November 2016 – Eat. Sleep. Repeat.

Month: November 2016

Colour Lino-cut Print

14/11/2016 by Deniel Naquila·0 Comments

Media censorship is something that not only exists in Singapore but the whole world. Movies in Singapore are given ratings (G, PG, PG13, NC16, M18, R21 and NAR (not allowed for all ratings)). In music, an example is Katy Perry’s song being banned due to homosexuality. Some video games are also censored. Television and publications are all controlled by government-controlled companies, MediaCorp and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) respectively. I am aware that Singapore is only partly democratic but what if we achieve full democracy in expressing our opinions and ideas? Media censorship is essential to protect those who needed it. For example, preventing younger audiences from being exposed to extreme violence and harsh language. However, I think some of these censorship has gone as far as altering the original intent and purpose of the creator. For me, as a creator, I would feel offended if someone alters something I made. Censoring some of it may defeat the purpose of why I made it in the first place. My point here is not about abolishing the idea of media censorship. I am not against it. Media censorship has its negative and positive sides. I’m just curious to know what will happen if one day, everyone is able to express themselves freely without restrictions and the current state of media censorship.

Final Piece:

The Statue of Liberty is an icon of freedom who is behind a jail cell which symbolises the restriction we have. The raised fists are symbols of solidarity. The coming together of people who express themselves freely. The hazy background represents the uncertainty whether media censorship will be any more changes in media censorship in the future. The red cross on Liberty’s mouth is another representation of the restriction we have in voicing our opinions. The raised fists are holding different objects. The microphone represents the freedom to express oneself by speech. The pen represents the freedom to express oneself through writing.

I used lino-cut for the main scene inside the jail cell. The haze, Liberty and the fists are all lino prints. The jail cell itself and the bars are paper cuts. I wanted Liberty to be yellow at first because I personally think that yellow looks awesome on black paper. My mind was set to use black for the background to emphasise that the jail cell is dark and that the future of media censorship is uncertain. Instead, I used complementary colours, green and pink. Initially, I wanted to use red for the raised fists but it doesn’t really show in black paper so I chose the next best alternative which is pink. I also wanted to use white or grey for the haze effect but it’s not available. The jail cell is dirty, old and run-down to show how old the issue is. Media censorship has been there ever since media itself existed. I used charcoal to make the cell look dirty and texture to make it look run-down. I used the one-third rule for the main elements with Liberty in the middle. I used lines for the haze effect in the background.

Difficulties:

This is my first time trying to print different colours using only one lino pad. Now that I think of it, I could have used different lino pads for the different objects in my art piece to make printing easier. OH WELL. It took me quite a number of test prints to get the result that I’m satisfied with. First, I applied green paint on Liberty and printed it. Then pink on the raised fist. This came to be a challenge because it is difficult to apply the paint on the fists without it being accidentally applied to Liberty as well. So I had to use tissue paper to wipe off all pink paint that were accidentally applied on Liberty and the haze. I did the same thing for the haze, wiping off the orange paint from Liberty and the raised fists. One wrong print and you have to start back to square one. It takes a lot of time and patience to get the result you want or at least satisfied with. Another difficulty is the limited choices of colours. I wish there were more choices but what can we do.

Learning take-away:

I learnt how to make do with what we have given the limited colour choices. It is also okay sometimes if things do not turn out as planned as it may look better. Same thing goes as with any lino-cut prints. Patience is key. One wrong print and you’re back to square one.

THE lino pad:

Test prints:

This is me trying to test print using yellow acrylic paint. Obviously, it did not turn out well.

Trying out different colours. I also tried test printing two colours at the same time. These were all printed in one go.

Test printing in black paper.

Black and White Lino-cut Print

04/11/2016 by Deniel Naquila·0 Comments

When our class visited the National Gallery for a tour on different art pieces for our Project 3 – Art Critique, I was inspired by the artists’ wood-carve print who used waves of the sea in their art pieces. I thought they look really nice so I decided to go with a sea-themed art piece as well.

Story:

Panel 1:

A man decided to take his sailboat to fish in the vast ocean only to find something he did not expect to see. Instead of catching small fish like he first wanted to, he stumbled upon a whale. He struggled to catch the whale (obviously) and eventually gave up. He is now lost and has absolutely no idea where he is or how to go back.

Panel 2:

It took a while and the sun had already set but he still managed to find his way back thanks to a lighthouse which was able to guide him safely back to shore.

Analysis:

Panel 1:

I placed the tail of the whale at the centre because I want it to be the main focus of the piece. I purposely made it a lot bigger compared to the boat to emphasise it’s scale representing the huge obstacle that the man faced when he encountered the whale. This also gives the user a better perspective showing that the man is closer to the viewer and the whale is farther. But even then, the whale is still bigger than the man and his sailboat. I used the one-third rule on the sailboat placing it on the left side of the final piece (right side of the initial drawing). I wanted to give life to the waves and make it obvious that the waves are really strong and the man is struggling to fight and catch the whale. Putting emphasis on the curves of the waves, this also shows how strong the waves are. It’s almost as if you are feeling how hard the man fought the whale in his attempt to catch it. Initially, I was planning to keep the background plain white but decide no to. It will look pretty boring otherwise. I decided to use lines instead, giving the art piece a mysterious kind of feeling. Just like how mysterious it is to find a whale when the man was only looking for fish. It also gives a misty kind of effect which is nice. I also used lines on the whale and the man as highlights so that the art piece would not look as flat. Makes them look more three-dimensional.

Panel 2:

As you can see in the second panel, there is consistency as I used the same technique on the waves. I used two-point perspective on the sailboat and lighthouse. Even though the sailboat and the lighthouse are almost the same size in the art piece, this is not the case in real life (since we all know that lighthouses are waaaay bigger than sailboats). This shows that the lighthouse is very far back in the background and the sailboat is nearer to the foreground. I decided to go with a solid white for the light emitted by the lighthouse to show contrast with the dark sky. It makes it easier for the sailboat to spot the lighthouse even in the darkness of the night. This time, I decided to go with a solid black background to emphasise that it took a long time for the man to find his way back to the shore. He set out at sea when the sun was still up. At first I was thinking whether I should continue with the consistency theme with the first panel but I decided not to because it would look messy with a lot of things going on in the background. If there are a lot of things going on in the background, this might confuse the viewer on how the man was able to see the lighthouse. With a simple and clean background like this, it would be obviously easier to spot the lighthouse. I used lines on the lighthouse for highlights to make it three-dimensional like what I did on the first panel (consistency again!). I also used lines on the light emitted by the lighthouse to give it a more realistic effect.

Lessons learnt:

At first, I thought lino-cut printing would be a challenge. I was right. It takes a lot of time to decide what will be carved off and what would not. Carving is another challenge as it is not easy to get the texture that you want. It might not show in your final print. I also learnt that it is okay to make mistakes. These mistakes might turn out to give your final piece more flavour and make it look nicer. The results are unexpected but it is almost certain that the outcome will be better than what you think. Another lesson I learnt that it takes a lot of time to find a good print. The final print I had for Panel 2 was not really a perfect print. You can see quite a lot of imperfections on the waves and the light looks a little dirty. But I think such imperfections give the art piece a bit more character and makes it more unique.

Lino pad drawing and carving progress:

Lino pad ready for printing:

Test prints: