Project 3 – Colours

Value: Perseverance

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.

To me, this quote meant that, no matter how sour a situation is, I should always try my best to make the most out of the situation. Not just because something doesn’t seem good at first impression or first try, I give up trying.

Working with this quote, I wanted to introduce fun and liveliness to my poster. This meant I needed warm and pastel-ly colours in my work. I also chose fruit as an object in my quote as it would create a focal object, rather than having too many shapes.

This poster consist of a lemon, a straw and bubbles. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This is shown by the straw sticking out of the lemon. The bubbles are pink to signify joy. Rather than treating lemons as sour, we try to perceive it positively. The lemon is also not a full rounded circle, this is because a lemon is not perfecty shaped (slightly uneven), just like how the problems being thrown to us in life, they are not perfect, but we can always turn a negative situation into a positive one for us.

Design Elements
Lines – Except for the straw, all the lines are curved. Curves suggests a form of relaxation and comfort, which are pleasing to look at. The reason why the straw is straight is because it creates stability and balances out the curves in the poster.
Texture – Lots of circles of different sizes and opacity representing bubbles, creates a happy texture.
Space – Lemon shape does not clutter the entire poster, neither does it take up too little space. Allowing space for the poster to “breathe”.
Proportion – Fizzy pink bubbles are smaller in size as compared to the lemon. It also creates focus on the lemon, while not creating clutter.
Typography – Text is aligned to the right. The comma and full stop is also aligned
Colour – Colours used are very in line with nature, like how the straw is the same colour as that of a lemon’s leaf.

Design Principles
Rule of Third – Lemon takes up 2/3 of the poster and the straw occupies the top 1/3.
Golden Ratio – We can also see the golden ratio as the lemon curves towards the placenta of the lemon, which is nearly about the golden ratio.Image result for anatomy of a lemonContrast – Contrasting colours is used where green and yellow is in analogous but pink is in contrast to both the colours.
Depth – The whole lemon is in a solid colour while the pink bubbles have a lower opacity, this allows the lemon to pop while the pink shade recedes into the background.

Gestalt Principles
Closure – Although the poster does not show the full shape of a lemon, we can tell it is a lemon due to the law of closure.

Colour Palette
My colour choice consist of light colours which have a pastel tone to it, evoking a calming effect. The yellow colour is warm which makes the lemon pop.

Yellow: An energetic colour signifying joy and happiness.
Green: Fresh and earthy.
Pink: Playful and bubbly.

I chose to use split complementary colours where it consist of yellow, green and toned down purplish red (pink). Here’s how I pair the colours together as shown in the colour wheel below.

Yellow and green are analogous to each other. Which meant that they blend well together, however I want my poster to have a playful tinge of contrast, and pink felt like the best choice. Therefore I end up using split complementary colour combination.

Difficulties
Initially my poster design was very flat because I dare not go bold with my idea. So what I did was placing my object in the center of the poster. After consultation with our teacher, I shifted my design to occupy 2/3 of the poster, and it really created more focus to the object.

It was my first time working with the pen tool and using shapes to create a design. It was difficult to use the pen tool to create desired curves, but I really enjoyed the process of learning and mastering the bicycle handle of the pen tool.

Conclusion
To conclude, I am very thankful for the opportunity to learn illustrator. I feel that it is a very valuable skill to learn in school. I now know how to create objects using simple shapes, and I have also learnt that illustrator is  much better than photoshop when it comes to creating logos and designs as it uses vector, which meant quality of image will not be compromised.

 

Poster Design Research

Research

Values
There are so many values that I feel is admirable of a respectable person. However, I feel that someone who has a never give up attitude wins it all. If a person has integrity and diligence, but is pessimistic and gives up easily, he/she could potentially make it far in life, but due to not having perseverance, did not make it in doing what he/she wants to do.

Thus, the value I chose is: Perseverance.
When Thomas Edison did not succeed in his creation, he says:

I have not failed, I’ve just found 10,000 ways that did not work.

His sheer perseverance is a motivation to all of us, that no matter how much we fail, we should always continue to persevere through life’s obstacles. He is highly respected for his work and contributions to the world. If he had given up just one time, the world today may not have this many inventions.

With that, I picked the following quote,

When life gives you lemons,
make lemonades.

Visual
I then went ahead to do some visual research.

For the first inspirational work, it is made up of three circles and one straight vertical line connecting the red to the bottom outlined circle. Also, there is a colour contrast of using only red while the rest of the circles did not have a fill. Could you tell what it is?

