Me working on assignments + Distractions = Procrastinating me
Scaredy-cat me + Dangers = Me with Extreme Safety Measures
Gallery viewing + Presentation :)
There were so so many amazing works!! It was really nice to see how everyone chose to represent themselves as well as the equations that they express.
Eheheh what a great end to Foundation 2D!
Overall, this project has been a challenging one. Just ideation alone took me a really long time as I kept revising what I had. The drawing process wasn’t easy either, as I had to work around with different compositions and decide which works the best — especially troublesome when it comes to traditional media as I had to erase everything and start over. Learning about colour theories has also pushed me to really think carefully before I apply colours instead of the usual dabbing of colours based on instincts. This is the first time I actually obediently followed through a colour scheme. It was worth it though, as I really liked the end result. Nevertheless, I still feel that the painting can be improved, especially in terms of tones. Watercolour is really a difficult medium!!
When I first started, I sketched out a few random ideas that were in my mind. In my first brainstorming session, this was what I came up with:
From up to down,
Me being very reluctant to leave the bed + Sunrise in a mountainous area = Sleepy me trekking up the mountain at 3AM while being in a sleeping bag (This is inspired by my trekking trip in Sikkim several years ago, where I had to wake up early to catch the sunrise but I was really sleepy)
Greedy Me + Food Buffet = Me gulping down everything
Me poor like a church mouse + shopping mall on sale = Me buying everything I want but starving for the rest of the week
Me feeling cold + hot spring = Roasted but satisfied me
The reason I wanted to use architectural settings (the shopping mall and bath house) is because I was initially inspired by a illustration artist Me Kyeoung Lee who illustrated South Korean Corner Stores:
Accessed from http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2017/03/corner-store-illustrations-by-me-kyeoung-lee/
However, I couldn’t generate sufficient ideas that make use of architecture illustrations and had to abandon this concept as it was causing my ideation to be very restricted.
Following that, I continued brainstorming for more possible equations
Left: sleepy me + tea = me continue sleeping in tea
Right: Poor like a church mouse me + bombarded by cheap deals on online shopping sites like Taobao and Ezbuy = Delirious me digging for gold in an empty piggy bank while holding up shopping loots.
Left up: Clueless me working on assignments + Research = Even more clueless me
Left down: Unfit me + Gorgeous scenery in mountains = ‘trekking’ up to admire the scenery by being dragged by the yaks
Right up: Me being immersed in a book + a fun and highly tempting activity = me being distracted while still trying very hard to reading the book
Right down: Me feeling very hot + all things cool = me getting cooled down as if I am dissected and fitted into different sections of the fridge
Up: Scaredy cat me + big waves on a beach = me taking extreme safety measures and only daring to go to a swimming pool
Down: Me in Nature + I see cool insects = Me staring and admiring at the insect forever
Narrowing down to several ideas that I am more fond of, I decided to work on thumbnail sketches to get a sensing of the colours and composition of the equations. I have decided on complementary colours because I was not confident of handling the very versatile watercolours (especially when the paint mix to form another colour) and restricting to two colours will help a lot.
After the thumbnail sketches, I was more or less settled on the following:
sleepy me + tea = still very sleepy me
poor like a church mouse = shopping deals = me spending everything
Me feeling very hot + all things cool = me getting cooled down
I was unsatisfied with the rest of the ideas and decided to explore further.
Left top: me in nature = cool insects = me camouflaged as the same insect while quietly staring at it, being careful not to scare it away
Left bottom: Scaredy-cat me + danger = me with extreme safety measures and living to long age
Right: I listed down traits of myself to help identify potential ideas to work on.
More sketches…
Here, I’ve finally decided on the final four ideas:
Sleepy me + tea = still very sleepy me
Scaredy-cat me + Dangers = me with extreme safety measures
Me feeling very hot + a waft of cool air = blissful and contented me
Me working on assignments + distractions = Procrastinating me
Moving on, I did a first draft of the illustrations to get an even better idea of what I am expecting. However, it went wrong when I used a marker to outline the drawings before painting over. As a result the marker smudged when the paint is applied, causing the colour to be a few shades darker and dirty as well. Although this made the end-colour less representative of the actual one, it was nevertheless useful in allowing me to decide which parts to be coloured what colour.
