack of energy

/Black/
Sophistication, glamour, security, oppression, coldness, menace, heaviness

/White/
Hygiene, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanness, simplicity, sophistication, coldness, barriers, elitism

Reinterpreting rhymes

Project Brief:
Giving nursery rhymes a new facelift

For this project I decided to stick to one rhyme: Hey diddle diddle

Here’s how the rhyme goes

Hey diddle diddle, the cat & the fiddle
The cow jumped over the moon
The little dog laughed to see such a sport
& the dish ran away with the spoo

There are many ways to interpret this seemingly nonsensical rhyme, and countless analysis have been made to which what each item represents. However I’ve to take the rhyme at face value with its wonderful childish order and shake it up in terms of the arrangement rather than the meaning.

FINAL IMAGES

#1. Hey diddle diddle, the cat & the fiddle

For this image, I took my inspiration from the traditional portuguese tiles.

I love the symmetry and how replicating it would create new patterns. Using the different motifs creates textures to the otherwise flat image. The arrangement of objects creates new rhythms and lines which creates visual interest.

#2. The cow jumped over the moon

My inspiration came from the rose windows frequently used in gothic cathedrals.

The concentric nature of the image draws the eyes towards the image, having the motifs decrease in size from the outer rim to the middle also reinforces the effect.

In hindsight, I would have made the area outside the circle black, to create a greater contrast between the image and the background.

#3. The little dog laughed to see such a sport

For this image, I wanted to have a “pop art” feel, with the main motif as the foreground and a pattern for the background

Shirley commented that a mid-ground would make the picture more complete, therefore I used the bones to emulate laughter/sound lines.

#4. And the dish ran away with the spoon

I had no particular source of inspiration for this image, but the idea was to use shapes to create a landscape. The shapes used are actually facial features of a smiley face, introducing some expression to the otherwise faceless characters (dish + spoon). Perhaps the entire image read as a whole would look like the dish & spoon ran away rather gleefully rather than in fear.

RUNNER UPS

The other images that didn’t make the cut

I didn’t fancy this as there was too much negative space. What I did try to do with this image was to use motifs that signified the characters rather than the picture of the actual characters (cat / fiddle)

The contrast between the jumping figure and the heavily detailed images made the entire picture inharmonious and kind of distracting, as if they were two separated images merged together.

Similarly, I wanted the bones to be used as expressive lines, but this might have been too ambitious; the entire image looks too cluttered.

I really liked this image, but I decided to chose the image with the background as the hemp texture gave it a picnic-y feel. This image has less warmth in my opinion as the backdrop is white and stark.

Principles of design

#1. Line
– – – Horizontal
||| Vertical
\\\ Diagonal
_ _ _Straight
) ) ) Curved
~~~ Wavy
. . . Dotted
— Thick
— Thin

#2. Shape
2D

Geometric
█▲⬡■♢

Organic
♧☁♤☂♡

#3. Form
3D

Geometric

Organic

#4. Color
Used to generate emotions, define importance, create visual interest and more
CMYK {Cyan/ Magenta/ Yellow is subtractive
RGB is additive

Monsieur Horizontal & Madame Verticale, Olimpia Zagnoli

#5. Texture
The feel, appearance, thickness or stickiness of a surface

#6. Space
The area around, within, or between images or parts of an image. Positive and negative space/

We are all Sixteen, Olimpia Zagnoli

#7. Value
The lightness or darkness of an image

Olimpia Zagnoli

#8. Rhythm
The use of recurring elements to direct the eye through the image; the way the elements are organized to lead the eye to the focal area.

Internazionale, Olimpia Zagnoli

#9. Contrast
The juxtaposition of different elements of design in order to highlight their differences and create visual interest or a focal point

Monsieur Horizontal & Madame Verticale, Olimpia Zagnoli

#10. Proportion
The relationship between objects with respect to size, number, and so on, including the relation between parts of a whole.

The fox is Black, Olimpia Zagnoli

#11. Balance
A feeling of balance results when the elements of design are arranged symmetrically or asymmetrically to create the impression of equality in weight or importance.

How reading transforms us, Olimpia Zagnoli

#12. Harmony
The arrangement of elements to give the viewer the feeling that all the parts of the piece form a coherent image.

LA REPUBBLICA, Olimpia Zagnoli

The dot that walked & walked

I began the ideating process by drawing out mind maps that included the meanings of the words, as well as certain experiences I associate with the word.

After accumulating various ideas, I proceeded to begin my experimentation process for each word. For this assignment I’ve stuck to acrylic paint.

Experimentation & Process

——–

^Initial ideas

Final work

1.Aggressive

Definition/association
CROWS

Inspirations

The Story
To me, crows are the very embodiment of the word ‘Aggressive’. I was attacked by a crow as a kid and had developed a fear of birds since then. The feeling of the the crow’s claws on my scalp is something I’ll never forget.

The most nightmarish situation for me, would be being caught in the middle on a whole pack of crows (or any crazy carnivorous birds…) and that is why my final interpretation shows vicious beaks from all four corners, congregating in the middle; expressing the same aggression of birds circling around their prey in the air, before swooping down to catch them.

Initially I tried experimenting with the claws of a venus fly trap, but it was rather difficult to translate the aggressiveness of the carnivorous plant into lines. After multiple attempts I decided to work on another idea and picked the crows instead.

2.Ambiguous

Definition/association
Uncertainty, new beginnings

Inspirations

The story
In times of ambiguity, new beginnings- such as a new season of life (SCHOOL), I tend to adopt a hesitant attitude towards things and people. Often I find myself being overly cautious, testing waters time and time again-a little like how the ripple effect never really stops, it just spreads.

Therefore I’ve chosen the ripple, caused by a literal testing of waters to represent this emotion. Funny how this piece looks surprisingly calm and peaceful, as if a picture of serenity when in reality, being ambiguous brings me no peace at all.

3.Anxious

Definition/association
Biting fingernails

The story
I was a very shy child, so incredibly shy was I that my teachers were irritated by my lack of participatory spirit in class. I’d get very anxious when I was called out in class, and thus developed a terrible habit of biting my nails.

Initially I had used the jagged moon-shape of badly bitten fingernails to depict ‘Anxious’ but after discussing with Shirley, I thought it better to translate it into a fluid line, slowly descending as my anxiety issues decreased overtime. Also, the previous idea looked like a wrapping paper print..

My very first idea was to draw a whole row of hands in the posture of prayer, for that is what I do when I am anxious. Instead of expressing anxiety, it looked like a peaceful line so that idea got scrapped!

4.Awkward

Definition/association
Stuttering

Inspirations

The story
Awkward & Embarrassment are two emotions that are very closely linked, usually when I am in an awkward situation, I would very like embarrass myself-not a pretty sight.

I wanted to capture the essence of awkwardness of a stutterer, and thought best to so as music beats. To ensure that my square mind would not create overly regular lines, I listened to videos of stutterers speaking and increased the number of strokes when they stuttered.

5.Bizarre

Definition/association
Tim Burton, Edward Gorey, Pan’s Labyrinth

Inspirations

