2.5.2022 - 16.5.2022 (Week 6- Week 8)
Loh Qiao Yin / 0348923
Design Principles / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media / Taylor's
University
Project 1-:
[Self-Portrait]
LECTURES
Self-portrait- a visual depiction of oneself through the form of drawing/ painting/
sculpture/ design. It is a self-exploration that involves how the
artist sees himself, how he is feeling and how he wants to be seen by
others.
Fig 1.1 Diagram explaining what is oneself, 8 May 2022
INSTRUCTIONS
- Select visuals that are relevant to yourself to be translated into a design work which is your own portrait. Remember to apply design principles in your work.
- Design process:
- idea exploration and
description
- final outcome in PDF and short
rationale
- feedback given by the
lecturer
- reflection on the particular
exercise
Ways of interpreting self-portraits by different artists.
Sarah Lucas
Lucas's self-portraits prompt questions about the sexualisation and objectification of the female human body. She is also mocking the association of the female body to the role of fertilisation by putting two fried eggs on her breasts.
Frida Kahlo
Chuck Close
Nikki Rosato
This incredible portrait was made out of road maps. When asked about the meaning behind this, Rosato says like how road maps are made out of structural beautiful lines, our human bodies are also similar to them, full of details and stories.
IDEA EXPLORATION & DESCRIPTION
Using colours and shapes to speak for themselves instead of using lines and forms. Realising that the colours are literally in the Malaysia flag - Jalur Gemilang, makes me laugh as I am a Malaysian but I did not have the intention of being patriotic. The colours just came out that way as I used them for the stereotypical association with emotions.
v) Refining Stage
FINAL OUTCOME
PDF File
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VISUAL RESEARCH
Ways of interpreting self-portraits by different artists.
Sarah Lucas
Lucas's self-portraits prompt questions about the sexualisation and objectification of the female human body. She is also mocking the association of the female body to the role of fertilisation by putting two fried eggs on her breasts.
Fig 2.1 Sarah Lucas, 8 May 2022
Frida Kahlo
I see a good learning opportunity in Kahlo's ability to
incorporate symbolic references into her self-portrait to show her
life traumas. The explanation is long so Google would be your best
buddy if you are interested in interpreting her self-portrait.
Fig 2.2 Frida Kahlo, 8 May 2022
Chuck Close
I am attracted by the artist's artistic take on designing his
self-portrait. The alternating shapes with variety but still kept
within the same style to give a sense of unity.
Fig 2.3 Chuck Close, 8 May 2022
Nikki Rosato
This incredible portrait was made out of road maps. When asked about the meaning behind this, Rosato says like how road maps are made out of structural beautiful lines, our human bodies are also similar to them, full of details and stories.
Fig 2.4 Nikki Rosato, 8 May 2022
IDEA EXPLORATION & DESCRIPTION
My approach to self-portrait:
- My POV (how I literally see the world)
-Personal worldview (Scrapped off since it
would make me sound so old :/ )
- My interests
- Favourite aesthetics
i) My POV (point of view):
- My POV (how I literally see the world)
-
- My interests
- Favourite aesthetics
i) My POV (point of view):
This is literally how my eyes see the world as it is.
Eye-floaters. They are small shadowy shapes of floating
materials that move when I move my eyes. Incurable and very
annoyingly, I have to live with this condition since 11 years
old and it occurred after I got a high fever. The brighter the
scene I am looking at, the more obvious I will see it, which
explains why I get irritated easily when looking at bright
screens and also I prefer being in a dimmer room.
Fig 3.1 Image from ecvaeyecare.com: A somewhat accurate
situation of my view when looking at bright scenes, 8 May
2022
ii) My interests
-Annoying someone when I'm bored
- Drawing (duh)
- Enjoying non-cliche metaphorical elements in poems or song lyrics
- Enjoying humourous sarcasm
- Cuddling with pets
- People watching
- Romanticizing little things in life
iii) Favourite aesthetics
Expressive painterly styles
Sketchy storyboard drawings
Smoke and colour
Art sculptures
-
- Drawing (duh)
- Enjoying non-cliche metaphorical elements in poems or song lyrics
- Enjoying humourous sarcasm
- Cuddling with pets
- People watching
- Romanticizing little things in life
iii) Favourite aesthetics
Expressive painterly styles
Fig 3.2 Artwork by @02png on Instagram, 8 May 2022
Fig 3.3 Storyboard frames by Tony Liberatore, 8 May 2022
Fig 3.4 Firework performance I took picture of, 8 May
2022
Fig 3.5 Sculpture by Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, 8 May 2022
iv) Self-Portrait Development
This was sketched before I did any visual research and I
just jumped into sketching what came to my mind. The
self-portrait was taken too literally (just showing the
appearance) with just very few narratives.
Fig 3.6 First sketch of self-portrait, 8 May 2022
The refined sketch shows an undone portrait because I don't
think I have fully developed as a person yet. I don't think
there is a point to draw a completed portrait. So, it would
make sense to show that I am still experiencing personal
growth.
Fig 3.7 Refined sketch, 8 May 2022
Using colours and shapes to speak for themselves instead of using lines and forms. Realising that the colours are literally in the Malaysia flag - Jalur Gemilang, makes me laugh as I am a Malaysian but I did not have the intention of being patriotic. The colours just came out that way as I used them for the stereotypical association with emotions.