1. Sleepy me + tea = still very sleepy me
I used sleeping beauty because one of the most prominent feature of her is, well, sleeping; and so I thought it would be very apt to use sleeping beauty to represent the very sleepy me.
In the not-too-long-ago past, tea used to be an effective way to wake myself up. However, perhaps due to the overdose of tea as a result of many many late nights, somehow it’s effectiveness has reduced. Maybe my body has gotten used to it.
Anyway, this equation is a very apt description of myself these days, where I’m perpetually sleepy all day around, and even after gulping down tea, I still feel sleepy.
Colour: Yellow-purple. To represent sleeping-beauty (a princess), I chose to use purple since the colour represents ‘royalty’ as learned from the colour theory presentation by my peers. Yellow was a suitable colour as it suits the colour of tea.
References while drawing:
Me feeling very hot + a waft of cool air = blissful and contented me
I used a polar bear because they are very adversed to heat and warmth and they are the ones that need a cold climate the most.
In the first frame, the polar bear is so hot that it has to tear of its fur coat to reveal the black skin below. Also the lower body of the polar bear has melted. In the second frame, there is a waft of cool air, as shown by the little snowman. Lastly, it is revealed that the wind is just from the very tiny hand-held fan, but even so the small amount of cool wind is enough to satisfy the polar bear.
Colour: Orange-blue. Orange to represent the sun/warmth/heat in the first frame, and blue to represent coolness/ice bergs in the Arctic.
References while drawing:
Me working on assignments + distractions = Procrastinating me
I am usually a very slow worker, and hence I represented myself as a sloth. At the same time, I have such a wide span of interests that I often digress from my work. This include very random searches on google as well as sudden urges to read a book/watch a vid/ engage in some kind of activity. As a result, I often end up procrastinating and slow worker+procrastination= time will always fly past way too quickly than I’ll like. As seen in the third panel, I am riding on a rocket that is expelling calendar dates, signifying that time is passing very quickly while I indulge in other activities.
If you compare to the final work, you can see that the composition for this particular equation has changed a lot as I wasn’t satisfied with it.
Colour: Orangeishbrown-Turquoise. The colour is chosen so that the sloth can be more easily recognised compared to, say, a blue sloth or a green sloth.
References while drawing:
Scaredy-cat me + Dangers = me with extreme safety measures
I am somehow very imaginative when it comes to potential dangers/injuries that can occur in all sorts of scenarios, and hence even though I really like adventurous activities, I also try my best to prevent myself from landing into any kinds of danger.
In the first panel, I drew a tortoise that is hiding in its shell to show that it is scared. The second panel illustrates all the danger zones and warning signs. In the third panel, the tortoise, armed with all sorts of safety equipments like helmets, elbow guards, knee guards, as well as joss sticks for praying, floats across the danger zones safely. This is rather ironic as a tortoise already has a very protective and hard shell, yet it still needs external equipment to protect itself from dangers.
Colour: Green-red. The choice of colour is very straightforward here: green because it best represents a tortoise, and red because red colour is a very intense colour associated with energy, war, and danger.
References while drawing:
Yay!
If you notice, in all the equations, the setting (2nd panel) will have some of its elements repeated in the final panel. This is initially found in a few equations in my very early thumbnail sketches
(This one!)
Mimi noticed it, and suggested that I repeat that in every equation, thus now you can see that the tea cup, the little fan, the distractions as well as the danger signs are repeated in the last panel.
Working on the final product
Pencil sketch first…
Colour by colour..
The table in hall is so smal!
I didn’t take much photos while working on the final work ~(｡☉︵ ಠ@)>
The final illustrations!!
