Final Project: EGO Final Outcome

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Little Snippets of Joey

Little Snippets of Joey by Joey Chan- EGO Project

My Project, Little Snippets of Joey, is modeled after the small but significant parts of my childhood memories. Hence, I decided to use 1) Paper Cuttings 2) Monochromatic Colours 3) Children Picture Book Style to emulate the idea of childhood. Paper cuttings are things that we do when we are children during Art and Craft as a form of play and entertainment. Monochromatic colours are easy for young children to identify (Blue = Sadness, Green = Nature, Yellow = Cheerfulness, Red = Something fiery) compared to other colour harmonies.

1st Panel: Blue Hues

My first panel consist of blue hues. Blue is a colour identified with tranquility, peace and comfort. It is also identified with sadness. Hence, I chose to use this colour to represent how thinking about my late hamster through memorabilia music comforts me when I am being sad.

2nd Panel- Green Hues

Green is identified with revival, nature and relaxation. Hence, I used it for this panel since I take comfort in the cat lifting my spirits.

3rd Panel: Yellow Hues

Ah, yellow hues. This was a particular challenge for me since yellow seems to blend in so much with each other. Yellow is a colour for cheerfulness, energy and vitality. It can also be used for excitement. Hence, I used it to express the eagerness I have in watching my favourite series (One Piece :D).

4th Panel: Red Hues

My final panel is the red panel. It is a colour for extremities; violence, adventure, anger, passion, etc. I used it to express both the adventurous spirit I have when I play action games, and my anger and despair when I lose in that game. It is to note that the first and last panel are meant to look chunkier in paper cutting, because they represent the in-game screen (to differentiate the reality and in game).

 

And these, lady and gentlemen, are my EGO Project representations. 🙂

Project 3: Ego Process and Research

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For this 2D Final Project, we are supposed to come out with 12 frames (4 panels) of stories. While many decided to go with digital media, I decided to go with traditional media, mainly using mixed media paper cuttings.

However, I did not go for newspapers or magazines, where I felt that it did not suit the theme of my project.

My project is entitled ‘Little Snippets of Joey’.

It basically revolves around the little happenings I had in my life in my childhood. Hence, I chose to use paper cuttings, along with mixed media textures (acrylic, coloured papers, and gouache). These were more suited if I went for a style alike children storybooks and picture books, as compared to intricate and complicated styles.

I had my inspirations from mainly two artists;

  1. Eric Carle

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Eric Carle

Eric Carle uses a lot of different textures and simple paper cuttings to emulate his own style. His texture is very obvious and distinct, made with different paints. It is very special, and makes ordinary paper cuttings seem overly simple. I made use of his style to bring out the main details of my paper cutting, while keeping the rest of it simple.

2. Paula Marten

Paula Marten

Pier – Paula Marten

I was secondly inspired by Paula Marten. She visits many different places to do paper cuttings and paintings of them. She uses many different colours to emulate illusory textures despite her works being mainly in 2D. She also uses overlapping to create the implied depth in her work. I also like how her paper cuttings, while being intricate, feels free and undefined. It is as though she is cutting at free will and without a fixed direction and detail in mind. Yet, it still appears so natural and at home. It is truly unique.

 

Draft 1:

4 Seasons Colour Wheel

I tried to make use of the 4 Seasons to emulate the 4 situations I would portray myself in based on my old memories. However, I realized that the 4 seasons had too many colours and hues defined in their nature. It create a mess of colours which were hardly harmonious, and became a bunch of confusion. The main focus could barely be identified clearly, and as a result I scraped it.

Draft 2:

My Process

Instead of going for Analogous colours, I went for Monochromatic colours instead. After pondering for a long time, I realized that Monochromatic colours matched my idea of portraying a child’s picture book. This is because children do not have such in depth analysis of colours, hence relating better to feelings when they are placed in simple and common colour tones.

However, my design turned out being too simply without any depth. Everything was messy as they clashed together on the same level.

 

Final Draft:

For my final draft, I made use of foam tape to create depth. I also simplified the colour tones such that they will not clash as much. I minimized overlapping, and ensured that the main details meant to be focused on will stand out.

Project 2: Forrest Gump Inspirations

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I had a few inspirations for my Forrest Gump project.

Quote 1: I hate space – Gravity (2013)

Image result for road runner drop off cliff

Road Runner, Nicola Ginzler

I had my inspirations from my childhood cartoons, such as Road Runner, Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry. There will always be this scene where an animal will consistently do something, such as running, and does not realize it has run off the cliff. When it finally realizes, it will then drop down from being suspended in midair.

The idea of a cat is also representative. Cats are creatures which are so curious, but as a result they climb trees and get stuck on trees and end up having to meow for help.

I guess it is comical and fun at the same time.

 

Quote 2: Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. – Back to the future (1985)

Peter Pan (2003)

My first inspiration originated from Peter Pan (2003 movie adaptation). When the children get sprinkled with fairy dust, they jump off the bed but begin to fall, yet the fairy dust takes effect and they begin to fly. That concept is then adapted onto the car.

screenshots Mario Kart rainbow road

Mario Kart (Nintendo) – Rainbow Road

My second inspiration is derived from Mario kart’s Rainbow road, where roads are disconnected suddenly and the karts fly into the air.

 

Quote 3: In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. – The Martian (2015)

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Hippogriff escape scene; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

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Aragog; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

My first inspiration is derived from Harry Potter, where the large, powerful magical creatures are always the ones saving the main characters, be it Buckbeak the Hippogriff or Aragog the giant spider. They seem to be the backbone of every ‘rescue mission’.

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Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli.

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Seven Deadly Sins

My next inspiration is from the concept of moving, travelling homes such as in Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle and in Seven Deadly Sins’ house on a pig. It is in the idea that a home is built on a moving object. It is also magical, which enhances the science-to-fantasy aspect of my work.

 

Quote 4: Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? – The Witch (2015)

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Princess Diaries 1

I wanted my background to emulate richness and royalty, hence taking inspiration from Princess Diaries. Anne Hattaway’s royal life in the palace is the atmosphere of a rich person that I have imagined.

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Hansel and Gretel

My next inspiration is in the idea of something being coated with yummy and attractive looking food. It is referenced from the Witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. The richness of the food is also played up by its variety, type and quantity.

Project 2: Forrest Gump (Final)

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I hate space. – Gravity (2013)

I hate space, by Joey Chan. (Final)

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. – Back to the future (1985)

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. (Final)

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. – The Martian (2015)

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. (Final)

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? – The Witch (2015)

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. (Final)

Project 2: FORREST GUMP (Process)

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My Forrest Gump project revolves around many childhood elements. It is relatively more childish compared to everyone’s work, and I always have this trouble of my work being too dark. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my own ideas despite it not being as compelling and deep as other people’s.

  1. I hate Space – Gravity (2013)

I hate space, by Joey Chan. Draft 1.

My Draft 1 revolved around a cat floating helplessly on top of planet Earth. The cat is actually representative of the main character, Dr. Ryan Stone; she is strong, determined and brave, yet scared and helpless at times. I left a big black space around the cat to emphasize on the concept of a void/vacuum.

I hate space, by Joey Chan. Draft 2.

In Draft 2, I inserted elements of a doctor to better represent Dr. Ryan Stone. She is a doctor, but not a medical one. Hence, I tried to put a labcoat on the cat. However, the nature of Threshold made it such that it looked like a funeral garb instead. Hence, I identified other elements that were in conjuncture with Doctor, even if they were of the medical field. As a result, I used a head mirror and a stethoscope on the cat instead.

However, after trying to print it onto the tote bag, I realized that the details were so tiny that they could not be scanned and imprinted. Hence, I enlarged the cat and the planet.

I hate space, by Joey Chan. Draft 3 (Final).

Printing was still difficult, but it was better than before!

Emulsion piece!

But I messed up on the printing scale; the print turned out too small on the tote bag. 🙁

 

2. Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. – Back to the future (1985)

In the actual movie, the scene depicts how a car has turbo thrusters and is able to fly up into the sky from the road.

However, I wanted to create a subversion of reality that is even more jarring.

Hence, I chose a ‘suicide’ scene.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 1.

Usually, when a car dives off a cliff, it ends up in death. However, I aim to subvert reality by making the car fly off reality into fantasy (established by wings) instead of dropping down the cliff to its inevitable death.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 2.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 3.

For Draft 2 and 3, I changed the perspective of the cliff to something that is more interactive with the audience. I also changed the idea of a cliff (the one in the first draft was too covulated and messy) to that of a highway instead. However, the roads turned out messy and disconnected. I tried to add cars to improve the effect but it did not really help. However, what worked was how I inverted the highway to create a more jarring distortion of reality. It does give the magical feel. I retained the wings, too.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 4 (Final).

In my final draft, i refined everything. I picked a clearer highway, a more retro car, better looking wings (cropped off a bird) and a better contrast in both the hatching of the black and the white. The inversion of the highway is further emphasized with the upside down car, which is going the ‘right way’ in comparison to our car who looks like it just drove down the cliff, yet is able to fly up again with the help of the wings.

 

3. In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. – The Martian (2015)

My Draft 1 was pretty embarrassing. I mixed it up with another movie about mars where people had to fight aliens off. The actual movie is about how Matt Damon is stuck on Mars because his friends left him behind thinking that he was dead. While waiting for his friends to come save him, he had to come out with ways to survive on Mars. During this scene, he manages to plant vegetables for sustenance- a whole damn garden.

However, in my first draft, I went along with the idea of a pure, destructive force. An explosion. Then I thought about science. The first representation I could think about was Albert Einstein, the king of E=MC^2. A mad genius. Then, I thought about the scene from the Dark Knight (Batman), where Joker struts off in distilled cool vibes as the hospital exploded behind him. Another mad genius. Then, I compared Joker and Einstein, and decided that the idea of combining the both was amazing because they were so similar.

Einstein in Joker Make-up, an explosion behind him just like the scene from the Dark Knight.

Was I not a pure genius?

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. By Joey Chan. Draft 1.

Except that I was not.

My idea got rejected immediately because it did not have any movie elements. And it does not portray the idea of my quote. Boo. Moving on…

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. Draft 2.

Draft 2 was when I realized I got the plot wrong and started burying my face in my hands begging the movie god for forgiveness.

Hence, I decided to change the idea! I incorporated movie elements such as the garden and the astronaut (Matt Damon) into the picture. I also included a dragon, which is the symbol of power and strength required to plow through any difficulties, alike what Matt Damon has done in the movie (plowing through difficulties, not becoming a dragon). I also implanted a house on the dragon, to symbolize his survival.

The idea revolves around how the character has scienced so much that magic and fantasy happens. Hence, we have a dragon out of fantasy, and even a house on top of the dragon, and a garden on the dragon’s tail.

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. Draft 3 (Final).

In my final draft, I tried to lighten up my picture by removing a lot of black. However, dragons are generally quite dark, which is why I changed my creature to something equally strong and powerful- a Griffin.

It would be weird to suspend the Griffin in the air, hence I put him on Mars for some ground. It also helps in framing my picture.

 

4. Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? – The Witch (2015)

It is rare for someone to take quotes from a horror movie, but I did it.

The movie was about a Witch who kept driving a girl (Thomasin)’s family members into delusions and into doing stupid, crazy things. In the end, Thomasin had enough of their shittery and decided to become a Witch instead. Wew.

My first draft had little reference to the movie. But I wanted to play on the idea of living and deliciously. Hence, I had the idea of dumping a woman in a delicious pie, and the woman has to look comfortable and high attractive- to seduce people into doing the same, maybe?

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 1.

Rejected, of course.

It was too literal.

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 2.

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 3.

In Draft 2 and 3, I took my idea from Hansel and Gretel. I coated a rich looking retro woman’s dress in delicious food, which instantly gives the idea of richness and attractiveness, such as the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. I inserted a rich background to emulate the wealth she holds.

However, the darkness was too strong, which makes the dress barely visible in contrast to the background.

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 4 (Final).

