Initially when I was introduced to the Ego project, I felt that this should be a rather interesting project since it gives me an official chance to look into myself further and search within myself to identify the character or traits I have yet to acknowledge. However, I find the process a little taxing since it forced me to see things I normally do not and that I have to identify traits from somewhat unpleasant life experiences at times. It was also difficult to choose between different scenarios and their respective equations since quite a few resonates with my experiences really well.

After much thought, short listing and consulting with friends, I have decided to shortlist the 4 of them I shown in the end. After comparing between the very hands on emotions project 1 versus a very digital project 2 which I learnt a lot from, I felt that perhaps I can take a risk and delve more into the hands on technique again since this is another good platform for learning.

After which I attempted to try out different techniques to portray the feel I wanted, for instance through paper cutting and painting. Initially I used colour construction paper to portray the characters I wanted but then I began to realise that the colours were too uniform and it as hard to achieve the blended effect I wanted, especially for the “short-fused me”. The paper kept tearing easily and since I have never attempted paper cutting with precision before, it was difficult. It did not turn out to be well since I was not very comfortable with the medium then. I then attempted to use art card to replace paper since it was sturdier but it was hard to retain the colour on it. Subsequently, I then decided to turn to just sketching and painting instead since I intention from the start was to give a simple straightforward experience for the viewer.

 From portraying myself as a human figure throughout the first row, I have decided to adapt animals and animated characters to give it a more interesting feel instead. Even though the aesthetics of the final product turned out to be kind of horrendous and I was very disappointed in myself, I felt that throughout this project, I was given a chance to really look into myself and attempt to express “me” in a totally different way which is refreshing. The various experiments I had were also enriching in their own way.

I guess this marks the end of foundation sem 1. I learnt a lot throughout the semester with Prof Mimi and she was very supportive in guiding me and giving me honest opinions about my progress and art works along the way. So thank you Prof Mimi! Andddd I am going to take a break to pay off all my sleep debts accumulated throughout the final submissions period. Ciao for now!

 

 

 

1 ) Cut Out Colour Construction Paper: img_20161119_163218                 I tried out glossy construction paper for the “short-fused” me and the matte construction paper for the “humpty dumpty”. However, I didn’t like both as the glossy one tends to break easily and both seem to be rather flat in colour since the paper itself is uniform. Even if there is a mix of colour, it was kind of unpleasant since the edges and the contrast between the 2 were too hard. 

 

2 ) Cut Out Art Card and Paint:

img_20161119_170422 img_20161119_173023

img_20161119_182249

I then attempted to use the cut out art card and then paint it over instead. However, due to the surface of the art card, the colour could not be retained. When my finger rub just ever so lightly, the red poster colour became chalk like and falls off. Hence I have decided to sketch on paper and paint them instead.

3 ) Sketch on paper Paper and Paint:

dsc_8373

dsc_8375

Final Product:

img_20161116_092619

It is easier to blend the colours needed on paper as compared to the rest of the experiments.

Sketches of my characters:

img_20161119_142326

Attempt to draw the frames out:

img_20161119_142310

Happen to think of these that inspired me:

Ketsuekigata-kun! 

Simple Thinking About Blood Type is a Korean 4-panel webtoon by art teacher Park Dong-sun under the art name “Real Crazy Man”. The webtoon is themed around blood type personality classification.

ketsuekigata-kun

ketsuekigata-kun-2

ketsuekigata-kun-3

ketsuekigata-kun-4

Their various interactions in a cartoony way really got me thinking and I began to realise that I did not want a very life like feature in my creations but more of a cartoony feel.

The Simpsons:

simpsons-3 simpsons

simpsons-2 simpsons-4

Another cartoon that got me thinking was this and how I felt like their bulgy eyes are somewhat funny and interesting and decided to adopt that into my characters as well.

The minions movie:

the-minion-movie

minion-girl

Personally I find that the minions are very adorable creatures and perhaps I should adapt the minions features into my characters as well since they give off a “blur” look which is quite like me hahaha. As for Agnes, I used to have this bangs cut fringe as well with the roundish face when I was younger, hence also giving me another inspiration to adapt this feature into my characters.