I faced some problems deciding the colour for the bed frame and the mattress because I didn’t want entire bed+frame to be yellow as it’ll be difficult to tell them apart, but at the same time having a purple bed and a purple dress also result in the same problem. I end up opting for a lighter shade of purple for the mattress.
I couldn’t figure out how to show the transparency of the tea cups here :<
Here sleeping beauty hugs the tea bag as a pillow and continues sleeping while being submerged in tea.
The orange circle at the back represents the sun, and the polar bear is frustrated by the heat. That’s why the fur coat is peeling off to reveal the black skin underneath, and the lower body is also melting.
I added snowman and snow flakes and snowballs to show that the air is cool.
The fan element is repeated here. If you look closely, the polar bear is holding a tiny fan!! This shows that when you are feeling extremely hot, even a tiny waft of cool air from a tiny fan is enough to satisfy you.
The pencil lead is broken, after only writing my surname… this goes to show my slow-ness. There are so many empty assignments at the back waiting to be worked on, yet I’m still writing my name on the first paper…
This are some of the things that distracts me: drama series, animation movies, CALVIN AND HOBBES, my phone, and fooood. I used the cloud to represent how these things are always lingering in the back of my mind, waiting for the opportunity to pounce out and steer me away from work.
The distractions are repeated here if you look closely! Also, the date of the calendar is actually the submission date, which is 15th November. The trail of numbers that are ejected from the rocket is actually dates: Nov 1, 2, 3, 4, all the way to 14.
A scared me is depicted as a tortoise in a shell.
I wanted to illustrate danger here, but simply using the typical danger signs and human skull didn’t feel quite enough, hence I changed the human skull danger sign to a tortoise skeleton so that it ties in with the tortoise theme better.
Here, a blissful and safe tortoise floats past all dangers, while praying fervently for its safety and adopting all measures to protect itself on top of its hard turtle shell.
For this project, I was aspiring towards a children book kind of illustration style. I was inspired by the following artists who I follow on instagram:
1. @andy_estra // Andy Estrada
Screenshot taken from https://www.instagram.com/andy_estra/?hl=en
I really like his illustration style! It is very quirky, expressive and dramatic. If you observe my final work, I have actually referenced him quite a bit in terms of drawing the facial expressions and learning how I should work with movement in each panel
2. @bshum79
I really like his use of vibrant watercolours as well as his use of space.
Screenshot from https://www.instagram.com/bshum79/
3. Various illustrations from children books!
For this, there is no fixed artist that I was referencing. I was mainly looking around at children book illustration style as that was the kind of look I was going for in my work. I have been looking through various Instagram accounts that posts such works such as @childrenswritersguild and @childrenillustration.
Screenshot from https://www.instagram.com/childrenswritersguild/?hl=en
Some of the works I’ve saved from various accounts!
4. @friederikeablang
Initially, I was extremely keen to follow this style!! It is so clean and simple and nice. The way the artist made use of the brown paper as skin tone of people was also very intriguing. I even went as far as to private message the artist on instagram to ask what type of paper and paint were used. ミ●﹏☉ミ
Screenshot taken from https://www.instagram.com/friederikeablang/
Eventually, I decided to stay with watercolour because by the time he replied, it was kinda late to buy new materials already ?. Nevertheless, if you can tell, I was trying to emulate the way empty space is used. In my own work, I’ve tried to keep it uncluttered and plain.
colour theory
I’ve learned a lot about colour theory from my peers presentation. The part about colour schemes were particularly helpful for this project.
There are 6 basic ways to combine colours: Complementary, Analogous, Triadic, Split-commentary, Tetradic
If you’re lazy to download the file, here are some important points from our research:
General Introduction:
Accessed from https://jessbens.wordpress.com/2012/02/19/dot-line-and-shape/
Dot, line, and shape are the basic elements of design
Elements are components or parts which can be isolated and defined in any visual design or work of art. They are the structure of the work, and can carry a wide variety of messages.
