For this assignment, we had to create portrait of someone in class that we didn’t know well, and a self-portrait. The portrait had to be a non-literal representation of the person. To start, I prepared some interview questions for my partner, Avel. Here is the transcript of that interview:

1 | What is your favourite quote / motto you live by?

Everything begins from the concept. Not from anyone, just a general principle I always follow in life and in design! So I don’t think you should be limited to a certain way of doing things, or to a specific end result, because anything goes as long as the objective is met.

2 | If you could keep only 3 things from your room what would they be? (please write a short explanation about why they are significant if you can!)

1) My blanket, because it’s been with me forever and is superior to most other blankets, I couldn’t bear being apart from it while on exchange,

2) This windbreaker I got from a friend, because it’s so useful yet classy, reversible design, and also she gave it to me and I’ll never find another like it,

3) My stash of old drawings, because it’s like a record of my past and if I lost it I might feel like I’m displaced since I have nothing left.

3 | What is the weirdest dream you’ve had (that you are comfortable sharing about)?

I usually record all my dreams, and they’re all usually surprisingly logical stories… Maybe the weirdest is the first time I dreamt of a full-fledged song?? And remembered it well enough to arrange it when I woke up??

4 | What is your favourite memory of 2019?

Probably of professors praising my work.

5 | What is your favourite piece of clothing from your closet? (pls take a pic if you can)

It’s this sleeveless mandarin collar blouse which is, like, I forgot what material but I think hemp? I like sleeveless blouses but round collar/normal collar is kind of boring, so the mandarin collar feels like a nice touch. Also the material feels super light and suited for summer!

Afterwards, Avel and I just had a small talk without any questions to direct the conversation and I found out more things about her, like her minor in philosophy, and where she went for exchange. From there, I began sketching her portrait. Here is my first sketch of Avel’s portrait:

The main concepts for her portrait were:

• Avel’s guiding philosophy – that we should seek mutual understanding rather than trying to reach an absolute truth. I thought that featuring this characteristic could also be a way to represent that she had a minor in philosophy. I presented this metaphorically, using the two animals, the crane and the elephant, drinking together at the lake.
• Her exchange experience – Avel went to study at a university in Istanbul for her exchange trip, and she stayed in this small fishing village called Buyukdere. Using a reference image of a postcard I found online, I decided to add the village as a backdrop to her piece as I felt that it was an experience unique to her that few people would share.
• Crafty – Avel shared with me that she liked to make things, and combining that with what she shared during her interview about her dream of a music piece, I made little music notes and craft materials float down the lake. I thought the lake was a nice metaphor for her subconscious where the dream came from.
• Functional – From her interview and from speaking to her, I gathered that Avel was quite a functional and practical person. To represent that, I thought of using chairs as the basic design of a chair is solely to serve its function, rather than for decoration, so in my mind it’s a pretty practical object. To make the scene look more surreal and interesting, I decided to let the chairs float in the sky. This is partly inspired by the Surrealist style which tends to juxtapose seemingly unrelated objects in one composition.

Surrealist Collages by Albane Simon

After we had a critique session in class and also a consultation with Lisa and the feedback I got were as follows:

• Why elephant/crane? Could ask Avel what animals she likes and dislikes to make it more specific to her.
• Foreground takes up too much of the composition, could shift the entire scene down.
• Music notes/craft materials could be more subtle in the water.

I began drawing Avel’s portrait after the feedback given. As Avel’s portrait was a more subjective, perhaps even slightly reduced version of her, I decided to use more painterly strokes in her portrait to show that it was a kind of artistic expression rather than a real, all-round depiction. In comparison then, my portrait (shown below), used cleaner lines as I’m more familiar with myself and I have more clarity about the characteristics I wanted to portray in my piece.

For the background, I referenced the styles of sketch artists, who tend to reduce windows and street scenes into shapes and strokes. One such example is Ng Woon Lam, a watercolour artist in Singapore. Here are some of his sketch work:

Sketches by Ng Woon Lam

I made sure to take note of the thickness and thinness of my strokes and I made sure that there was a variation to make the piece look more stylised rather than graphic. This is more obvious in the fur of the cat, and also the background scene of the town.

Below is the process video of Avel’s piece and her final portrait:

For my own piece, here is the first sketch:

• Sentimental – I chose to portray this by representing myself as a piece of baggage – not the modern one on wheels – but a traditional carry-on baggage. I thought the baggage was a good metaphor for not just physical but also emotional baggage as I tend to be very nostalgic for physical objects and also memories.
• Passionate – I decided to have the different stickers on the baggage represent parts of my personality. For this, i drew a ladder leading up to a paintbrush flying through space, to show that I prioritise my passion for the creative arts and that I have been working actively towards it. The stars are Honey Stars cereal, as being an artist is a dream I’ve had since I was young.
• Emotional – I portrayed this with a heart running, and feeling exhausted.
• Values friendship – I portrayed this with two flowers holding “hands” (leaves).
• Activism – I portrayed this with many doors opening, to show opportunities being made for people who are less privileged.

These were the feedback I received:

• Composition could be more interesting if there was something in the background, like a conveyor belt.
• Perhaps have some things falling out/bursting out of the baggage to make it look like it’s carrying many things?

Besides choosing the older style luggage, I also referenced some 90s-inspired art and graphics for the style of the illustrations within the stickers, using symbolic and simple shapes to enhance the nostalgic tone of the overall design.

Saskia Pomeroy (Left) / Keith Haring (Middle) / Hattie Stewart (Right)

I decided to take into account the feedback and add some things falling out of the baggage, which were just random things I keep in my room that have not much use, like used gift wrap, ticket stubs, Snapple bottle caps etc. to show my unwillingness to part with objects.

Below is the process video of my piece and the final portrait: