BLOOP – Page 2 – the start of creation

March 3, 2017March 3, 2017

NASA + Future World

3 March 2017

On 28 Feb, Ruyi brought us to the Art Science Museum for a field trip. The trip was quite an interesting one, as I had different experience and it broaden my views on various possibilities that we can create.

NASA – A HUMAN ADVENTURE

At the start, we visited the NASA exhibition. The first gallery I encountered had portraits of famous historical figures, eg. Leonardo Da Vinci. The gallery is in a circular form, therefore you can walk around and see each individual artists’ portraits hang on the wall. The interior design is very steampunk-ish, giving the gallery a vintage feel. After reading up online, then I knew that the selected portraits are early dreamers who ignited a passion for travel to the stars.

Moving on, it’s the history of NASA. It showed the process of how they made it to outer space, also the evolution of the inventions, technology and space suit. I also had a look at the type of food that astronauts ate.

In the exhibition, they had a G-Force simulator. It’s a ride that simulates the experience of an astronaut embarking on their journey out of the Earth’s atmosphere. It was really a fun experience, but just a bit too short. Just a heads-up, you may get slight lightheadedness or nauseous after the ride.

INTO THE WILD

Next, I experienced going “Into the Wild”. We were given a smartphone device with handle bars to it, as we embarked on the journey through the phone app. We had to walk around the Art Science Museum, to discover the different animals around the compound. Through the phone, I found deer, tiger, anteater, etc. Towards the end, we had to plant a seed at the 4th Level of Art Science Museum. For every virtual tree planted, and accompanied with a pledge to WWF, a real tree will be planted in a rain forest in Indonesia. That marks the end of our virtual adventure. It was a refreshing experience for me, as it’s my first time going through it (other than Pokemon GO).

FUTURE WORLD: WHERE ART MEETS SCIENCE

That day, I didn’t manage to see the crystal universe, as it’s under maintenance. However, I still manage to see the other exhibitions. In the exhibitions, there are neon color lighted balls, that change it’s color once touched. There is also an installation of a fictitious town. We just had to color on the given paper ( with diagram shapes on it) and scanned it in the digital scanner, and our buildings/cars/plane will reflect on the projection wall, becoming 3D animated objects.

Overall, this outing showed me the impossible became possible. In the past, no one would have thought that man can travel to outer space, no one would have thought that virtual can be combined with reality, creating a new experience. With the improvement of technology, possibilities are countless. I can’t wait to see what lies ahead in the future world.

Till next post! Ciao!

February 19, 2017February 19, 2017

Project 2: Part I (Research)

19 Feb 2017

After some “self-profession” exploring for Project 1, we had to extend our exploration to our local neighborhood for Project 2. During the draw lots session, I hand picked Pasir Ris for my area of exploration. One good thing about it is that, I rarely wander around the East. It was a good chance for me to know more about Pasir Ris.

On 14 Feb, while all couples are spending their lovey dovey times, I spent my afternoon exploring Pasir Ris, with my friend.

I first ventured at the Pasir Ris Town Park. It’s around 5 mins walk from Pasir Ris MRT. That day, even though it’s a weekday, there were multiple fishers fishing around the park. If you like prawning or crabbing, there’s a shop that opens 24-hour at Pasir Ris Town Park.

Kid’s Playground

Maze Garden

Viewing Tower

Next, I traveled to Pasir Ris Park as it’s one of the well-known places of Pasir Ris. At the start of venturing, rain drops started falling, accompanied with it was strong gust of wind. After a while, the exploration went on. The maze garden wasn’t as long as I imagine, a few mins and I escaped the maze. The viewing tower was 3-storeys high and the air was really fresh. But the view outside was mostly blocked by trees, therefore I couldn’t really see much.

After that day’s trip, I felt really lost. As I do not have enough information or anything unique to say about Pasir Ris. Thereafter, I went back home to research more. Along the research, I found that there are quite a number of animal related shops/shelter/farms in Pasir Ris. During my consultation with Joy, she agreed that I should focus on this area of Pasir Ris. I finally found some direction to head to!! I refined my research to focus more on animal welfare groups than a collection of animal farms in Pasir Ris.

Today, I went down to Pasir Ris Farmway to look at the environment of the animal welfare groups. Most of them are not open to public, I was only able to see the stray dogs caged inside their compound. At SOSD, I saw the volunteers brought the dogs out for a walk. Most of the dogs were adult Mongrels.

Mdm Wong’s Shelter and Friends

I wasn’t able to talk to any personnel from the animal welfare groups, as most of the people there were volunteers at the dog shelter. I would email them for more details, if not I’ll ask if I’m able to use their information on web.

Till next post! Ciao!

February 11, 2017February 11, 2017

Project 1: Que Sera Sera (Final)

11 Feb 2017

After having some idea block for 2 of my jobs, Veterinarian and Filmmaker, Joy suggested that I focus on one job. In the end, I settled down with “Traveler” as my job.

After revising my initial concept, I came up with a new message for my project.

Message: Get in touch with the world, live in the moment.

Concept: I decided to come up with the good and bad side of travelling, to bring up the fear and fun of travelling. At first my 4 compositions are about: Indian Ocean Tsunami, ISIS terror, Salt Flat Bolivia and Ties (People). However, when I piece the papers together, I found that it’s hard to replicate Salt Flat through paper.

This was my try out for Salt Flat composition. As you can see the design just looked plain and doesn’t show much of the joy of travelling. Therefore I replaced this with a “Vision” concept. After correcting and revising my designs, below is my end product.

Final

My design is differentiated with the bad side of travelling (left) and the good (right). The bad and good are contrary designs of each other. I used similar color scheme for both sides to convey that, the same issue can be seen in different context, thus contrasting the good and bad of travelling.

ISIS terror

I used my initials J & I. “J” is incorporated at the nose outline and “I” on the blood splatter. I chose this as one of the bad side of travelling, as ISIS had instilled fear in people. When people are planning to travel, avoiding possible ISIS target countries are becoming one of their consideration. ISIS has also cause many people to have bad impression of Muslims. Due to their unfamiliarity towards Muslims, some people choose to avoid them.

Ties

This composition is formed with a blood layering at the background and my initial J merged together, forming a P too. For this design, I wanted to show that no matter what race we are, the blood that flow in us are all the same. We are all humans, we shouldn’t be differentiated by our differences. Through travelling, we are able to learn other cultures and befriend other races. I used a light and dark skin tone for my J, to symbolize the befriending of different races through hand shakes.

“ISIS terror” and “Ties” are about race issues, one is the misunderstanding of other races, the other is what most people want: a racial harmonious world. I used same color scheme for both designs to convey that, the same issue can be seen in different context, thus contrasting the good and bad of travelling.

Indian Ocean Tsunami

The initials used are J and A. J is incorporated in the waves, and A is form through the people escaping at the foreground.

Vision

My initials used are J and Q. J is placed sitting on the bicycle, whereas Q is formed from the circle of the Earth and the bicycle at the side.

Tsunami, just like other natural disasters, are feared by people. Due to the unpredictable disasters, some people fear to travel. “Vision” oppose that idea. Travelling allows us to broaden our Vision, to get in touch with scenery or cultures that are not found in our daily lives. With the limited time we have in our lives, we should travel while we can.

For this project, some of the difficulties I faced are time constraints, unable to vision the final outcome and the multiple changes. I had taken quite a lot of time reconstructing my designs, being unsure if it works or not. I illustrated the designs on Illustrator, however it’s hard to envision how the end product will turn out, as the craftsmanship is different from digital. I asked a lot of my friends and Joy for advise, which helped me to finish my Project on time. I’m really grateful for their comments, pushing me to produce a much better version than my first concept. I’ve learnt to also manage my time better, so that I won’t need to rush or be lost in the end.

Till next post! Ciao!

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017

Project 1: Que Sera Sera (Research)

10 Feb 2017

For Project 1, we had to use typography to describe our future job/ dream job. I wanted to choose the different jobs that I wanted to do as I grow up. My message was my ever-changing job as I never knew what I wanted to do. I did a bit of research with the given artists reference Joy provided. Among them, I felt that hand-made typography was something interesting and I’ve never tried before. Therefore, I chose paper cut typography as my medium.

The 4 jobs that I chose were: Traveler, Lawyer, Veterinarian and Filmmaker.

Traveler: When I’m young, I liked the idea of escaping family and see the outside world. I find being able to travel where ever I want is my goal in life.

Lawyer: I guess this job was chosen as I watched too much crime dramas when I’m young. I hated how villians escaped their crimes when their Lawyer help them to be freed. This resulted me wanting to be a Lawyer when I’m young to correct this wrongful doings. (too dramatic when I’m young)

Veterinarian: I’ve always loved animals, therefore I had the thinking of having a job that interacts with them, which is Veterinarian. (however too hard to get into the course, so I gave up.)

Filmmaker: As I get into poly, I get to experience filming and production. I particularly like the part on filming among other modules. Being a filmmaker is my current future job to be.

I was stuck with 2 of my jobs’ design: Veterinarian and Filmmaker. Meanwhile, I tried cutting different paper to know how the thickness affect my design. I found that the thicker the paper, the easier it is to create marks when rolled. I reference one of the artist I found on Instagram for paper cut designs, and what thickness he used.

John Ed De Vera

John Ed De Vera is a multidisciplinary designer, with a penchant for lettering, paper-cutting, and experimenting with different and new media.

I liked how he layered his paper to create a third dimension to a 2D surface. The small details, eg. the shadow that he added to the face design, makes the design pop. His bright usage of colors and clean cut look are what I look for in my design.

After my second consultation with Joy, she suggested that I focus on 1 job since I could derive more from there. I agreed to that idea as it allows me to settle down on my design, so that I can focus on my concept and trying out the paper cuts.

Till next post! Ciao!

February 7, 2017August 28, 2017

Project 1: Alter Ego (Final)

7 Feb 2017

The story behind this 1 min video is about a rebellious daughter facing set back from the outside world, called her mother as she had no one to confront to in the middle of the night..

Final Video

Till next post! Ciao!

January 31, 2017February 4, 2017

Project 1: Alter Ego (Research)

31 Jan 2017

For Project 1, I was lost at first as I am unsure what kind of genre I should pick. I kind of limited myself at first, as I wanted a certain mood for the video and tried to fit a story in that setting. However, after consulting my fellow mates and reconsidering my idea, I decided to look into the characters first before setting a story.

Fictional Characters:

Grandmother (The Way Home)
Boy (The Way Home)
Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Effy (Skins)
Chihiro (Spirited Away)

Public Figure:

Deanie Ip
Ellen
Adele
Shu Qi

People I know:

My Parents
My Sisters
My Friends

After filtering the list of characters, the Top 4 characters I chose were: Grandmother (The Way Home), Chihiro (Spirited Away), Effy (Skins) and My Mother.

Grandmother (The Way Home):

– Interior: Compassionate, Patient, Keen to learn, Does not lose her temper

– Exterior: Widowed, Mute, Lives at the countryside, One of the flea market tenant, Lead a simple life

Chihiro (Spirited Away)

– Interior: Soft-hearted, Brave, Filial, Strong-willed

– Exterior: Whiny, Wilful, Typical City Kid, Timid, Weak

Effy (Skins)

– Interior: Wants to be loved, Pessimistic, Escaping Reality

– Exterior: Wild, Daring, Reckless, Intelligent

Mother

– Interior: Sometimes Feisty, Soft-hearted, Observant, Diligent, Modest

– Exterior: Housewife, Motherly, Helpful, Compassionate, Sociable

Reference Videos

Till next post! Ciao!

January 16, 2017

HELLO!

16 Jan 2017

HHHHIIIIIII!!!! Year 1 Sem. 2 has officially started! For the first lesson of 2D, we were tasked to sketch out 3 aspects of ourselves through “Hello my name is…”. And here’s my design…

For the first “Identity”, I used J from my name “Jia” and separated the top and bottom. The letter J was drawn horizontally as I like sleeping. In the middle, I drew a “woof”, as I’m born in the year of dog and I love dogs, which explains the sketch.

The second is “Home”. I am a home based person, therefore I love staying at home. It’s the place I grew up, the place I’m able to be myself, and the place I felt safe. I drew it in the way I drew my home when I am a kid, as I always felt like a child at home.

The third is “Laughter”. It’s a character trait of mine, as I like to laugh. When I laugh, my crooked teeth at my lower jaw can be seen clearly.

This sums up my first exercise for 2D.

Till next post! Ciao!

November 16, 2016

3D Modular Construction (Final)

16 Nov 2016

For the final 3D Assignment 3 this time, it’s a pair work project. My teammate for this assignment is Alyssa. We had to reinvent our SEM models, by combining both of our modular structures, into a light cover.