Dot
A point is that of which there is no part — No part = no width, length, or breadth
In pure geometric terms, a point is a pair of x, y coordinates.
Use of points:
Vanishing point
The spot on the horizon line to which the receding parallel lines diminish
Creates depth
In art: Yayoi Kusama, Benday dots (in comic illustration), Neo-impressionism movement (A Sunday on la grande jatte)
Accessed from https://hirshhorn.si.edu/kusama/Accessed from https://georgetowner.com/articles/2013/08/15/lichtenstein-blockbuster-proclaims-power-print/
Line
A line is a length without breadth.
Graphically, lines exist in many weights; the thickness and texture as well as the path of the mark determine its visual presence.
Use of Line
In composition or image
Lines are important to guide your eyes.
Horizontal lines suggest a feeling of rest
Vertical lines often communicate a sense of height
Diagonal lines convey a feeling of movement
Curve lines can convey energy
Use of line to create optical illusions
Accessed from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/1f/8d/f3/1f8df341ebeff6b434decffc666559f5.jpg
Use of line in Fine Art: Chua Ek Kay
Accessed from http://www.theprivatemuseum.org/index.php/exhibition/old-campus-revisited/
Use of line in fine art: Gene Davis
Accessed from https://www.artsy.net/artist/gene-davis
Shape
A surface is that which has length and breadth
Shapes are planes with edges.
When a form or shape has regular contours, when internal and external measurements are mathematically similar in multiple directions, we think of the form or shape as geometric.
Organic shapes and forms are typically irregular or asymmetrical.
Use of Shape:
We see shapes every day in logos, flags, books, clothes etc.
TV test screen
Accessed from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gKL_3LIK2k
Local Artist Yeo Chee Kiong: “Series #02, ‘A Yoga and Pedicure DIY Session on the Beach’“
Accessed from http://cheekiongyeo.com/?language=en_gb
Use of shape in Architecture: Louvre
Accessed from https://plus.google.com/communities/115746467979626722538/stream/62b9e0b2-17eb-434b-a8ea-f24a54624569
Point, Line and shape
All 3 elements combine Patterns, Compositions (Art)
Pattern: A regular repetition of lines, shapes, colours, or values in a composition.
Henry Moore’s Wallpaper Design
Accessed from http://midcenturymoderndesign.tumblr.com/post/62745744987
Kandinsky Composition viii
Accessed from http://www.wassilykandinsky.net/work-50.php
And it comes! The day of final submission! Three weeks of mark-making and it’s now over!
My work:
Top down: Amazement, exasperation, affection, melancholy, mortification, bliss
Infancy — Amazement
the marks, while representing amazement, have a touch of inquisitiveness in them
the bubble-like marks encapsulates the curiosity and wonder a child feels as he/she interacts with the world for the first time
questions and wonders pop up like bubbles in their minds spontaneously
every ink blot/circle is unique -> every child interprets our world differently, but their interpretations are all equally mesmerising and filled with precious innocence
Adolescence — Exasperation
The marks record our rebellious years where our fluctuating moods and identity confusion causes us to be dissatisfied with and exasperated at many things, be it towards our peers, our family or our parents
use of palette knife to slash paint onto the paper is just like how one feels like ‘killing’/’strangling’ a person when that person simply does not understand what you’re driving at
the thicker smears of paint is just like the huge SIGHs we make after each gradual build-up of exasperation
expresses the uninhibited aggression and frustration a teenager feels at that stage
It also portrays teenagers’ urgency to make an impression and assert their identity and importance in this world
Love — affection
As we move through our teenage years into adulthood, we start looking for our other ‘half’ (the symmetry in this mark alludes to this)
the dreamy and fantasy-like feeling suggests intimacy and sweetness —illustrates our hopes and ideals for our partner
the emergence of love-birds-like figures from hazy fumes shows how the search for our true love often begins without us knowing what we are looking for, but it eventually reveals itself to us
Notice how the images are similar but not identical -> what I am trying to convey here is that we will find flaws in even our perfect fit, but we must learn to embrace them and accept them for who they are
Mid-Life crisis — Melancholy
Looming spectres and the use of lines of different weights and intensity creates the illusion of depth — some of our troubles are further away while others are right in our face