That’s right! It’s a wine glass. I like how satisfying it is to see all these simple shapes illustrating an object.

The next poster that inspired me was this one that says mouth Fuji. I really liked how they used the shape of lips and between the mouth, it kind of looks like teeth and an opened mouth, and yet it also looks like Mount Fuji. This poster is nice because it plays with the negative space between the mouth. The colours used are only red, black and white. A very safe choice of colours.

The next poster I saw also really attracted my attention. It uses the rule of third where the squares are all in the top 2/3 of the poster. The squares are also placed side by side to create a neat pattern. This poster speaks so much to me, although I am not diagnosed with OCD, but I believe everyone has this little OCD in them in different situation. And for me, the one misaligned square did get on my OCD nerves. By having only one square tilted, it was able to create emphasis on it.

The word OCD at the bottom 1/3 of the poster, although small, speaks a loud voice.

During our illustrator workshop, I created these icons accordingly to the class exercise examples. I also chose pastel-ish colours as I really like colours with lower saturation.

Some other shapes I created to try out the functions of illustrator:

 

A hand I created using square, rectangles, polygons and ellipse tool only!

Sketches & Mood board
I wanted to come up with a design revolving around lemons. Thus I did some sketches with lemons and lemonade (juice) in it, trying my best to sketch with simple shapes like triangles and circles.

That’s about it for my research, next up will be the actual work on the final piece! 🙂

Project 2 – Lino Carving

Title: The woman of art
I’ve always found Geisha to be a mysterious woman who lives her life to entertain men with performances and songs. There is a saying that geisha live in a separate world called the flower and willow world where courtesans were known as the flower and geisha as the willow due to their fineness, strength and grace.

Geisha are donned with a set of beautiful kimono, full face of make up, entertaining various clients, some even of high status quo, with their elegant and graceful performances. However, behind all the beauty, geisha had to attend various classes in the day, work long hours at night and attending an average of 10 parties per night. In the past, some geisha also have sad lives where their parents sell them off to be a geisha. And yet, they leave their exhaustion behind them, as they serve and perform elegantly.

The history of geisha never fail to inspire me to appreciate life. Everyone live their lives differently. I shouldn’t judge a person base on his/her cover as we never know what is going on behind that beautiful mask he/she is wearing.

Difficulties faced throughout Project 2

I guess the hardest part of this assignment was carving. I am a left handed person, but I only use my left hand to write and does everything else with my right hand. This mean that although my left hand can draw and follow pattern of the image I traced on the linoleum accurately, it does not have good control/strength over holding a tool. (I hold my chopsticks with my right hand). So while carving, there were many times that I lost control and end up slicing more linoleum than I should. And the effect of this was irreversible. Having a little bit of OCD, it hurts my eyes to see the mistake on my linoleum pad.

Another problem was with the inking. As most of my classmates prefer to hand-stamp onto the block printing paper, I had to use the machine. This is because no matter how hard I ink my linoleum pad to the paper, it was very uneven. The machine was great, but took a bit of adjusting before it could press down a nice pattern.

The ink also dry up rather quickly, and if I put another layer of paint onto the half-dried ink, it gets tacky and have some bumpy residue. Then I had to wash my linoleum pad and wait for it to fully dry before inking it again. (If it doesn’t fully dry, it will leave like a “glow” around the lines which was not pretty).

My takeaway

I like how I’m beginning to see design principles in the real world. And how things start to make sense to me. I now know the trick to taking nicer photos and also using the power of cropping which can totally transform the dimension of an image.

I learn to have patience in this assignment. We can only see the outcome of our work at the end of the day, when we finish printing it onto the block printing paper. As the process from drawing to carving would take very long, whenever I made mistake, I learnt to embrace the error instead of dreading the final outcome. The imperfections I made represents me. If I kept redo-ing my work until it is perfect with no flaws, it wouldn’t reflect the beauty of a handmade print.

Lino Carving Research

Research
Lino carving was first used between 1905 and 1913, by a group of German artists, known as Die Brücke, for wallpaper printing. Sharpe knifes with various shape tips like U or V shaped are used to cut into linoleum sheets, and then inked using a roller before imprinting onto paper.

Many lino artists have used Instagram as a platform to showcase their work  and some of them have very amazing portfolio.