Previously, this was my SEM model of a Pollen. Alyssa and I had very similar SEM models, which we had trouble trying to break through the similarity. Eventually, we settled on using the honeycomb like pattern, which we had in common, for our light cover.

Our spheres are made with hot glue, which are drawn around the balloon & beach ball. The balloon is used for the smaller sphere, which will be placed inside the above sphere. We applied Papier-mâché around the exterior of the balloon/beach ball, to protect them from the hot glue, as shown above.

After the glue has harden, we deflated the balloon/beach ball and washed the modular structure to peel off the Papier-mâché. Thereafter, we trimmed the edges of the sphere. The above is the finished look of the exterior sphere.

After we are done with the interior and exterior spheres, we combined them and did some trial test. We discovered that our original idea, to have different intensity of the light through the structure, does not look aesthetically pleasing. The exterior sphere kept lying on top of the inner sphere as well, as seen above.

After multiple tests and brain storming, we decided to tie the inner sphere to the outer sphere, at their two sides. This resolved the problem of the exterior lying on the interior. It also allow us to rotate the exterior sphere to achieve a variation of light and shadow. This is our final product…

Table Lamp

iPhone flashlight

Dioder

Our light cover is liberate from the type of light source. It is able to work in different forms, presenting a different ambience to the viewers.

During the critic session, we had feedback like: the structure was boring, there was not much difference from the original, the shadow was beautiful. I believe that there are flaws in every design, therefore the critic let us know where we can improve.

I’ve learnt a few things through this last 3D assignment. From studying a SEM modular structure, to modelling it to a light cover. This assignment marks the end of 3D Foundation.

Till next time! Ciao!

November 12, 2016November 16, 2016

Project 3: Ego (Final)

12 Nov 2016

After all the soul searching and stress out times where I have no idea for the final assignment, I’m finally done with it!! Really impressed with my other classmates’ work for this assignment. I can see their hard work and passion to develop their final work. And this is my version of “Ego”…

My work is base on: what other’s perceive me as, what I really feel and what causes it. At first I didn’t really have a concrete idea. I only have an idea of showing what’s known and unknown of me, and my base color scheme is blue. My classmates suggested that I do a list of “what I am” and the “ideal me”.

I did a little bit of research by asking my classmates’ their perspective of me. I had feedback like: clean, minimalist, order, smell clinical, look fierce, not very open with my feelings, seems cold but warm in the inside, etc. After collecting all the feedback, I chose the ones that I can further develop on, and decided on what kind of approach I want to execute.

When I am reviewing myself during the soul search, I find that I am calm, sometimes cold, and I hold myself responsible for the things I do. Therefore, “Blue” is the most suitable color to represent me.

Breakdown

People think that I am fierce + I want to be friendly = These factors are what I portray

For “Fierce”, I decided to use red vellum paper to cast a shadow on it. I use this method, as I wanted to show “Fierce” is not what I want to truly portray. Therefore, putting a red vellum paper in front of my fist, to show that it is just the outer layer that everyone perceive. The yellow soft toys are a representation of friendly, as yellow gives off a friendly and approachable look.

People think that I am a Minimalist + I have my Messy times = What I Create

I used a white rectangle to show Minimal. Most of my classmates feedback that I am someone who’s very systematic, and personally I also like order, therefore a rectangle is best suited to show the Minimal part of me. I used navy background for Minimal, as I find that minimal is also what I like, therefore not placing a lighter blue for the background. For messy, I used different colored strings to portray. I used strings as it can be in order, but if jumbled up, it can also cause chaos/messiness. The different colors are representation of different situations, eg. my bed, my table, the things that I have just bought, which I have caused messiness.

People think that I am a healthy eater + I like a balance diet = What I consume

In school, I often bring fruits to eat in class. Therefore, my classmates identify me as a healthy eater. But actually I just like to have a balance diet. I decided to use flat lay for “Healthy”, as it’s able to show the different types of food on the table. I overexposed my image as a lot of people have identified me as a “Healthy” eater. Therefore, I overexposed it to show the judgement people gave. I used complementary colors, green for vegetables and red for meat, to show the balance of diet. I added a white strip in the middle, to represent a balanced scale.

