Hello! I haven’t updated for sometime now. Let’s get straight into it!

I’ve had a few setbacks these past weeks- falling sick twice threw me off course for my progress so I’m starting to really hustle for the upcoming week.

and

I have decided to focus on my flaws:

1. Nosy (Curious)
2. Conformist (Obedient)
3. Open (Big mouth)
4. Demanding (I need to get what I want/ stubborn)

Since I will be turning 20 this year, it sort of marks a ‘milestone’ for me. My age can no longer be under the teenager category- my age is officially an ‘adult age’. I thought it would be interesting to explore the two polarities of immature and mature, and to portray my struggle as I transition into an adult, trying to reconcile two extremes.

I came up with this concept when I was researching my reference artists and realised that the art I was drawn to was sort of childish, colourful, playful and bright. I know everyone says that there’s an inner child in every adult but I feel like this topic looks at it in a different angle.

 

In my first consultation with Joy, as I told her about a few of my ideas that I had, for one concept she pointed out that the attributes that I chose seemed to be categorised into collecting stuff vs projecting (directing) control. There was the theme of additive and subtractive.

For my second concept she also pointed out that I was exposing and recognising polarities (opposites) and she suggested that I explore the reconciliation between both. I completely agree with her in that finding the balance AND showing it visually would be more challenging and stronger of a concept rather than just exposing polarities.

Another thing she prompted me to think about was the use of light. I don’t remember in what context she was talking about but she commented something about one of my attributes which was very intriguing. That attribute was me being too revealing abut my personal life- almost like I’m an author of my biography. Joy suggested two opposites: the author of the diary (dark) VS the author of achievements (light). This really got me thinking- how do I project myself? How do others view me VS how I view myself?

 

Generally, I definitely want to be hands-on as I feel like this method is most true to my self.

I’ve made some sketches and experimented just a bit with a few mediums as seen in the pictures below. Im still trying to figure out some conceptual stuff to make it solid.

 

 

*I realised I forgot to put up these photos and had to add them back today….

 

 

 

 

In our group consultations, I voiced my concerns on how I would reconcile the two polarities between adult and child. Shanelle suggested that I use ‘Lenticular painting’ which enables you to see the two sides.

 

I thought it was a really good idea, but this itself poses a lot of challenges as I haven’t decided whether I want to create actual typography. I’m still considering this!

Another interesting thing that was brought up was when Ying Li noticed that I spelled out ‘W’ as doubleyou. Joy then added on and brought me to light on the existence of ‘ambigrams’. They are words that you can read in more than one direction. It’s sort of like an optical illusion, but in a word format haha. I thought that was pretty cool and could really help bring in more depth to my concept/compositions.

I also gathered other ideas as others were discussing their work:

• The concept of background and foreground. How can you push that to bring meaning?
• How culturally relevant are the attributes? In a certain culture, this attribute may be viewed positively whereas in another, it may be considered as a flaw.
• Using symbolism to relay your message- I really loved Shanelle’s intricate drawings. It had a lot of meaning to it and was really well executed.

Overall, the group consultations were extremely interesting, and I gained valuable insight on how other approached their projects and saw how people worked differently.

Therefore I am inspired to jump on the bandwagon and pump out the most of what I can offer before the presentation:

The time I have left is pretty short, but I feel like this added pressure will only help me become more productive.

I feel like I spent a lot of time on this project worrying and worrying about how I would execute it, and I concentrated on the wrong things.

🙁

I’ve calculated that I have only 5 days left (which is less than a week!!)

I’ve written out my action plan:

Saturday

1. Experiment more with the different handmade typography
2. Record in visual journal.

Sunday

1. Still experimenting
2. Record in visual journal
3. Post progress on OSS!
4. Decide the visual layout of each composition (sketches, which part if my name to use)
5. Confirm on the format
6. Begin the first composition

Monday

1. Finish the first composition. Begin on the other three.

Tuesday

1. Finish all 4 compositions!!!!!!

Wednesday

1. Buy frames from Ikea-
2. Prepare presentation notes
3. Practise presentation
4. Final touchups
5. Maybe post on OSS?

My first project for the second semester didn’t really go off on a good start, but I’m determined to persevere and do my best!