Watercolour – Lew Min Hui

Typographic Portrait

Final Work

My name is Min Hui and i behave like a mouse.

I always leave half-eaten food behind, just like a mouse.

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My name is Min Hui and I am a sweets traveler.

I have a sweet tooth and i would like to travel around the world to look at works of art. The child-like colours also depicts my child palate.

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My name is Min Hui and I am a Chemistry Student.

I used to be a Science student and i really enjoy studying chemistry. In the composition, i morphed the symbols into my name. The images can be flipped over like a book, showing the different experiments of art methods associated with science.

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My name is Min Hui and I need to gain weight.

Whenever, i visit my relatives on Chinese New Year, i am always told that i am too skinny and that i need to add more. Thus, my new year wish is to gain weight.

Here, i used collage of food images on transparency. The different layers of transparency suggests the idea of gaining weight. The black rectangle is the screen of he weighing scale.

Hello!

“HELLO MY NAME IS Min Hui”

Typography

The science apparatus symbols are equally distanced in an orderly manner to suggest my love for chemistry and neat personality.

Abstract

For the above composition, i employed the use of wet-on-wet watercolour technique to create a blooming effect. The unexpected blooming of the watercolour suggests my versatility and flexibility as a person. Also, the light washes of colours shows that i am a sentimental person.

Conceptual

Many people say that i am a quiet person. So, i decided use a mouse to represent myself. Also, i can’t deny that i like cheese. However, the true reason for this representation is my habit. My parents often commented that i behave like a mouse because i leave unfinished food on the table.

Project 3 Colouring my Life

Process

Many questions and thoughts pop up during the initial idealization of my project.

What colour are you? Which colour do i want to be?

How do i view myself? What do other people think of me?

After much consideration, i decided with the following equations:

Insecurity + Neat and concise = ME

Stepping out of Comfort zone – Rigidity = A BETTER ME

Imaginative x playful = AN IDEAL ME

versatile + spontaneous = ME IN 5 YEARS

Insecurity + Neat and concise

The first square depicts the many insecurities i have when faced with new challenges. I tend to have many worries and thoughts when doing things, To express this, i created uneven, bumpy and rough textures using impasto. Paint is squeezed onto the surface of the canvas, then spread with spoons to create messy swirls that represents my inner turmoil.

Also, i created 2 layers. The first layer is a coloured layer that depicts my inner thoughts. Red represents my anxiety. Yellow represents instability of my thoughts, Orange shows my frustration with things and blue depicts my over seriousness with work. The above layer over is a black surface that suggests the negative impact it has on my actions. The black layer does not totally over the coloured layer below. The coloured layers can be seen through the little holes of the black layer to suggest how my inner worries can be seen through my actions.

The second composition shows that i am a neat and concise person. To portray that, i decided to with a clean and orderly design that emphasis on geometry.

Horizontal and vertical lines of equal thickness are arranged systematically to suggest my hate for messiness. Also, primary colours like red, yellow and blue are used to suggest the harmony and orderliness.

The last square shows that my neat and concise personality is caused by my insecurities. If you look at the work above, you see the overall structure first then you see the colours. The structure represents my neat and concise personality and the colours are my insecurities.

The work is created by building up many layers of coloured grid squares to the extent it looks black. The layers of square grids are constructed by taping on the canvas with masking tape then painting over with acrylic paint. Each layer of square grid is positioned differently and painted with different hues of colours.

A BETTER ME

Stepping out of Comfort zone – Rigidity

As a neat person, i always keep my drawings within its boundaries. It is never messy. However, this caused my work to be stiff, rigid and somewhat lacking in expressiveness and style. For this equation, i decided to use flowers to represent a better me as they are very natural life form.

Thus, in the first composition, i depicted a better me to be someone who steps out of her comfort zone. The comfort zone is the orange, green coloured area bounded within the 3 white corners. The purple flowers are not bounded within the coloured region but grows slightly outside the borders naturally.

To become a better artist , i really need to get rid of the rigidity and stiffness in my work that constrain my development. Here, rigidity is represented by the intertwined plants in a overall square format, somewhat reminding you of a cut up bush of plants.