People think that I am cold + I love Freedom = What I distant myself from

At first glance, people think that I am a cold and unapproachable person. However, I love my freedom/alone time too much to actually care about everyone around me. Therefore I distant myself at times. I used ice as a direct interpretation for cold. I applied monochromatic colors to enhance the cold atmosphere, and the light blue background represent the exterior of me. For “Freedom”, I used Yellow – Glee, Orange – Uplifting, Turquoise – Healing, Blue – Peace. These are what I feel when I felt freedom. I blurred the image as freedom cannot be seen, therefore I used colors to represent my version of freedom.

Overall, I used very simple elements for my composition, as I feel that simple represents me best. For the last column, it is “Me” dissected into 4 sections, as this entire project is about me. Hence, I decided to associate people’s perception with each part of me.

During the review, Joy suggested that I refer to Mark Rothko as a reference artist in the future. He likes to use simple elements in his artworks too. Therefore I did a little bit of research on him.

Mark Rothko: One of the preeminent artists of his generation, he created a new and impassioned form of abstract painting. Mark Rothko’s work is characterized by rigorous attention to formal elements such as color, shape, balance, depth, composition, and scale; yet, he refused to consider his paintings solely in these terms. He explained: It is a widely accepted notion among painters that it does not matter what one paints as long as it is well painted. This is the essence of academicism. There is no such thing as good painting about nothing.

Examples of his artwork

Orange and Yellow – Mark Rothko

No. 61 (Rust and Blue) – Mark Rothko

Rust and Blue uses layered coloring to enrich the hues in the painting, a quality the artist Mark Rothko described as inner light. Rothko painted in such a way that at times paint can be seen flowing upward across the surface. This illusion is caused because Rothko would invert his painting toward the final stages of his work, this can be seen in No.61.

Alternately radiant and dark, Rothko’s art is distinguished by a rare degree of sustained concentration on pure pictorial properties such as color, surface, proportion, and scale, accompanied by the conviction that those elements could disclose the presence of a high philosophical truth. Visual elements such as luminosity, darkness, broad space, and the contrast of colors have been linked, by the artist himself as well as other commentators, to profound themes such as tragedy, ecstasy, and the sublime. Rothko, however, generally avoided explaining the content of his work, believing that the abstract image could directly represent the fundamental nature of “human drama.”

In conclusion, I have learnt the importance of color and how reference artist can assist me in my work. This project concludes the last assignment for Foundation 2D. I have learnt a few things during this module, and will bring it on to my future works.

Till next time! Ciao!

November 3, 2016November 3, 2016

Project 3: Ego (Research)

2 November 2016

Final Project for 2D: Ego in Different Settings. This time, it’s a project that closely relates to me. This project is base on an equation: ME + SETTING = ME/MY REACTION TO THE SETTING. And this assignment requires us to apply color theory to our works. So let’s first find out the language of colors…

Color exist everywhere in the world, and it’s the common thing that everyone knows, regardless of where you are from. Color is like the common language of every human.

The number of colors our human eye can see is 10 million. (WOW!! Didn’t know we can see so many colors.) A computer displays 16.8 million colors, where some are not distinguishable by the human eye. To simplify colors, we have our primary colors: Red, Blue and Yellow. Colors can harmonize each other for various outcomes.

Analogous Harmony

Analogous harmony contain more than one hue, but all of the hues in this kind of harmony are neighbors on a color wheel. The effect is close to that of monochrome harmony, but richer.

Monochrome Harmony

Monochromatic harmonies are value-based compositions that contain only one hue. They are even more soft and subtle than analogous colors since it’s a color palette based on one single color. Monochromatic colors work great when paired with a single complementary color.

Complementary Harmony

Complementary harmony, as the name implies, is intended to unite opposites and create a harmonious union. Starting with only two opposite hues, the colors are mixed together, creating browns and grays that serve as transitional elements
separating the two opposites. One can create an entire believable world with only two colors, but the secret is to avoid putting them together to show how different they are from each other. Emphasizing differences is what contrasts do.

Split Complementary Harmony

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.

Colors can also evoke emotions of individuals (refer to above chart for details).

After the research of colors, I know more about how it can affect me. It also makes me look back at the colors in my everyday life and my works, why did I use these colors for. Much self reflection for this project.

Till next post! Ciao!