Peter the Rabbit: Unfolding the tale

DA2000 – Final Project.

The tale of Peter Rabbit final composition 01

“FIRST he ate some lettuces and some French beans; and then he ate some radishes; AND then, feeling rather sick, he went to look for some parsley.” – The tale of Peter Rabbit

The tale of Peter Rabbit final composition 02

“…Peter wriggled out just in time, leaving his jacket behind him. AND rushed into the toolshed, and jumped into a can.” – The tale of Peter Rabbit

The tale of Peter Rabbit final composition 03

“Mr. McGregor caught sight of him at the corner, but Peter did not care. He slipped underneath the gate, and was safe at last in the wood outside the garden… PETER never stopped running or looked behind him till he got home to the big fir-tree.” – The tale of Peter Rabbit

The first composition shows Peter’s mischievousness and greed – for entering Mr. McGregor’s garden and devouring all the vegetables he can find/ possibly likes to eat.

The second composition depicts fear. Notice Peter is without his blue jacket because he abandoned it while making his escape from the gooseberry net. Peter is hiding in a can which is in a toolshed observing Mr. McGregor turning items around in a bid to look for Peter.

The last composition shows how Peter makes his great escape back home – never stopping to turn or look behind him till he’s safe and sound.

Overall, it has been a fun, though a little intense, experience creating these final compositions. Instead of sticking to something (relatively) tried-and-tested, I wanted to try my hand at experimenting with mixed mediums – watercolour, acrylic and ink. I also wanted to experiment with illustrative, picture-book-styled compositions instead of familiar art styles such as impressionism and symbolism. When creating these compositions, I envisioned these paintings to go along with texts from the story such that both mediums – verbal and visual storytelling, complement each other.


Reflection:
DA2000 has been an interesting and an enjoyable class. It made me learn to appreciate the purpose and beauty of colours, as well as practice making decisions to solve design problems. I learnt that meaningful art is one with a purpose, one which tells a story, one which is more than an aesthetic piece, and one which evokes emotions. The permutations and combinations of colours are seemingly infinite, and a colour palette is subjective to the creator of the works. While the little details and subtleties of a composition are essential, the whole may be greater than the sum of its parts.

Thank you everyone for the exciting Thursday evenings for the past semester, and may you have a great Summer hauls ahead!

Cheers.

Peter The Rabbit: The Journey of telling the tale

DA2000 – Final Project.

For our final project, we were given the choice of doing painting compositions or linocut printing. I chose painting because I wanted to learn the different painting techniques – such as layering, water colour, dry brush, inking with a pen, and I wanted to tell the tale of Petter the Rabbit in an illustrative manner.

Composition Sketches

The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #01
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #02
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #03
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #04
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #05
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #06
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #07
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #08
The tale of Peter Rabbit Composition Sketches #09.

After experimenting with different compositions for telling different parts of the story, and with the different colour compositions, I decided to do my final pieces on the compositions found from the coloured sketches in #04 and #05, and the last composition in #09.

Final Composition Progress

Final Composition #01 progression
Final Composition #02 choice of colours
Final Composition #03 progression

Finding a story (Part II): The tale of Peter Rabbit

DA2000 – Final Project.

As stated in the post that precedes this, I did not choose to tell the story of The Paper Menagerie as part of my final project. Rather, I decided on a classic tale that is short and simple: The tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter

This American literature classic tells the tale of a naughty and greedy rabbit, Peter, who went against the warnings of his mother and enter Mr. McGregor’s garden to have a feast of radishes, lettuce and french beans. Spotted by Mr. McGregor who was out to nab him, Peter ran and hid away in fear. The story had a happy ending in that Peter managed to make a successful escape back home.

The tale of Peter Rabbit personifies animals as its main characters, and is staged in nature – Mr. McGregor’s farm, produce from the farm, a big fir tree as Peter’s home et cetera.

The following are images I took throughout the course of working on this project which could help examine/ visualise the scenes in the tale:

Possible reference for the Fir tree in the story.
Reference for a vast field.
Reference for root of the tree.
Possible reference for the tool shed.
Reference for colour choice.
Possible reference for the doors to Peter’s house.
Possible reference for illustrating the personified rabbits.

Aside from using the photos I took as reference, I searched online for other photo references that would help with the creation of compositions. Some examples include:

Screenshot of Google search: Fir Tree
Screenshot of Google search: Rabbit eating
Screenshot of Google search: Rabbit illustrations
Screenshot of Google search: Peter Rabbit illustrations
Screenshot of Google search: Tool shed

Finding a story (Part I): The Paper Menagerie

DA2000 – Final Project.

Finding a story for our final project was a little tricky, if I were to use a word to describe it. We were tasked to create compositions which tell the tale of a story focusing on the composition angle, perspective, and colour choice. Not only must we create compositions that tell the story, we were challenged to create compositions which evokes emotions, compositions which suggests a mood and leave an impression.

The story which I first chose was The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu which sheds light on the theme of identity and familial ties. Do click the link via the title of this short story if you’d like to give it a read. I think it is a story which pokes at the heart and causes one to reflect, not exactly because of relatability but rather the themes the author explore, his choice of dictions and the flow of the story itself.

In the initial stages of planning, I explored different parts of the story to place emphasis on. The following are the documents to support the process of thinking and planning:

The Paper Menagerie composition brainstorming #01.
The Paper Menagerie composition brainstorming #02.
The Paper Menagerie composition sketches.
The Paper Menagerie Colour Sketch #01.
The Paper Menagerie Colour Sketch #02.
The Paper Menagerie Colour Sketch #03.
The Paper Menagerie Colour Sketch #04.

After exploring the different compositions – varying the perspective of the same scene and exploring the choice of colour, I felt that The Paper Menagerie is better told using film. Static compositions may not do the story’s rich emotions justice. Rather, when accompanied by dynamic film movements, varied cuts, scripts, movements and sound, the meaning behind The Paper Menagerie would be better brought forth.

Thus, I decided not to embark on this tale for my final work.

Linocut

The Garden of Eden composition sketch 01.
The Garden of Eden composition sketch 02.
Rubber stencil of Linocut – phase 1
Rubber stencil of Linocut – phase 2
Linocut print #01
Linocut print #02
Linocut print #03
Linocut print #04
Linocut print #05
Linocut print #06

Gouache Painting

Gouache Painting – First Attempt
Gouache Painting Final Piece

22 March 2018.

In this week’s class, we were tasked to paint a scene in school using gouache, making a conscious effort to use one of the hue harmonies taught in class.

For my first attempt, I wanted to play around with colours and use colours which are not conventionally symbolic of the objects themselves. For example, using blue as the casing of the fire hose reel box in place of the commonly known colour: red.

For my final piece, I decided to try my hand at tetrad harmony (also known as ‘double split complementary’). As part of using tetrad harmony, the main colours chosen for my final piece are blue, purple, and yellow, though only hints of yellow can be seen in the trees (greenish-yellow) and walkways (pale-yellow). A brown undertone is also used, possibly adding to the slight sense of melancholy in this composition. Can you guess which part of NTU this is?