A better me is someone who is more expressive. Thus, i depicted a close up of a blooming sunflower that focuses on the natural and rhythmic curves of the petals. Warm colours like red, yellow and orange are employed to show the positive and energetic expression.

AN IDEAL ME

Imaginative x playful

An ideal me would be someone imaginative as i find it hard to generate ideas. To me an imaginative person is someone who sees the world beyond the actual reality and challenges the boundaries of reality. To portray this, i referenced to Alice in the wonderland. Elements and characters are placed on the extending hair to show the limitless imaginations. Also, the added tint of purple gives a mysterious touch to the composition.

An ideal me is also someone who is fun and playful. I find myself to be a boring person as i am work oriented. So i wish to become someone who is more fun loving and not overly concerned with work.

For this square, i decided to use cats,who have no worries in life and are not bounded by commitments, to be an ideal me. I wanted create a light background wash to the subjects to suggest the overall mood. So I experimented with various colours using the wet on wet watercolour technique. After trying out many combinations i decided to go with the pink, yellow and light blue combination that gives a childlike and lighthearted atmosphere.

For the last composition is a surreal setting of the cats’ imagination. The subjects used in the composition are painted individually, then digitally manipulated together, Pattern and variety is created with the fishes dropping from the sky. Similar to the first one, a purple gradient is added to the skies and cloths to create a mysterious and foreign feel to the setting.

ME IN 5 YEARS

versatile + spontaneous

In 5 years, i see myself as a more spontaneous artist, someone whose artwork is influenced more by emotions rather than logical thinking, Thus, i did an unplanned and all over composition for the first square, I played around with the paints by splashing, dripping and flinging them onto the paper. After much experimentation, i overlaid them in Photoshop. Initially the composition only had blues and greens as i wanted to portray the idea of working spontaneously and at the same time with control. But later on, i added hints of orange and yellow to suggest the energy of a spontaneous action.

Also, in 5 years, i imagine myself as someone who is versatile. I used 2 elements to represent adaptability: water and chameleon. In the second composition, the chameleon hides itself in the waters.

Final Project

Overall, i had fun experimenting with colours. It is quite an interesting project. I have come to understand myself better and what i hope to expect from myself in the next few years.

PROJECT 1 Documentation

Research

1 Fragile

The word ‘Fragile’ means something that is weak, brittle and breakable. For example glass. For this strip, i experimented with stamping crumpled newspaper and plastics to create to create the shattered/cracked glass effect.

2 Psychotic

According to the dictionary, ‘Psychotic’ means insane, mad and lunatic. Thus, i used repeated and intersecting curves in a messy and disorganized way to depict that mad state of mind.

3 Anxious

‘Anxious’ suggests nervousness and worry. When i feel anxious, i tend to move and touch things unconsciously. Therefore, i used my hands to create this work. For the first strip, it depicts the anxious heartbeat pattern.

The second one is created by stamping my fingerprints in different directions to show the unease mind when one is anxious.

Lastly, i stamped using the sides of my hands leaving spaces between each stamps to suggest the empty mind when one is anxious, being unable to think of anything.

Surprisingly, the lines on one’s hands have interesting curves and sudden intersecting lines, which depict that disrupted thought process.

4 Lyrical

This emotion has the meaning lyrical, song-like and musical. To express this, i used the wet on wet technique of watercolours to allow the natural flow of the colours on water. For the first strip, i drew line strokes on the wet layer of plain water. The second one, i dip paints onto the wet layer, allowing a blooming effect.

5 Sensual

The emotion ‘sensual’ means arousing the gratification of senses and physicals. Some objects that have this ability are flowers, scented candles, perfumes and herbs. At first, i tried to draw flowers like lavender and lilies, but turned out being too representational. Thus, i simplified them into simple lines as branches and little squares and triangles as petals. The background is created by spraying paint, similar to the action of spraying perfume.