Hazy background -> melancholy feelings do not usually have an identifiable source of sadness, yet the feeling is pervasive and omnipresent
Sparse marks help to convey the idea of hollowness and emptiness
Using the palette knife to slash the paper with ink exemplifies how pangs of grief strike a melancholic person
Illness/the approach to old age — Mortification
Paper marche effect created by using newspaper with glue and water
The marks were made by crumpling the paper, and then rolling the roller across the creases
memory fades, vision darkens, creases appear
the use of newspaper: words giving themselves up to the void, along with all the meaning they used to contain
fragmentation: highlights the dissonance/ confused state of mind one is in as you grow frail
Death looms, close enough to be weighing on your chest
Before the final end — bliss
This mark presents a strong juxtaposition to the ‘mortification’ strip
One learns to find peace with oneself and finally achieve a sense of serenity and solidarity
The cloudy/ dreamy mark prompts one to reminisce about one’s childhood and life experience
Death becomes a relief from suffering
the soft outlines represents how death is like a restful/gentle sleep
Presentation!
I really love the museum-style presentation — we lay out our works just like how they’ll look in a gallery and we are walked through the works one by one. It was really intriguing to learn about what my peers did and how they interpreted different emotions differently from me.
Thanks friends for the encouraging comments :D
Some Reflections
Overall I’m rather proud of my work but I feel that I could have explored even more with different mediums and materials. I initially thought that this project would be easy, but that was not true at all — it was only through tireless experimentation that I am able to generate my final pieces. But it was only through this process that I came to realise the importance of experimentation as an indispensable part of the creative process because there were so many inspirations that only revealed themselves to me along the way. All in all, mark-making is a highly therapeutic activity. I really had a lot of fun working on this project :)
Here are some documentation of the process I’ve been through for mark-making. I realise I’m not a person who can multitask very well, and so I kept on forgetting to whip out my phone to record down my experimentation process.
Initial emotions research:
I wanted to get a clear idea of what each emotions represented. Hence I did several small mind-maps for each emotion category and researched on each specific emotion to ensure that my understanding of that emotion is correct.
Experimentation for melancholy:
The feeling of melancholy is something that I believe everyone can instinctively understand as the wrenching throb in the heart but troubles to eloquently put the emotion into words. And so when I tried to express melancholy in my marks, I tried to keep the the marks to a minimum so that the empty space (the paper) gives a more pervasive feeling of hollowness and emptiness.
I made this by spreading glue around the paper first, and then sprinkling charcoal crumbs previously crushed. When the glue dries, only the charcoal is left behind, obediently following the trail of glue. I thought the idea was interesting, but I didn’t have any use for it in my final 6 emotions
To see more of my process, please refer to my visual journal :DD
This was what I had after a week of experimentation:
Consultation with Mimi
Mimi said that my works were too symmetrical (I agree!!!). I actually did try making some strips that were asymmetrical but I discarded them because they looked too bad. But I should really experiment more with having asymmetrical designs or having the idea of gradual up of emotions in order to make my works more exciting
Mimi also mentioned that I shouldn’t be working on newsprint alone. I took her advice and experimented with canvas, watercolour paper and newspaper later on :) I also tried to vary my medium by using acrylic and watercolour (wanted to use oil but it wouldn’t dry in time)
Can try collaging the works! See if anything interesting comes out of it!
There has to be an overarching theme that can hold the separate emotions together (can be in the form of songs, stories, phenomenon, or just anything)
Even though Mimi said that I have a wide variations of line work, she said to be careful when choosing my final 6 strips to prevent having the works looking too similar (especially since I seem to have the tendency to product mark-making that fills up the entire page)
Working on my learning points from the consult, I continued experimenting with more emotions, specifically working on points raised during the consultation.
