Project 5 : Guardian of the Singapore

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Theme

The theme of my piece is about the Singapore army, who are making their every effort to protect us from the outside danger day and night. It is their effort that leads Singapore and the people of Singapore walk towards prosperity.

Idea Formation

After deciding the theme, I started to think how to present my theme. I was inspired by the movie In the heart of the sea which is talking about a story of the guardian whale, then I suddenly came up with an idea: Why can’t I make the Singapore a whale ? The the rest ideas came up like a blast—— They are whales so it must relate to ocean and it would be a good idea that I let the people of Singapore walking on a bridge protecting by the whale, and this bridge can lead them towards the sun which indicates the prosperity

So I quickly draw out a sketch according to my idea:

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Process

First thing first, the ocean:

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I did the ocean using lino-cut, one third rule is applied to the sea that I left around 1/3 space for the sky. After finishing cutting I found that if I turn the sea upside down it would look better.

Before:

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After:

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Still first thing first, the bridge:

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To form a colorful contrast, I used the complementary color of blue which is orange and I applied rule of thirds to the bridge to put it at the 1/3 side of the ocean. Besides to make the bridge means more than a bridge, I decided to copy the pattern of the Singapore monument:

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after I cut it out using orange paper, I placed it on the ocean just like a bridge, besides to make it more Singapore, I added some famous landmark on it:

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The landmark it very difficult to cut since i was using paper cut, I spent like 5 plus hours on it:

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For the marina bay sand, the windows is the most difficult part since it is very small and there are a lot of them. Then i used analogous color on the windows to show the changing of the sunlight.

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For the merlion, the scale of the statue is like ten times harder than MBS. Firstly I tried to use paper cut but i fail because of the scale, then I tried lino-cut and again I fail due to the scale, so for the third time I decided to draw it out and I made it. Besides I added some color on its head

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After finishing the bridge, I started to do the whale and the sun:

For the color of the sun, I used split-complementary color of orange and blue which is yellow, so I cut it out from yellow paper and paste it. As for the big whale the reason I put it here opposite to the bridge’s direction is because I want to balance the asymmetry caused by the bridge.

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To do the whale, to make it the embodiment of the Singapore army, I downloaded the image of the army print and change the color from green to blue

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Then I cut the whale out and for the whale at the faraway, I decided to use single color instead of army print since it’s at faraway.

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So my first draft was done:

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Don’t know how I felt that something was missing, then I suddenly realized that I missed the people and the background, for the back ground I decided to use the map of the singapore

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After which I also added shadow to the people:

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So far the whole piece looks pretty good, then later I added the sunlight and did few adjustment to it.

For the background the reason I chose black is because I found that black is working very well with yellow since the composition of black and yellow looks very energetic.

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Interesting Stuff

The disable:

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The little girl on the whale :

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The little girl is a salutation to the movie Schindler’s list, which is one of my favorite movies.

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Takeaway

Looking back to my whole process, I realized that I spent like 80% of my time on the detail of my piece but they are rarely or never noticed by thepeople (like the window and the shadow). But without these detail my paint would looks very bad. So I learnt that detail do matter no matter it will be noticed or not.

Final piece:

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Black & White Lino-Cut Print

Storyline: A train passing through the wild and a bridge, along with the pollution done by the industry development.

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Some porcesses:

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First Frame:

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The one-third rule is applied to the cup. For the inner part of the train, I cut out many irregular lines on the wall to express the feeling of heavy and messy. However, the steam from the coffee cup gives a feeling of relaxing which forms a contrast with the wall. For outside part, I used space depth (barren mountains) to balance the asymmetry caused by the steam. Besides, the dying tree and the barren mountains are placed to shows the pollution done by the industry. Furthermore, sky is carved out with different kinds of shapes of clouds to show the emotion of heavy and messy.

Second Frame:

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The one-third rule is applied to the moving train. The steam and sky are carved out with different kinds of shapes to show movement and messy feeling due to the pollution. Light is coming from the back of the picture, caused the train to be very dark which gives a feeling of relaxed. Moreover, the space below the bridge is carved unclean in order to correspond to the feeling of messy. At last, deep space is applied by placing several barren mountains at the back to keep the balance of the whole frame. The second frame has more white spaces compared to the previous one.

Takeaway:
It is not easy to convey your idea via linocut and you have to be very careful where you are doing the linocut because there is no way to patch them back when you made a mistake. Surprisingly I found out that my final pieces looks pretty good. For most of the sky and steam parts I just carved out randomly and it turns out to be fantastic. By the way, I think that linocut is very good at showing the contrast between light and shadows.

Art Critique 3

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First Feeling:

I feel vital when I first see this artwork, the color of the tree and the sky makes me feel that everything is prospering.

Analysis:

Lines are used to outline the shape of the objects (tree, mountain, buildings and clouds). This painting has a rough texture and its scale is realistic. Complex shape are used to represent the tree, the clouds and the building. This artwork has a deep space and the light source comes from the front of the picture since the light reflection is found on the top tree’s leaves, depth is used to show the vast of the scenery.

Analogous colors (red, orange and yellow) are applied to this artwork. Majority of the colors are red and orange which allows it to show the prosperity of lives, besides the red color at the lower part stands out and become the center of attention. Monochromatic colors are also applied in the artwork to show the shadows and reflection.

The lacquer artwork Landscape of Vietnam belongs to impressionist since the artist was trying to capture the best fabulous moment of the scenery in Vietnam. The arrangement of the objects is asymmetrical but the artist used the depth of the space to balance the asymmetry perfectly.

Nguyen Gia Tri was a famous Vietnamese painter for his mastery of lacquer painting. He did the lacquer artwork Landscape of Vietnam in 1940 when he was taken by the French government to a remote area. The landscape in this painting portrays the scenery where he used to stay. Furthermore I think Nguyen Gia Tri was also trying to express his love to his homeland by making this artwork. Landscape of Vietnam shows his excellent and unique skill in lacquer and with this technique, Gia’s lacquer work is certainly Vietnamese landscape and culture at its best.

Art Critique 2

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First Feeling:

This is an artwork about few people walking or fishing along the shore. I have a feeling of peace and lonely when I first see this artwork. The edgeless ocean and sky make me feel that I am too small to this world.

Analysis:

Lines are used to represent different texture such like sky, ocean and shore’s grass. Simple shapes and true scale are applied to this artwork to make it realistic. The light source comes from the back of the picture which makes the people on the shore cannot be seen clearly. The direction of the light source can also easily deducted from the shadow of the people. This picture has a rough texture in order to represent the sky, ocean and grass. Moreover, deep space is applied in this artwork to show the vast sea and sky.

This is a linocut artwork. The texture in this picture that linocut made creates a different feeling for me, making me feel this is a social realism artwork. Meanwhile, rule of thirds is applied to this artwork that 1/3 beneath the picture are main objects such like people and the rest 2/3 are the sky and the ocean. This artwork portrays a very ordinary scene about people walking and fishing along the shore, but the position of the shadow, the scale and the composition together creates a feeling of smallness and loneliness.

Lim Yew Kuan is a well-known second-generation Nanyang Style artist for his excellent painting, printmaking and sculpting skill. He was born in Xiamen, China and his late father was also well-known Singapore pioneer artist called Lim Hak Tai.

Seaside portrays a scene of people walking and fishing along the seaside. During the years from 1964 to 1979, Lim was serving as the second principle of the Nanyang Academy and the artwork seaside was created at the second year of his job in Nanyang Academy which is 1966. To represent the serene beauty of the tropics, Lim created this realism artwork via linocut. Seaside is considered as artists’ deep understanding of the printmaking medium which uniquely grounded his solid foundation in the art field of realism.

Art Critique 1

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First Feeling:

When I first see this artwork, I have a feeling of harmony and happiness. I feel that those people in that art work are very happy with their life.

Analysis:

Lines are used in this picture to create many objects (tree, people and animal). The scaling of the people, animals and trees are kept realistic. This artwork contains foreground and background that makes its space quite deep in order to balance the perspective weight due to the asymmetry arrangement of the foreground. The light source in this artwork is not very strong but it seems to appear from the front because the reflection on the leaves can be found.

Furthermore, simple shapes are applied in this artwork and this artwork has smooth texture due to its simple shapes. The artists use analogous color (brown, yellow, green and blue) to create a feeling of harmony. Monochromatic colors are also applied in the artwork to show the shadows and reflection.

The oil painting artwork Mother Nature’s Bounty Harvest shows a scenery where people are being busy with harvesting. It is an abstractionism artwork that shows the artist’s love to the mother-nature. Besides, the artists organizes this artwork according to the rule of thirds that the folks take up about 1/3 space below while the god and the other views takes up about 2/3 spaces above. By using analogous color and simple shapes, this oil painting art work portrays a feeling of happiness and harmony.

The artists, Victorio, Galo and Carlos create this painting in 1935 commissioned for their patron’s residence. These three artists used to work on several occasion to produce public murals in rapidly modernizing Manila. Victorio is a Filipino painter who was the leader of the revolutionary Thirteen Moderns, Galo was the first Filipino artist to study heraldry and he was a member of the International Institute of Genealogy and Heraldry in Madrid and Carlos was popularly known as Botong and he was a muralist from Angono. I think these artists were trying to express their love to the land they are living and the nature so that they create this artwork.

Colour Still-life Cut-Out

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Idea:

The concept of triad harmony color (red, yellow and blue) is primarily applied in this composition. Furthermore the concepts of analogous color (purple and red) and monochromatic color (shades and reflection) are also applied in this composition.

Planning:

First thing first, I took a picture of my composition:
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Then i did a quick color analysis of my composition and I decided to use triad harmony color of blue ,red and yellow as my main color,the other colors i picked are purple,brown and so on:
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Process:

To begin with, I cut out the objects in my composition:
While I was making the body of the water bottle, I decided to use the reflecting paper to make it looks more like plastic
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Then I added sunlight and shadows to my picture:
Until then, the basic structure of my picture is formed
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To make it prefect, I continue to add details such as the deeper shadows and the reflection on the bottle to my picture and so on
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At last, I did few revisions on my picture such as the texture of the frame’s background
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Finally, my picture vs my composition:
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