In my final draft, I tried to change the background into something less dark. However, the final result still turned out very dark. What I could have done if I had more time and advice was to generate more crosshatching in the background or at least around the white spaces such as in my previous works, in order to make the lady stand out more.

My Line is Emo: Final

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Final Piece by Joey Chan

 

My final piece consisted of 6 emotions from each category; Adoration (Love), Curiosity (Surprise), Adventure (Joy), Disappointment (Sadness), Disorientation (Fear) and Envy (Anger).

  1. Adoration

Materials used: Droppers (Experimentation), Chinese Ink, Water Coloured Paper

Method: Dripping one heavy drop of Chinese ink vertically on my canvas.

Adoration stems from a tiny love, which will eventually spark into a bigger love. It is stronger than fondness. One usually starts to like a person by slowly finding him or herself adoring the little or big parts of what makes up their partner. Some parts are bigger [larger adoration, hence larger sploshes], for example when they smile a certain way. That is where the splosh is greater than the other inked areas. Adoration levels are also uneven and there is no same single time where the level of adoration is at the exact same level. Ultimately, most adoration are intertwined with each other, forming the love one has for another.

2. Curiosity

Materials used: Crepe Paper (Childhood, Adolescence; Kids’ Handicraft material), Black and White Acrylic Paint

Method: Using a paint spatula to apply paint haphazardly onto the white crepe paper with a black background.

Curiosity comes in many layers. The first map, the basis of the feeling, lies in a mind-scape where it is crinkled. The crinkled effect is representative of what we already know or feel from past experiences. Adding on to this information, with the help of curiosity, are the things we want to find out and know about. Knowing human nature, there are a lot of things that we may be interested to find out about, and the rate of information we receive may not be constant. Hence, this produces the different, haphazard layers of black, white and grey.

3. Adventure

Materials used: All sorts of materials, especially Chinese ink and sponge.

Method: All sorts of application with Chinese ink and Black Acrylic paint.

Adventure brings us many facets of feelings. We can feel euphoria at what excites us, happiness and excitement at what we discover, sadness when a tragedy strikes, or a sense of trepidation. Hence, the patterns in this emotions has no regularity at all, and are made out of all sorts of textures and splatter jobs. There are also layers created by the depth of colour. The lighter colours represent the lighter/less serious memories. These are memorable but may not be as significant. The darker colours are those that are more memorable and significant. The more faded the colours are, the hazier the memories about them are. The darkest and cleanest would represent the most vivid memories- and there are only few.

4. Disappointment

Materials used: Rolling sponge, tracing paper, cartridge paper, Black and White Acrylic paint

Method: Rolling black and white paint on the canvas, and then adding layers of catridge papers and tracing papers and rolling over it again.

Disappointment comes in many facets of emotions due to the many causes of disappointment we may feel. Some are severe, while some are light. There may also be emotions mixed inside like anger, frustration, betrayal and sadness. The different layers, some overlapping, are representative of the weight/significance of the event over others. The ones that are more prominent are those that seem the most “recent”. The mix of black, white and grey signify how the emotions have blurred lines, and there is no one clear-cut disappointment. The darker colours are used to exemplify the stronger feelings of disappointment, in contrast to the lighter tones.

5. Disorientation

Materials used: Sharpie Marker, Tape (Signifying boundaries)

Method: Pasting tape over the paper and drawing on the white spaces. After the line art is done, remove the tape. Afterwards, cut the paper into small squares and rearrange them accordingly onto another piece of canvas before sticking it down.

Disorientation is a feeling of confusion, which makes little sense. Even though it is classified under sadness, I chose to represent the emotion with vivid images and patterns to sieve in further confusion and in a way that nothing would make sense. The lack of continuous straight white paths add to this feeling. The cleanliness of the art is representative of the creepiness we feel when we are being disoriented. It is a world we cannot comprehend. There is also a neatness such that the top row scrambled stays in order, and same goes for the bottom row. This orderliness is representative of how one still has enough sense to try to figure out what is causing their confusion, while feeling disoriented.

6. Envy

Materials used: White Acrylic Paint (Stark White paint), black paper

Method: Using a paint spatula to create sharp edges of white on the black paper. For the large white shade, I used the flat part of the spatula instead of the shark edge.