Gudetama: 

gudetama

Gudetama is a Sanrio egg-turned-mascot character with its name from a combination of the words “gude“(pronouced goo-deh), which is a Japanese onomatopoeia for describing something or someone with no energy or strength, and “tama” from the word tamago, which means egg in Japanese. I have decided to adapt this character into my first equation (the flat omelette).

Something I created using wires: 

for-fun

 

 

Various equations I came up with and considered:

  1. Lazy me + exercise = healthier active me
  2. Blur me + meet dead ends = smarter me
  3. Frustrated me + late night walks = calmer me
  4. Stressed me + slam pillows around in bed room = back to normal me
  5. Tired me + milo boost from fridge = energized me
  6. Flabby me + constant exercise = fitter me
  7. Me + phobia of ringing bells in the temple = “lightning” me
  8. Busy me + staying up late x nights = panda me
  9. Me with no arts background + lessons in adm = more artistic me
  10. Me with poor balance + ice skating = humpty dumpty me
  11. Naggy me + ‘ mini chef’ = auntie me
  12. First aider + accident = jello me
  13. Humpty dumpty me + ice skating = flat omelette
  14. Reserved me + noisy gatherings = muted “invisible” ghost
  15. “Muted invisible ghost” + noisy gatherings = “dissipate into mist”
  16. Sloth me + piling deadlines = octopus- like sloth
  17. Short-fused me + inconsiderate roommate = exploding urchin

Eventually I chose equations 13, 14, 16, and 17 for the EGO project.

Personally I find some of the phrasing of the equations to be awkward, such as 2, 4 and 7 even though they each represent something that is rather significant such as my phobias and what do i usually do when I am alone. Since I was unable to come up with a better phrasing, I “rejected” those equations for the final selection. 

 

Colour notions and colour systems- (Trey, Zihong and Mathias presentation):

Colours are split into tangible and intangible colours. There was an introduction to the addictive colour system (RGB) (often used in televisions and theatres) and the CMYK colour system (normally used in paintings).

For colour notions, there is the Munsell colour system with 3 main attributes of HVC.

Hue: Quality by which we distinguish 1 colour from another. 5 basic colours: R, Y, B, G, P & 5 intermediate colours: 10 step colour scale

Value: Value by which we distinguish the light colour from the dark. Neutral axis refers to the gray level of colour. (White è Black) = (Scale of 1 to 10)

Chroma: Quality that distinguishes the difference from a pure hue to a gray shade. Measured radially from the        centre with increments of 2. Not uniform for every hue (purple more than yellow)

Applications: Identify colour for scientific research (Munsell). While Pantone is a more accurate colour series for devices and it has specific orange and gold colours.

Colour properties- (Yu Qing and Sandhya presentation)

Hue: is broken down into 12 basic colours by which they consist of 3 primary, 3 secondary, 6 tertiary colours and infinite hues (mixing).

Pure hues are without any white, black, grey or complementary colours in them.

Mix 2 primary hues to get a secondary hue.

Broken hue: is a combination of unequal properties

Tint: add white to it è pastel è can even change primary hue to secondary hue. ( normally used in marketing and designing)

Shade: Darken by adding black to it.

Tone: 1) Broader Tones: Mixture of pure colours with any neutral / grayscale colour including 2 extremes- white and                   black.

           2) Narrow Tones: without black and white.

Saturation: (also known as intensity or chroma) refers to the dominance of pure hue (pure colour = 100% and grey=10%)

Value and Lightness: HSV model   

hsv-model

 

Colour illusions and emotions- (Veron, Xu Han, Eu Chian presentation)

Colour illusions: images where surrounding colours trick the human eye into incorrect image.

Complementary colours: e.g. red and green è green may seem brighter when placed next to each other

Simultaneous Contrast and Successive Contrast

Edges: increase contrast to create depth

Colour emotions: they gave examples of how different colours evoke different emotions in people. (e.g. white represents purity and peace where yellow represents energy and happiness.)