6 Ambiguous

The word ambiguous suggest a vague and unclear meaning. Something that is arguable and has more than one interpretation. For this strip, i used the salting technique. Salt is sprinkled onto the layer of watercolour while it is still wet. After the paint dried, simply sweep off the salt. Whats left is the textures shown below. The unclear and unpredictable movement of the water caused by the salt created a coral like textures with dots, a very cloudy and sparse effect.

7 Spontaneous

‘Spontaneous’ suggest energetic, active and play. Hence, i used lines and shapes to depict a sense of movement. For the first strip, i used a variety of shapes in different scales and directions to suggest spontaneity. For the second one, i used straight lines to create a sense of movement in space.

8 Nonsensical

This just means no meaning or sense, something that is illogical. I used the concept of automatism to create random scribbles. Also, i tried the drip and splash paint effect which was inspired by Jackson Pollack, whose artwork was based on element of chance and emotion at the point of work.

Jackson Pollock ‘Number 8’

9 Embarrassed

When i am ‘Embarrassed’ , i would naturally want to hide and leave as little trace as possible. Thus, for the first strip, i created little quotations, to show the little traces. Also, i drew springy lines that curl in, to suggest the mentality to hide.

10 Awkward

When one feels awkward, they are unsure what to do and have strings of overlapping thoughts. Thus, i i created strings of intersecting lines with shades in the shapes enclosed, to show the uncertainty as to what to do.

11 Indecisive

The word ‘indecisive’ suggest something that is inconclusive and undecided, being unable to arrive at a definite answer. Thus, i have used lines to create a maze-like structure to show the inner thought process of finding an answer. The second one depicts the layers of thoughts that one has when unable to arrive at a decision.

12 Systematic

‘Systematic’ means methodical and organised. To express this emotion, i referenced grids,maps and graphs. Also, i took inspiration from the artist Piet Mondrian, who strongly emphasize on geometry and orderly, clean design.

Piet Mondrian ‘Broadway Boogie Woogie’

13 Bizarre

‘Bizarre’ suggest something unconventional and strange. The first strip, i have created an impression of the internal organs, something really unexpected and disgusting. For the second one, i used a mixture of random curve, straight lines and variety of shapes to give a bizarre feel.

14 Aggressive

The word ‘Aggressive’ means forceful and assertive. Actions like cutting, stabbing, burning and bombing are aggressive actions. The first strip is created by aggressively drawing straight lines using charcoal.

The second one, i scraped out the paper first, then apply a layer of watercolours over.

The final one is created by rubbing ink onto paper with tissues then throwing lines of markers onto it.

15 Turbulent

‘Turbulent’ depicts conflict, disorder and confusion. Examples are tornado and tsunami. The first strip gives an impression of a tornado with the expanding and spiraling curves from a point as well as the dirtied background using charcoal. The second one shows a more abstract version of the violent movement during conflicts with the overlapping s and c curves.

16 Exhausted

The emotion ‘Exhausted’ means something that is used and worn out. Something that is spend or depleted. To present that meaning, the gauze is stretched, expanded and pulled into threads. The first sample was one with only holes on the gauze. The second with threads pulled out. To avoid a consistent and methodical pattern, the final strip has uneven holes on the left and slowly towards the right the pulled out threads appear.

17 Sloven

‘Sloven’ means untidy and careless. The first strip gives the impression of untidiness with random scribbles, The second one is created by smudging and rubbing the charcoal with hands.

18 Distracted

One is off focused when distracted. For this emotion i used a line or dot to represent the focus. The first one show dots slowly being disperse to suggest the wondering of thoughts. The second one depicts line off the dot, to show the sudden deviation from focus. The third one has a line of focus and waves of jagged and curves to suggest the surrounding distractions.

PROJECT 1 A Line is a Dot that went for a Walk

Final Presentation

Exhausted

Ambiguous

The word ambiguous suggest a vague and unclear meaning. Something that is arguable and has more than one interpretation. Many of my classmates were curious as to how the effect was achieved. For this strip, i used the salting technique. Salt is sprinkled onto the layer of watercolour while it is still wet. After the paint dried, simply sweep off the salt. Whats left is the textures shown below. The unclear and unpredictable movement of the water caused by the salt created a coral like textures with dots, a very cloudy and sparse effect.