I love the illustrations of Tim Burton & Edward Gorey, they are to me bizarre and strangely intriguing. The word ‘Bizarre’ also reminded me of the film Pan’s Labyrinth which I caught on the plane, it was a little grotesque but I loved it. The most captivating character was the pale man, with his detachable eyeballs. I decided to use various eyeballs as motifs, tilting them at an angle that they may also resemble bugs- slightly bizarre but curiously captivating.

6.Distracted

Definition/association
Internet

The story
I am easily distracted, especially while getting work done on the net…just as I am typing this, there are 9 open taps, oh dear.

7.Embarrassed

Definition/association: Squatting

The story
Thinking back on my most embarrassing moment- it was when I had to do a public presentation in front of the school and had a blackout. Completely forgetting my lines and terribly embarrassed, I proceeded to squat down on stage, succeeding in embarrassing myself further as the crowd erupted in laughter. SO, I’ve decided to capture the motion of squatting to represent embarrassment
.

8.Exhausted

Definition/association
Chinese
Heavy sighs

Inspiration

The story
The most exhausting periods of my life were those moments struggling through Chinese exams. This language though beautiful had been the bane of most of my time in school. I picked the chinese phrase 唉聲嘆氣 as I did do that quite a bit, and still do in times of exhaustion. To create this piece, I deconstructed the word ‘嘆’ to its very basic elements, and deliberately made the front portion to be tighter than the back to simulate the release of a sigh.

Initially I had all the characters sprinkled about, but Shirley advised me to make the words unrecognizable, that it mayn’t be too “in your face”. I do like this improved version much more!

9.Fragile

Definition/association
*PIANG*
shattering of fragile items

The story
I wanted to create something that sounded like the sound of shattering glass *piang* Initially I chose to use harsh strokes, but realized the faint lines produced by dry brushing did a better job in bringing across the fragility of the sound.

10.Indecisive

Definition/association
Going nowhere

The story
I used arrows as they represent a direction, indecisiveness has no direction at all, it just goes… nowhere.

11.Lyrical

Definition/association
“(of literature, art, or music) expressing the writer’s emotions in an imaginative and beautiful way.”

Inspiration
Blooming flowers

The story
I watched a hyperlapse video of flowers blooming endlessly, and tried to capture that motion in swooping swirls.

12.Nonsensical

Definition/association
“having no meaning; making no sense”

The story

13.Psychotic

Definition/association
Uncontrollable person, actions, thoughts

The story
Being the unadventurous person I am, I could not allow my brush to go crazy and uncontrolled, I required a certain order to make sense of things. The lines are angry, pointed and well controlled within a white border. Shirley reminded me that Psychoticism did not necessarily mean going off the deep end, sometimes it could just be unrestraint motion within a fence.

14.Sensual

Definition/association
“of or arousing gratification of the senses and physical, especially sexual, pleasure.”
eg: “the production of the ballet is sensual and passionate”

The story
I was curious how something like a production or a music piece could be described as sensual, I’ve only seen it applied to people or objects (like lace!). After reading up on a couple of definitions & examples, I figured at the very root of it “sensual” must be something that is sensory. Perhaps a sensual piece of music could be the feeling of the melody touching your ears? Therefore I dipped my fingers in paint and rubbed over paper, almost similar to the action of caressing.

Initially I wanted to draw to use lace as the main motif, but I realized that the result turned out too literal an interpretation.

15.Sloven

Definition/association
“a person who is habitually untidy or careless.”

Inspiration
Unkempt facial hair
Unruly vines

The story

16.Spontaneous

Definition/association
Unplanned fun

Inspiration
kaleidoscope

The story
I love how unpredictable the kaleidoscope is, the mishmash of shapes & colors are so beautiful-and that’s how spontaneity is to me. I used various shapes and patterns to create something fun, bolding random pieces to create accents.

17.Systematic

Definition/association
In proper order

Inspiration
Binary

The story

I remember when I was still studying in Ngee Ann Polytechnic, we had to take a dreadful exam on coding. Being the tech idiot that I am, the only thing I gleaned from the entire module was that it is made up of many 1s and 0s. That just with these two numbers and careful arrangement, some spectacular results can be achieved.

18.Turbulent

Definition/association
Stormy seas

The story
When things get tough, I like to imagine myself as a sailor navigating through choppy waves. Somehow picturing it like this helps me to remember that there will always be a way out once the storm stills. The style of this is a cartoon like illustration of “friendly” looking waves to mimic how I feel about turbulent times, the tiny boat overwhelmed by the waves is a representation of me. As the phrase says “this too shall pass” as with everything, so do the turbulent times.

*Tada* final work