Fig 3.8 Colouring and abstractifying stage, 8 May 2022
v) Refining Stage
The chaotic nature of Jean Michel Basquiat's artwork is often
expressive and abstract. However, it is too rebellious for my own
taste, so I only took note of the use of colour/patterns and the
sense of playfulness, that I forgot to implement in my work. In
this stage, I introduced more form to my self-portrait to improve
its sense of presence by using a dry brush with rough strokes.
Besides, I added depth to it by having overlapping brush strokes
in front of each other. They are also there to greatly reinforce
my idea of 'our mind is always constantly developing'/ 'forever
learning', and also to show that I am who I am today due to the
emotions I have experienced my whole life. I am formed and
surrounded by various emotions in every single living
moment.
Fig 3.9 Refining stage, 15 May 2022
vi) Final progress
Tried to achieve more visual balance on the right side in
terms of the colour used. I used white to neutralise the
red slightly and also added more yellow and blue tones on
the right side.
Fig 4.0 Final progress, 25 May 2022
FINAL OUTCOME
Self-portrait
To document the thoughts about my personal growth based
on emotions I have experienced in my life. We are always
learning and never completely developed as a person.
Artistically speaking, it is easier for me to insert
symbolism through the use of colours and brush strokes to
represent my self-portrait.
Fig 4.1 Final submission for Project 1- Self-portrait , 25 May
2022
Symbolism
Red- Friends say that I'm the character 'Anger' from Inside Out, I honestly feel bad because I know I speak in a very agitated manner but I never have any bad intention :/ . If I get truly angry, I'll be very silent and even more composed, quite the opposite of what is expected to happen. But do I get irritated very easily? Yes :D , this explains the explosive pattern on the top left part.
Red- Friends say that I'm the character 'Anger' from Inside Out, I honestly feel bad because I know I speak in a very agitated manner but I never have any bad intention :/ . If I get truly angry, I'll be very silent and even more composed, quite the opposite of what is expected to happen. But do I get irritated very easily? Yes :D , this explains the explosive pattern on the top left part.
Blue in red- I think that in
every anger there is always a sad or disappointed feeling,
never 100% pure anger. It's also to describe I experience the
feeling of irritation more than sadness in my life.
Spine in red- A personal
thing that I will not explain, feel free to interpret it in
your way.
White- It represents the unknown or also known as 'non-existent'. I used this to show how I am not completely developed yet and I do not know what will I become in the future.
Yellow- There are friends who I have motivated to achieve something and also it is to represent how I hope to have an optimistic (but realistic) view in the way I approach life.
Blue in yellow- Will you even be able to identify a joyful feeling if you have never experienced the lowest point of your life?
Grey- Morally speaking, I do not think that the world is just black and white, there is a grey area where wrong is not completely wrong; right is not truly right.
White- It represents the unknown or also known as 'non-existent'. I used this to show how I am not completely developed yet and I do not know what will I become in the future.
Yellow- There are friends who I have motivated to achieve something and also it is to represent how I hope to have an optimistic (but realistic) view in the way I approach life.
Blue in yellow- Will you even be able to identify a joyful feeling if you have never experienced the lowest point of your life?
Grey- Morally speaking, I do not think that the world is just black and white, there is a grey area where wrong is not completely wrong; right is not truly right.
PDF File
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Fig 5.3 Final submission of Project 1- Self-portrait in PDF,
25 May 2022
FEEDBACK
Week 8
The red caused a visual imbalance by making the left part of the face heavier than the right part. Adding blue or yellow strokes to the white swoosh might help. Overall, just make sure the colours are visually balanced.
Week 7
Ms Jinchi suggested the direction of self-portrait I can go with based on my idea of 'we are not completely developed yet' which can also be metamorphosis or 'constantly changing'. I was also advised to do research on the two artists - Jean Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon the painter.
The red caused a visual imbalance by making the left part of the face heavier than the right part. Adding blue or yellow strokes to the white swoosh might help. Overall, just make sure the colours are visually balanced.
Week 7
Ms Jinchi suggested the direction of self-portrait I can go with based on my idea of 'we are not completely developed yet' which can also be metamorphosis or 'constantly changing'. I was also advised to do research on the two artists - Jean Michel Basquiat and Francis Bacon the painter.
REFLECTION
I finally understand why I have so many emotions yet my friends
categorise me as the 'angry' friend. I used so many other colours
and even with them combined, red is the one standing out the most.
Therefore, the angry emotion leaves a deep impression in everyone
around me. Thankfully, I like to turn anger into jokes so that I
don't look that aggressive in real life lol.
It is definitely an uncomfortable project as I have to be really personal in order to create a genuine self-portrait work. But hopefully, letting others see me in this way can somehow spark a tiny change in how they see themselves, and probably make a new self-discovery. When it comes to writing down my interests, I find it sad to know that a few things I used to think of as my interests are no longer giving me the same exciting feeling anymore. However, that does not mean anything bad as I am discovering new interests on the other hand. Overall, this project allowed me to channel my introspective thoughts into a visual and I personally have always not been that good at expressing what I really meant so this was a good challenge and learning opportunity.
It is definitely an uncomfortable project as I have to be really personal in order to create a genuine self-portrait work. But hopefully, letting others see me in this way can somehow spark a tiny change in how they see themselves, and probably make a new self-discovery. When it comes to writing down my interests, I find it sad to know that a few things I used to think of as my interests are no longer giving me the same exciting feeling anymore. However, that does not mean anything bad as I am discovering new interests on the other hand. Overall, this project allowed me to channel my introspective thoughts into a visual and I personally have always not been that good at expressing what I really meant so this was a good challenge and learning opportunity.
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