One of the artist that I really like is Andrea Lauren. Her block prints are very colourful and vibrant, incorporating.

 https://instagram.com/inkprintrepeat 

I also like Scott minzy’s work as his work is made up of clean lines. He plays around with the thickness of lines to create depth and contours of his prints.

https://www.instagram.com/scottminzy/

 

Preparation
I carved out two templates which I can refer to when I am doing project 2. They are mostly based on design elements like lines and shapes.

Template 1
This was the first piece I did which includes experimenting with thick and thin lines, short and long and also curvy lines.
Template 2
For the second piece, I got a bit more adventurous with my lines. Thin and close lines, curvy lines, crosshatch, chevron prints and circles.

My classmates did really interesting presentations which opened my eyes to the world of art and design. If I were to take photos, I would always just “follow feelings”. Now I learnt that every photo must have proper proportional, scale and balance in order to let the image pop, which I will surely incorporate them into project 2.

Image result for gestalt law

I am ready to start working on my pieces!

Planning

For project 2, I thought of the story of a geisha and how it inspires me.

Our project involves the creation of two Lino-cut black and white prints.

Through research on the topic of geisha, I was able to get a better idea of what would work for me. I initially, I wanted to do a story about geisha and teahouse. However, I realize that it would be a very shallow story. Thus, my teacher suggested that I could do something along the line of geisha being my inspiration.

And that is how I researched and read up that geisha live in a world of the flower and willow. So I decide to work along that idea.

I chose to portray my flowers using sakura (cherry blossom) flowers because it is such a beautiful flower and it represents fragility and beauty of life.

For willow, I decided to use branches of willow tree. Willow tree represents strength and the ability to withstand tough challenges. Also, the branches bends in such shape that looks rough and full of tension.

And here is 60 seconds of my process, from sketching on procreate (iPad app, my first time using, was very fun!), to cutting the linoleum pad:

 

Project 1 – Mark Making

Here is my chosen 6 pieces and the story behind each

List of Mark Making equipments I used

Paint:

 

Mark Making Tools:

Process of Mark Making in the form of a Video

My thoughts behind the marks

Joy –
Bubbles makes people happy. I’ve already wanted to associate bubbles with happy emotion before I even began blowing the bubbles. The bubbles burst randomly and they mostly cluster around the bottom left.

It led me to remember about this body temperature chart based on mood. Happiness is a feeling which radiates throughout the body. Just like how the bubbles are of different degree of darkness and spreading outwards.

Paint used: Chinese Ink & Matte Acrylic Paint
Tool: Straw
Misc: Water & Soap


Relief –
When I was trying to figure out if this should be a sad or happy emotion, I chose to go with the latter because the longer I look at it, the more calming I feel it is. It gave me a feeling of letting go, letting all the cluttered darkness fade away into the gentle lightness. And that makes me feel very peaceful about it.

This piece plays on the color contrast and space. It is also in an upward movement which creates an optimistic tone.

Paint used: Chinese Ink & Poster Color
Tool: Hair Foam
Misc: Water


Euphoria –
I can’t find any words better to describe how I felt about this piece. I wanted a wavy mark to signify calmness and bliss. I used more strength to create volume and lesser strength on other parts, hopefully to depict a wave of various emotions.

It was impulsive and there was no plan. It was almost like I was riding the wave and seeing where it will take me. I spent more time thinking of ideas for other pieces. Thus it sparks an euphoric feeling just thinking that this piece was so impromptu yet came out as something I really liked.

The curvilinear of this piece makes it pleasant and positive.

Paint used: Chinese Ink & Matte Acrylic Paint
Tool: Sketchbook Paper


Frustration –
This is truly a piece of frustration. (Read on my fail attempt at using beyblade as a mark making tool below). I was running out of ideas for what marks I could create with the limited creativity I had, and an initial design I thought would be perfect, turn out to be a failure.

Out of desperation, I grabbed the ripcord from my beyblade, smeared some paint onto it and started slapping the ripcord onto my drawing block. It felt like it was speaking my true feelings. I added some finishing touch by using a toothbrush to splatter some texture to it.

The strokes run in all direction and it creates an idea of friction and tension in the piece.

Paint used: Poster Color
Tool: Ripcord


Torment –
Out of a few attempts at the hair dryer method, this was the first attempt and also the most successful attempt. My intention was to make dripping blood-like pattern to express the feeling of fear.

I decided to use the word torment instead of fear because torment felt like a stronger word. Also, its like reminding me of the traumatic feeling I get when I watch a gory film. (I hate horror shows with bloody scenes!)

