EGO – The project about Oneself.

EGO – This project was to explore and portray ourselves using a series of equations, as well as the first and only project from 2D to be dealing with colors, unlike the previous monochromatic projects. Medium was also free for us to explore, making this project one of the most interesting and enjoyable one to do.

The equations were as follows:

__________ + __________ = ME

__________ – __________ = A BETTER ME

__________ x __________ = AN IDEAL ME

__________ +/- __________ = ME IN 5 YEARS

I decided to choose watercolor as my medium as i had recently bought some dry watercolor pellets, and wanted to have some fun with them. This is my second time trying to paint something with watercolor.

I started to brainstorm what was relevant and very significant of me, and the first things that came to mind was my face, which almost every single one said that i looked fierce and grumpy, and also my curly hair, which friends who are closer had realised. In secondary school and JC, I was sometimes called “Bulldog” or “Q-mo” (curly hair). As such, I decided to make use of these identities in this project. I chose to portray a pug instead of a bulldog as a pug seems cuter and funnier, which ties in well with my humorous personality.

Thus, my equations were made as follows:

GRUMPY FACE + CURLY HAIR = ME

IDEAS – LAZINESS = MORE WORK DONE

PATIENCE x PERSEVERANCE = CALM AND RELAXED

HARD WORK + OPPORTUNITY = HAVE A GOOD JOB

 

Grumpy Face + Curly Hair = ME

GRUMPY FACE
GRUMPY FACE

Most of the pictures had the main subject occupying a huge portion of the picture so that it stands out and the message I want to bring across is very clear and simple, unless the background has something important and relevant to the message. As such, I drew a very big pug, against the red background as red signifies anger.

CURLY HAIR
CURLY HAIR

Then, I chose to draw a guy with an afro hairstyle as I felt that an afro is the epitome of curly hair. I gave the guy a pair of shades and a yellow background to have a huge color contrast, and yellow gives a happy and groovy feeling to this picture.

ME
ME

Tada! Grumpy face + curly hair = ME! The background was orange due to the addition of red and yellow, and that it represents friendliness and also passion. I put the afro wig over the pug for a simple addition which tells the message very clearly. The first equation is then complete with a very warm color scheme.

 

Ideas – Laziness = More Work Done

IDEAS
IDEAS

I can usually come up with many ideas for anything, but my laziness becomes a burden and makes me find only the easiest way out which sometimes might not be the best option. As such, I drew half a pug, obvious enough to tell that it is a pug, and a glowing neon light bulb above him to suggest “ideas”. I chose a yellow bulb against a blue background as they are complementary colors, showing a comfortably high contrast.

LAZINESS
LAZINESS

Then, i pictured a dog sleeping to represent laziness, as well as through the very soundly asleep posture. I chose a very light shade of pink as the background that the dog is sleeping on as this shade of pink is very soft, comfortable and warm, tying in with the idea of being lazy and wanting to snooze.

MORE WORK DONE
MORE WORK DONE

Then, if my ideas were not burdened by my laziness, I would have more work done! I chose to portray a pug in the foreground biting a paintbrush, his artworks in the midground, then a purple background. The artworks is to symbolize the works done by him, which i chose “Mono Lisa” (with a pug’s face as if he was drawing his friend), and “Starry Night”, which were famous paintings to show how good he is. The purple background gives the idea of luxury or royalty, going in line with how he is able to come up with such good and expensive paintings. This entire equation shows a gradual color transition.

 

Patience x Perseverance = Calm and Relaxed

PATIENCE
PATIENCE

For the third equation with multiplication, I felt that it means an attribute that I already have, but have to multiply the quantity in order for it to be ideal. I felt that I have patience and perseverance, but would be even better if I had more of these. For patience, I drew a pug next to a stop sign against a brick wall. The wall was in a faded shade of brown to show that it is dull and boring, which requires even more patience to pull through these periods of dullness and boredom. The stop sign was then in a very vibrant red to stand out from the rest of the picture, with the word “STOP”, which symbolizes waiting and to have patience.

PERSEVERANCE
PERSEVERANCE

Then, I showed a back view of a pug looking towards a very very long road across mountains. This is to show that the road is long and he has to persevere to get to the end of it, where there is a bone to represent a reward. The green mountain was to represent peace and balance, like the statement “Keep Calm and Carry On!”. The blue sky goes well with the green mountains as an analogous color scheme.

CALM AND RELAXED
CALM AND RELAXED

The last picture of this equation shows a pug sitting in a zen or yoga position on a cushion, where everything is very white and light blue. This shows the calmness if I could have a lot of patience and perseverance, and I would be able to solve and do everything, slowly but surely. This would be the ideal situation where I wouldn’t have to worry about anything and just be very relaxed.

 

Hard Work + Opportunity = Have A Good Job

HARD WORK
HARD WORK

So what would I want to happen to me to me in 5 years? One of the biggest worries of ADM students is being unable to find a job. So, of course I want to have a good job in 5 years, after I have graduated from ADM! I believe that whatever we are doing now is all hard work towards building a name for ourselves to find a good job as artists and designers. As such, I showed a pug using a dumbbell to represent the effort put in and the hard work, against a red background which represents energy and passion.

OPPORTUNITY
OPPORTUNITY

But of course, hard work alone does not necessarily pay off. We all need to have that exposure and be given that opportunity to shine and carve a name for ourselves. Success is when preparation meets opportunity. Here, I chose a door to represent opportunity. It is slightly open to let the light in, like how people see light as hope and a chance. I chose yellow as the light, and everything else is black and just silhouettes, as yellow represents optimism and hope, and also gives a high color contrast against black.

HAVE A GOOD JOB
HAVE A GOOD JOB

So, when hard work meets opportunity, I might just be able to have a good job within 5 years! I showed a small pug on a high chair to represent how new I would be to the industry and being just a very small character, but the high chair suggests a rather good job. The yellow shows happiness of being “successful” in finding a job which is enjoyable and pays well!

 

When all put together, this completes my EGO project, with a simple concept of the pug tying through the entire project and every square having a simple color composition.

EGO
EGO

Color Harmonies

Colors are everywhere, present in everything. More often than not, colors are not alone, but in fact, a combination of a few colors! So, how do colors work with each other, and how do they match?

 

COMPLEMENTARY

Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are considered to be complementary colors. (e.g. Red and Green)

The high contrast of complementary colors creates a vibrant look especially when used at full saturation. This color scheme must be managed well so it is not jarring.

Complementary - Blue and Orange
Complementary – Blue and Orange

SPLIT-COMPLEMENTARY

The split-complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme. In addition to the base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to its complement.

Split-complementary - Blue, Orange, and Yellow
Split-complementary – Blue, Orange, and Yellow

ANALOGOUS

Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. They usually match well and create serene and comfortable designs.

Analogous color schemes are often found in nature and are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

Analogous - Shades of Blue and Violet
Analogous – Shades of Blue and Violet

RECTANGLE / TETRADIC

Tetradic color scheme uses four colors arranged into two complementary pairs.

This rich color scheme offers plenty of possibilities for variation. It works best if you let one color be dominant.

You should also pay attention to the balance between warm and cool colors in your design.

Tetradic - Blue, Green, Red and Yellow
Tetradic – Blue, Green, Red and Yellow

SQUARE

The square color scheme is similar to the rectangle, but with all four colors spaced evenly around the color wheel.  Similarly, it works best if one color is the dominant.

You should also pay attention to the balance between warm and cool colors in your design.

 

TRIADIC

A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel.

Triadic color schemes tend to be quite vibrant, even if you use pale or unsaturated versions of your hues.

Triadic - Red, Blue and Yellow
Triadic – Red, Blue and Yellow

 

Colors – What do they mean?

Colors make up an important part of everyday life. They are everywhere. They give things identity and let people feel a certain kind of emotions. So what do they tend to represent?

 

RED

Red represents anger.

It also represents love, energy, power, strength, passion, heat, danger, physical courage, warmth, stimulation, masculinity, excitement, defiance, aggression, visual impact, strain and warning.

RED_anger

 

ORANGE

Orange  represents physical comfort and sensuality.

It also represents courage, confidence, friendliness, success, ignorance, warmth, security, passion, abundance, fun, deprivation, frustration, frivolity, immaturity and sluggishness.

ORANGE_Sunset

 

YELLOW

Yellow represents happiness.

It also represents brightness, energy, the sun, creativity, intellect, irresponsibility, optimism, confidence, self-esteem, emotional strength, friendliness, creativity, irrationality, fear, emotional fragility, depression, anxiety, and unstable.

YELLOW_hapiness

 

GREEN

Green represents harmony.

It also represents money, growth, fertility, freshness, balance, refreshment, universal love, rest, restoration, reassurance, environmental awareness, equilibrium, peace, boredom, stagnation, blandness and healing.

GREEN_growth

 

BLUE

Blue represents serenity.

It also represents intelligence, communication, trust, efficiency, serenity, duty, logic, coolness, reflection, calm, coldness, aloofness, lack of emotion and unfriendliness.

 

PURPLE

Purple represents introvert.

It also represents spiritual awareness, containment, vision, luxury, authenticity, truth, quality, decadence, suppression and inferiority.

PURPLE_luxury

 

PINK

Pink represents love.

It also represents physical tranquility, nurture, warmth, femininity, love, sexuality, emotional claustrophobia, emasculation, physical weakness.

 

BROWN

Brown represents seriousness.

It also represents warmth, nature, earthiness, reliability, support, lack of humor, heaviness and lack of sophistication.

BROWN_earthiness

 

GREY

Grey represents depression.

It also represents psychological neutrality, lack of confidence, hibernation and lack of energy.

GREY_depressed

 

BLACK

Black represents oppression.

It also represents sophistication, glamour, security, emotional safety, efficiency, substance, coldness, menace and heaviness.

BLACK_glam

 

WHITE

White represents purity.

It also represents hygiene, sterility, clarity, purity, cleanness, simplicity, sophistication, efficiency, coldness, barriers, unfriendliness and elitism.

WHITE_purity

Rhymes – Image Composition

This assignment was to research on rhymes and compose images using Photoshop, to represent lines given in the rhymes and explore the principles of design.

We were initially broken down into groups and each group was assigned a rhyme to research on and compile a photo bank after editing on Photoshop. After which, we were to compose multiple image compositions and then choose our final 4.

My group was assigned to do the rhyme “There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe“. This was how the rhyme went:

“There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do.
She gave them some broth without any bread;
And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.”
Thus I started to look for images that could represent what I understand from the rhyme. The images had to be rather high definition as it is used for printing, thus at least 300 pixels per inch. It was not easy to look for images that fully represent and suit what I need, yet has the requirement of 300 dpi. Thus, it took quite some time to look for a variety of images that fit all the requirements.
Compilation of images used for photo bank.
Compilation of images used for photo bank.

 

 Some of the images were more literal, such as the old woman, children, bread, whip and shoes, while the ones representing death was what I inferred from the last two lines of the rhymes.
After getting the photos, they were then all cropped out, changed to grayscale and either halftone, threshold or posterize. They were then uploaded into our class google drive so that everyone could access each other’s photo bank, making the photo bank more complete and have a greater variety to choose from.
We then broke down the photos into individual lines and tried to compose images based on them. We were advised to try out all 12 lines of the three rhymes – “There Was An Old Woman Who Lived In A Shoe”, “Humpty Dumpty”, and “Hey Diddle Diddle”). However, I chose to focus on doing drafts to explore some of the lines twice instead of doing everything. In total, I had 15 compositions as some of my compositions were too literal, I was advised to think of something that represented them and ways to improve them.
 –
"Hey Diddle Diddle! The cat and the fiddle."
“Hey Diddle Diddle! The cat and the fiddle.”

Just the cat and the fiddle. Literally. The huge fiddle in the middle contrasts in size with the cat at the corner. The small cat at the corner also helps to balance out the big fiddle in the middle.

 

02_The cow jump over the moon
“The cow jumped over the moon.”

The cows have a gradual change in size to signify movement. The smaller group at the top contrasts in size with the bigger group at the bottom.

 

02_The cow jump over the moon_DRAFT 2
“The cow jumped over the moon.” DRAFT 2

The cow skin covers the moon, signifying the cow jumped OVER the moon. The moon is brighter than the entire picture being relatively black to bring attention to it.

 

03_The little dog laughed to see such sport
“The little dog laughed to see such sport.”

The sport refers to the cow jumping over moon. There is a laughing dog in the background, showing contrast between size and colour tone of background versus foreground. Shows symmetry.

 

03_The little dog laughed to see such sport_DRAFT 2
“The little dog laughed to see such sport.” DRAFT 2

The paws are tilted and have a variety of sizes to show the dog dancing around happily or laughing, while the white mooncake in the foreground represents the moon. Shows contrast between fore and background.

 

04_The dish ran away with the spoon
“And the dish ran away with the spoon.”

The gradual change in size and opacity to represent movement. Purposely twisted to have a dramatic path and show both the dish and the spoon.

 

04_The dish ran away with the spoon_DRAFT 2
“And the dish ran away with the spoon.” DRAFT 2

Added a background of grass texture to give the context of running on grass or mountains. Stripes added to give texture and more contrast with foreground. One dish added to foreground out of frame to have a hint that they have not stopped running.

 

05_Humpty dumpty sat on a wall
“Humpty dumpty sat on a wall.”

An egg on a wall. Egg is off-center to reduce symmetry, placed along one-third of the picture. It is also tilted to have more movement and life, imitating a relaxed and laid back sitting position.

 

06_humpty dumpty had a great fall
“Humpty dumpty had a great fall.”

The gradual change in opacity to show movement, and the different angles along the bottom further adds to the movement and life of the egg.

 

06_humpty dumpty had a great fall_DRAFT 2
“Humpty dumpty had a great fall.” DRAFT 2

Background of brick wall added to give the context of falling from the wall. Size of the eggs have also changed to have a gradual change to signify the falling from a further place, i.e. top of the wall.

 

07_all the kings horses and men
“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men.”

Replaced decorations of the the king’s crown with imperial soldiers and soldiers on horses. Emphasizes on the symmetry of the image and the stark contrast between black and white.

 

08_Couldnt put humpty together again
“Couldn’t put Humpty together again.”

Stark contrast between shape of egg and background, with low contrast of soldiers in the background. Small little dots in the egg represents how the egg has shattered into tiny bits and cannot be put together, despite having so many people.

 

08_Couldnt put humpty together again_DRAFT 2
“Couldn’t put Humpty together again.” DRAFT 2

Shifted the egg to a corner to reduce symmetry and bring the center of focus to a point. Egg is purposely shifted out of frame as audience will complete it mentally, also making the composition more interesting.

 

10_She had so many children she didnt know what to do
“She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.”

The symmetry and pattern of the babies to bring the center of focus to the only difference – the “?”. The babies are also crying to signify the lack of attention as there is too many of them.

 

10_She had so many children she didnt know what to do_DRAFT 2
“She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.” DRAFT 2

The idea was changed to using milk bottles and pacifiers to represent the vast amount of children, and then a subtle “?” is across the entire composition by having a darker tone and contrast. Parts of the “?” are out of the frame to make the composition more interesting.

Among all of the above, 4 final ones were chosen to be printed, 297mm x 297mm.
10_She had so many children she didnt know what to do_DRAFT 2
“She had so many children she didn’t know what to do.” DRAFT 2

The amount of milk bottles and pacifiers represents the huge number of children that the old woman has. There is then a subtle “?” formed in the middle by having a darker tone and more contrast to represent the idea of lost and not knowing what to do.

The above composition has rhythm and repetition in the milk bottles and pacifiers. It also has contrast to bring out the “?”.

 

08_Couldnt put humpty together again_DRAFT 2
“Couldn’t put Humpty together again.” DRAFT 2

The entire image is filled with silhouettes of soldiers, then an egg at the bottom left corner. The silhouettes of the soldiers show the huge number of soldiers, and the egg represents Humpty Dumpty. The egg was edited with halftone to have the dots , in which the soldiers can be seen through the egg. These small little dots that form the soldiers represent that Humpty Dumpty has shattered into tiny pieces and cannot be put back together again.

The composition shows repetition and rhythm in the soldiers, and also contrast of the colour and size of the egg to let it become the center of interest. The egg itself actually also has a gradation of tone to give depth of the egg.

 

04_The dish ran away with the spoon_DRAFT 2
“And the dish ran away with the spoon.” DRAFT 2

This image shows a trail of a dish and a spoon, following a gradual transformation of size and opacity, small to big, transparent to opaque. This is to signify the movement of the dish and spoon. They are also composed to take a curved path to emphasize on the dramatic movement, and also to show both the dish and the spoon clearly. The background is laid with texture of grass to give a context of the dish and spoon running on grass or mountains. The stripes serve to increase the contrast of the background versus the dish and spoon.

This shows repetition of the dish and spoon, their directional movement through the change in size and opacity, and contrast between the background and foreground.

 

03_The little dog laughed to see such sport_DRAFT 2
“And the little dog laughed to see such sport.” DRAFT 2

The background is decorated with varying shapes and directions of dog paws, showing the happiness of the dog, seemingly running and dancing about, to signify the laughing of the dog. The low contrast of the paws and the black background is to bring out the high contrast of the foreground. The foreground shows a mooncake to represent a moon. It is made to be white to seem more like the moon, and also have a greater contrast from the background. It is slightly out of frame to let audience complete the circle. The cows are placed around to the moon in one direction to signify the movement of the cow over the moon, and made to have a same size to have a contrast with the varying sizes at the back as well.

This shows contrast between the foreground (white, consistent sizes) and the background (black, varying sizes). It also shows repetition of the cows and paws,  and the center of interest of the foreground through the stark contrast.

LINES – The First Assignment Process

Basically this is the first assignment for Foundation 2D. When I first heard about representing the various words using lines, I was rather taken aback and have no idea how to do it at all. Slowly as time passed and looking at various examples, it slowly got slightly more comprehensible and made a bit of sense to me.

 

The first thing that came to my mind, was to find out what exactly each word means in general, and what it actually means to be, be it the same or not. So first of all, I went online to look for the definition and some synonyms of the given words to better understand them, and compiling them all into one document.

Compiling relevant definitions
Compiling relevant definitions

After which, I started doodling whatever came to mind into my sketchbook lightly, in order of whatever came to mind first.

Doodling whatever comes to mind
Doodling whatever comes to mind

This was followed by the more formal first draft onto strips printed on a A3 paper given to us. Took quite a while to have everything done onto it, but felt that it was way better than the first doodling, although there was still a lot of room for improvement, especially after consulting Shirley about it.

First draft on A3 printed strips
First draft on A3 printed strips

Here is how my presented 3 initially looked like, where “Exhausted” and “Bizarre” looks different, while I kept the idea for “Fragile”.

First version of my presented three strips.
First version of my presented three strips.

“Bizarre” shows a lot of splatters and a few hand prints, which symbolized blood to me which depicted the “grotesque” nature.

“Exhausted” shows human figures hanging lifelessly from ropes, depicting how society and survival requires us to do things that we might not want to, causing us to be worn out and tired.

“Fragile” would be done with torn up paper with burnt edges and showing crack lines drawn, showing all natures of fragility that comes to me.

After which, I made changes and adjustments to the first draft and came up with the second draft for Shirley to vet through, before completing my final project. Various strips that I felt was not bad or actually good for me were kept but repeated to make sure I got them right. Shirley advised how various strips could be switched around, which I agreed and took into consideration, and also suggestions for improvement.

Second draft on A3 printed strips.
Second draft on A3 printed strips.
Second version of the presented three strips.
Second version of the presented three strips.

“Bizarre” now shows more hand prints and less splatters, which I felt was better at bringing out the grotesque feature. Nonetheless, Shirley advised me that the first draft of this was better as it is slightly more messy and makes everything have a bizarre “feel”.

“Exhausted” was not represented by a horizontal rope which snaps in the middle of the strip which was an improvement suggested by Shirley after seeing my human figures hanging around. She also reminded me that if I could replicate this using another medium, I had to make sure it is prominent enough, preferably covering at least a third of the space given.

Finally, it is the final draft to be submitted for critique. Most of my strips were done using marker and pen, simply drawing what I want to convey in the most simplistic monochrome way. This is with the exception of “Bizarre” and “Spontaneous” which included the use of Chinese ink, “Exhausted” which uses cotton twines and “Fragile” which includes burning my paper.

The final product!
The final product!

“Bizarre” was first done by drawing random hand prints of different sizes and orientations across the strip, followed by drawing the larger splatters to give it a more dramatic effect, then lastly completed by sprinkling Chinese ink across the entire strip using a hard bristle brush. It gives an overall effect of a crime scene, bloody and mysterious feel which goes in line with its grotesque characteristics.

"Bizarre"
“Bizarre”
Touching up the hand prints with a marker
Touching up the hand prints with a marker

“Exhausted” was done by using cotton twines. As cotton twines were not thick enough to be prominent, I took three cotton twines and braided them, then stick the two ends onto a strip of black paper to make it stand out. after which, I cut the middle section and untwined the individual cotton strands, before sticking everything down onto the paper. This is to represent reaching a limit, a breaking point, which I feel is what exhausted really means.

"Exhausted"
“Exhausted”
Cutting my "breaking point"
Cutting my “breaking point”
Securing the twine with UHU glue!
Securing the twine with UHU glue!

“Fragile” was done by first drawing crack lines across a piece of paper, then tearing it up into small pieces, then burning the edges to give a brownish edge and an outline when the pieces are stuck on top of one another. It gives me the impression of fragility as it shows like it is easily breakable or brittle using the crack lines and torn pieces, and how it is burnt gives a vintage and fragile feel like it will be destroyed at any time if not careful.

"Fragile"
“Fragile”
Burning with a windproof lighter makes it easier to control the flame burning only the edges.
Burning with a windproof lighter makes it easier to control the flame burning only the edges.

Last but not least, the assignment was eventually completed, and ended off with a presentation to the class, showing the concept of doing the various strips and sharing the methods of doing it.

The assignment ended with a presentation to the class
The assignment ended with a presentation to the class