To me, envy is sharp and piercing. It is also haphazard, because it is an emotion which comes when we are least expecting it to. The larger, white spots are the feelings which are overwhelming, while the sharper lines are the thorns we feel. At the left side, there is a murky haze of white, which represents a lack of coherence we may feel when we do not understand why we feel envy. I chose to represent this feeling with white on black because while the black symbolizes how our mind blanks out upon envy, we also feel the pain and jealousy which may come sharp, and as painful as the stark, vivid white.

Feedback from Professor and Peers

My Reflection for this Project.

My Line is Emo: Process

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My Line is Emo:

When I first started this project, I made use of many objects to create textures, hoping that I would have the option of choosing from a variety of textures. I made use of corks, feathers, sponges, twigs, moss and even dried sugar cane. However, things did not go my way; it turns out that many different materials made the same effects when I applied them on newsprint with bloc ink.

I spent the first lesson merely testing out the different materials with bloc ink. I made use of Acrylic for the mass effect, but not the acrylic carving- because everyone seemed to be using them, and I did not want to be ‘the same’.

Cork, sponge, twigs, and various other materials.

Paint spatula and pen with Acrylic inking.

Pen. paint spatula, twigs, and more on acrylic.

Cork, flat sponge, rolling sponge and moss.

Rolling sponge, cotton bud, flat sponge, rectangular sponge, feather, and cork.

White tape across pen markings on acrylic. The pen markings were indented before I used something to flatten the ink further, to create darker lines.

Likewise, I used tape and pen to indent the markings. This time, I tried to flatten the ink before making the indents. Bad decision- indents cannot be seen anymore.

 

During out-lesson times, I experimented with more options. This time, I made use of Chinese ink and black and white acrylic paint to help me create further textures. I also made used of drawn line-art to create patterns.

Different variations of Rolling Sponge with Chinese Ink; Dense vs Less Dense.

A Happy Incident. The newsprint was originally used to protect the table from staining, but it turned out as a potential pattern highlighting ‘Adventure’- also because of the various methods and tools used to create this unintended pattern.

1) White Acrylic paint with cork on black paper 2) White Acrylic paint with paint spatula on black paper 3) Black and White paint with paint spatula on crepe paper 4) Line Art Swirls with Sharpie Marker

1) Rolling sponge with Black and White Acrylic paint 2) Black and White Acrylic paint with paint spatula on black paper 3) Black and White Acrylic paint with paint spatula on white paper

Chinese Ink Splatters and trying to keep it within the paper. Turned out creepy.

Black and White Acrylic paint on both sides using paint spatula, and folding it into half and reopening it for lumpy texture.

1) Sharpie Marker Line Art Swirls 2) Tips of the Feather with Black Acrylic Paint 3) Black Acrylic Paint with Sponge

1 and 2) Moss and Black Acrylic Paint with different gradients and density 3 and 4) Sharpie Line Art with Taped boundaries. Comparing density of lines.

1 and 2) Cork sides with Black Acrylic Paint. Comparing Density. 3) Cork Top with Black Acrylic Paint. 4) Moss with Black Acrylic Paint, ascending density (Gradient).

1) Black Acrylic Paint with Rolling sponge with cotton bud on paint 2) Chinese Ink splatters (Low Density) 3) Chinese Ink splatters (High Density) 4) Chinese ink splatters (Mid Density)

Second Drafts

However, these were barely used in my final product. My designs were too organized, predictable and mainstream. Many people had similar textures, and they had a small variety; most of them were categorized under negative emotions. With a lack of variety and originality, I had to source for more options to explore.

Mark-making by Jesus Leguizamo

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Kinetic Painting by Jesus Leguizamo, https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Kinetic/87855/3043359/view

I enjoy Jesus Leguizamo’s artworks. While most artists explore definite shapes or come out with an art piece with seemingly no sense of direction, Leguizamo explores merging the known and the unknown. He combines abstract colours together with the human face, covering a significant part of the human anatomy with unidentified acrylic colours. To me, this represents how the human imagination and formation is composed of our own perception of ideas, strengthened by how we observe things.