Working with asymmetry
Working with different medium:
Initial idea was to simply roll a roller over crumpled paper
I decided to work on this idea by introducing newspaper as a medium to create a paper mache effect.
I brainstormed for a suitable theme to make my emotions cohesive and coherent when seen in a certain sequence. I had a few ideas off the top of my mind but they were somewhat random. At the end, since we are dealing with emotions in this project, I started to think about what emotions themselves signify. I felt that emotions are something very ‘raw’ and very ‘unique’ to humans. Yes, some animals can feel emotions as well, but they’re not as varied nor can they reach the same depth as human emotions can. Along this line of thought, I decided that I wanted to do something that ties in very closely to what makes a human human, which is how I arrived at my theme “life”.
Brainstorming:
With this as my starting point, I started to narrow down emotions that I want to deal with. I identified the different stages of life and the emotions one most probably would have felt at that point in time:
Infancy
Adolescence
Teenager – Adulthood
Mid-life Crisis
Illness/ approaching old age
Before the final end
(Check out the journal for the full description for each stage :> )
From my huge pile of emotions, I picked out 6 emotions most representative of what one would have felt at the six identified stages of life:
Infancy — Amazement
Adolescence — Exasperation
Teenager – Adulthood — Lust
Mid-life Crisis — Melancholy
Illness/ approaching old age — Mortification
Before the final end — Bliss
I went on making the final emotions used for submission. However, I realised that the same marks can never be replicated. Even subtle differences can make a big difference to the general mood the marks elicit.
In particular, I couldn’t get ‘Lust’ the way I wanted at all even after multiple, numerous, countless number of tries and kilos of paint wasted (just kidding). In a spurt of frustration, I folded a strip that I was doing halfway, intending to discard it. However, when I opened the strip, it dawned on me how perfect Warhol’s Rorscharch technique can be applied. I started experimenting more with this technique, constantly being pleasantly surprised whenever I open the folded paper.
And so, one day before submission, I changed “Lust” to “Affection”, an emotion I thought best described the ink blot I made.
This week’s lesson was thoroughly enjoyable as I tried my hand at mark making. This was my first attempt at mono-printing and the printing machine, which were immensely interesting and fun!
Some mark making tools I brought to experiment:
leaves, tree bark, rocks, sea shells
aluminium foil, corrugated cardboard, cling wrap, non-slip mat
bottle cap, tissue, syringe
velcro, thick rubber band, buttons
my fingers
Mimi told us not to bother about the aesthetics of our prints and to explore freely — which was what I did. Here are some prints I made:
I managed to get the bold lines by using the handle of the roller. These lines feel very raw and strong — potential marks for the more intense emotions. Also, the mono-printing method is almost unpredictable because I’m just making the marks blindly without being able to see what I’m doing.
Printed a leaf! Can only vaguely see the shape and veins. And it’s too obvious that it’s a leaf — probably not very suitable here since we want to stay away from very literal/ representative marks.
Experimented with the use of combs here. The neat rows of lines produces a very nice effect. The thick rows of lines were created with corrugated cardboard.
Prints of crushed aluminium foil! The effect is really cool if enlarged, but since it’s very condensed and crammed, it doesn’t look very nice from far.
Marks made by dipping a rock into ink and rolling it around the paper. It’s quite beautiful, especially how the ink is concentrated and sparse in different areas.
Linocut! First time working around with the tools. It wasn’t hard to cut the linoleum, but getting the shape/line I wanted was hard. The lines I cut also looked rather similar — the edges are all rounded.
A linocut I made at the end of the class! I didn’t have anything in mind and was just cutting based on instincts. I’m very satisfied with this print :) (though mildly annoyed that the print I rushed through with minimal thought turned out the nicest)
Some other prints:
With this round of exploration, I’m more familiar with the tools and materials and how we can create different kinds of marks. I have a better idea of what this project is about and I’m ready to experiment and explore a lot more. Excited for the weeks to come! :D
The table in hall is so smal!