Downward direction of the ink signifies a sinking and falling effect much like how torment draws you towards a sinking point.

Paint used: Chinese Ink & Poster Color
Tool: Hair Dryer, Hair Foam


Anxiety –
Fear, panic, nervousness, these are feelings that eats a person up. I crushed the piece to create a rough texture to signify fear. I then layered the pieces on top of each other to represent the feeling of getting “caged up”, caged by one’s own thoughts and fears.

A painting with very little white space and with erratic prints, it creates a mood of confusion, fear and everything that leads up to anxiety.

Paint used: Matte Acrylic Paint
Tool: Paper

 

Conclusion

It was very therapeutic to create marks using unconventional tools to represent emotions. It was a little tedious trying to think of happy emotions because something that is painted black is associated with darkness, fear and sadness. However, through this assignment, I also learnt that white spaces can complement black to express positive meanings too.

I tried to be creative with the tools I have around me, however I learn that random marks made by those tools were dull and could not express my thoughts behind the work.

Like I thought a spinning top (Beyblade) could give nice spiral patterns. But the result of it was paint splattering all over, including the furniture around me whoops.

I also tried to apply the pendulum effect by stringing a plastic  golf ball to a chair and swinging it, hoping to create some nice patterns. However, I could not find any meaning to the random patterns it created.

So I concluded that the paintings which involved my hands were the best at expressing the feelings I wish to portray in my work. Like they need some personal touch rather than full out randomness.

Credits:
Oral-B Toothbrush
http://www.redtomatoes.com.sg/Oral-B-Toothbrush-123-SOFT-X-2
Philips Hairdryer
https://www.ebay.com/p/Philips-Hairdryer-Hp8202-Salon-Shine-Care-Ion-Conditioning-Frizz-220v-1600w/1992046655
Sketchbook Paper
https://www.dickblick.com/products/strathmore-400-series-recycled-toned-sketch-wirebound-journals/
Music
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Scott_Holmes/Happy_Music/Happy_Ukulele_1026

 

Bonus:
Experimental pieces

Mark Making Research

For lesson 1 today, we learnt about the art of mark making and how mark making can express various meanings.  I learnt that I can create a mark making tool from anything around me. From simple disposable materials, I could make out various patterns.

Below are some of the marks I made using the materials that was provided to us in class. The materials I used includes styrofoam food packet and some plastic food packaging.

I went home to do my research and came across the website of artist, Edward A. Burke, and find his work very interesting. His work is made up of abstract shapes and prints which can be seen across his paintings and drawings. I like how he played with the spaces in the canvas and using shapes to form his masterpiece.Another artist that caught my attention is Julie Mehretu. She uses conventional mark making tools like pencil, ink and paint.

Her work is made up of densely layered abstract prints. I like how her work is composed. Messy-looking but so rich and full of dimension. If I were to do something like her, it surely will turn out like a piece of flat scribbles.

As most of the famous mark making artists I saw online uses conventional mark making tools, I decided to dive deeper into artists who uses unconventional mark making tools. It led me to the site of Vanessa Lemen. Her work is so beautiful and she uses tools like squeegees and baking spatulas.

Beautiful right?!

I went on find out what mark making tools I can utilize for the second lesson where we are required to bring two mark making objects.

i found it really amazing that a single tool can craft out so many different kind of marks.

I also did a bit of reading up on the shapes I could create with mark making.

Then I went on to research on marks and emotions. I found this article on zeven which was very helpful in my journey towards creating mark making with emotions.

Apart from the usual lines, circles and dots, this summarizes the effect different shapes and direction flow of the art work could create.

 

I decided to use materials from nature like flowers and leaves (which I dismantled a bouquet that was gifted from a friend). I also found an old crafting tool and some spare bubble wrap.

1. Mark making done with scratches and prints of leaves and flowers.

2. Bubble wrap, craft tool and a steel scourer

3. More marks using the above tools.

4. Smeared paint on the left side of the paper and folding it at different length to produce this effect.

But sadly, the rest of the flowers rotted and I didn’t preserve them, so I wasn’t able to use the beautiful flowers as mark makers for the assignment pieces.

I think one flaw I had was that most of my work was very scratchy. It makes the piece very noisy and I am not able to find a focus in the piece. I will need to practice more forms of marks like giving more color tones, density and maybe play with the strength I put on the object.