Category: 2. Rhymes

So much photoshop

November 22, 2015 by Kuang Jun·0 Comments

Mainly worked on the finding the ideal pictures to assist my compositions. More time and effort was put into producing the images for my 4 compositions. Below are the photoshopped pictures:

A lot of time was invested in working with converting images into black and white. Again for the sole reason to fit the narrative and concept I already have for this project. Hope it counts as something.

Have a great day.

Compostions that did not make it

November 22, 2015 by Kuang Jun·0 Comments

Because my concept has an inherent narrative to it, I worked on perfecting the compositions that were from the first draft. This led to small variations in compositions. Below are the compositions that did not make it into the final 4.

Tried to use applied lines to draw attention towards the central object. However pictures ended up appearing too flat. Illusion of depth was unsuccessful.

White space makes the composition unbalanced.

Composition does not look clean. Might appear too confusing.

Composition just looks weird. At least I tried.

Again, the emphasis on modifying the composition instead of making new ones to maintain the coherent composition is crucial in this design process.

Final compositions were able to resolve the compositional conflicts as mentioned above. Go to ‘Rhymes (final)’ to check out the concept and final compositions.

Have a great day.

Falling into place (Final Compositions)

October 23, 2015 by Kuang Jun·1 Comment

THE CHALICE
Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Westburry, there was a magical Chalice. It was placed high up in the castle so that its light is able to reach the entire kingdom. With its glow, it ensured that the kingdom had good weather all year round. Life was peaceful and prosperous.

Knowing of its prosperity, neighboring countries became jealous and decided to take Westburry’s wealth by force. A violent invasion ensued. At the highest point of the Castle, Westburry’s Knights fought hard to protect the Chalice. However…

Enraged, Westburry launched a final aggressive attack on the invaders. With the Chalice’s final blessing, Westburry was able to overwhelm the invaders and win the war.

Despite winning the war, Westburry lost its most valuable possession. So many died in the struggle. So much greed and hatred just for a magical object. One cannot help but ask the question: Does the Chalice bring fortune or disaster?

Graphical representation and narrative is how I want my project to go.

Below is the final layout for my final 4 compositions. Like a story, the composition can be viewed as a whole. By arranging the compositions in this manner, it gives a sense of Rhythm through the alternating backgrounds of each panel.

The Chalice is the central point of the composition for most of the compositions. In order to do so, I try to bring about high contrast between the background and the ‘light’ that surrounds the Chalice. By doing so, it becomes the center of attention of the panel. The other objects within the composition will then serve to aid in the narrative to assist the viewer in understanding the message behind the picture.

Also, by utilizing repetition of objects in each composition, the 4 panels are able to draw strong relation with one another, thus allowing it to be viewed as a coherent, single composition. This will then allow the story to flow.

In closing, by employing different design and composition concepts, I hope to be able to convey a simple narrative with minimal images. This is how I want to define myself in this project.

Have a great day,

Humpty Dumpty (First 4 compositions)

October 1, 2015 by Kuang Jun·2 Comments

Came up with the first 4 compositions for my story. Generally aiming for accuracy of the narrative before I go into more abstract and complicated compositions:

‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall’

2. ‘Humpty Dumpty had a great fall’ – Tried to make use of images that represents falling to provide ‘gravity’ into the picture. The picture of the falling man makes the eventual movement of the Chalice very clear.

3. ‘All the King’s horses, and all the King’s men,’ – Used silhouettes to convey this narrative. I used the weight of the black to indicate the ‘suppressing’ of the one responsible for the destruction of the Chalice.

4.‘Could not put Humpty back together again.’ – By placing the broken chalice in the circle, it gains a ‘spotlight’ that makes it a very prominent object in the composition. Accompanied with the black background and the emotion conveyed by the posture, it provides a sense of remorse and sadness.

First draft completed. Had a difficult time with photoshop. Still unfamiliar with the software. Hopefully I am in the right track. Resting a while before doing the other variations of this project. Will try something slightly more abstract.

Hopefully the story is clear enough for now. Please enjoy my attempt in narrating a story with pictures. 🙂

Have a great day

Arches, Arches everywhere (First composition attempt)

October 1, 2015 by Kuang Jun·1 Comment

Came up with a concept for this assignment:

Concept process:

Worked on the two lines ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall’ and ‘All the King’s horses and all the King’s men’.

‘Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall’- Thought of using something fragile, probably made of glass. The idea that once the object falls, it will break apart.

‘All the King’s horses and all the King’s men’- The more difficult line, what object will require the king’s attention so much so that he will use ALL his resources to pay attention to? It’ll have to be something that is one of a kind, something that cannot be replicated?

A Chalice.

Mainly influenced by the hours of research on the Medieval times for Art History. Particularly the First Crusade.

In summary, Jerusalem was taken over by the Turks, thus a Holy War was made between the Catholics to reclaim the Holy Land.

What if Humpty Dumpty was a ‘holy grail’?

Came up with a narrative that I want to use.

Concept (Story):

In a parallel Europe in a city called Westburry, there was a Holy Chalice that had magical properties. It allowed Europe to prosper, thus was worshipped by all.

One day, enemies invaded Westburry and chased the people out. The Chalice got knocked over and broke into pieces.

The King gathered all his horses and men and fought against the invaders.

Despite reclaiming the land, they could only find the Chalice broken into pieces. Things were never the same again.

First Composition:

Gathered the pictures for the story and placed them altogether for my first composition:

I’ve always had a thing for comics, so no surprise that the composition came out quite literally. Placed the chalice off center to try to convey the idea of it ‘illuminating the space’. Purposely left the knight’s cape at the left off screen to give off a sense of a ‘larger space’ in this composition. It also breaks the symmetry slightly and thus making the part of the composition more interesting.

Personally enjoyed the result of this composition because of its simple but clear composition.

Some possible problems and questions that I have:

Is it too literal? Does it need to be more abstract and have more symbols? I always have a tendency to go for things more literal visually.
The composition is too flat. I like it this way though. Probably will have to experiment with pictures that depicts a sense of depth.

Tried to make the post more technical and intelligent instead of my usual dry humor. Still trying to get all the jargons right. Look forward to all the feedback for further improvement!

More to come. Hopefully can finish the compositions by Friday. 😡 Wish me luck.

Have a great day.