Mystery Art Closet

   As seen in the Abstraction Workshop, I had bought some materials to create a textured canvas board ton put my artwork on. I bought six (two packs of three) 10” by 12” canvas boards to prepare the surface, and bought play sand and gesso to do the priming. As the sand I have got was coloured blue, the primed surface was slightly blue however it would not matter as I would paint over it with acrylics. Materials and primed surfaces  Before I went on to create my final illustrations on these surfaces I experimented more with abstraction techniques, specifically the fluid art skills. While doing the abstraction technique with homage, I realised it may not be as suitable as this technique, especially when keeping note of the works of Penny Siopis. As the materials (primers) tend to be expensive, which may be critical since I would be using it a lot, I have found alternative ways to mimic this style by using soap. Although dishwashing fluids are more common in this technique, ...

  In today’s class, we have discussed methods of ap propriation and homage to deeply analyse the works of the artists we have researched for our final project. In doing this, we learn to identify how the artist have used certain colours or placements of certain objects to create an effective work. We also learn how to ‘modernise’ certain aspects of their work, mixing themes or messages which may be more suitable in the current setting. It is similar to what we did in ‘Icebreaker: Recreating an Artwork’, where Sarina and I took an existing artwork and added a message of struggling artist.  Fountain (1917) by Marcel Duchamp  Appropriation, or reappropriation, is a method of creating an artwork by using an existing object, often keeping the form of the original object. One infamous example is the ‘Fountain’ by Duchamp, where he simply took a manufactured urinal and signed it. It may also involve taking the object and manipulating it, such as changing the colours or the forma...

Digitalisation with Adobe Illustrator   Based on the sketches made previously, I have selected few among those and started creating digitalising the logos. During its creation, I still kept in mind on creating a circular shape to suit Buddhist-style logos.  I first began creating with Adobe Illustrator as it was able to create vector lines, however an important function that I needed in the creation of these logos were missing. I needed the mirroring tool in the application to create an even drawing, but the mirroring tool in Illustrator, at least on the iPad, was very limited. The eraser tool also did not work when using this tool, so I had to create it in another application. Process with Procreate  After I changed my program to Procreate, I was able to create the logos in the style I wanted. Although I was not able to create a vector image, I lessened the pixelation of the image using a larger canvas of 4000 by 4000 pixels. By doing this, the image would not decrease i...

  As this project focuses around the idea of Buddhism on top of the theme ‘Earthly Delights’, I wanted to integrate different colour palettes used in it. It is especially important to note on which colours have which meaning in Buddhism because I would have to manipulate the colours to give it a different meaning due to this project revolving around the negatives of the Earthly pleasures and not the good. International Buddhist Flag  Above is the Buddhist flag that can be seen generally, and because of this the meanings of the colours are most defined. According to  W at KhemaraRatanaram (n.d.)  this specific colour palette originated from the light of which came from Buddha when he reached enlightenment, and is arranged in this way (vertical on the left, horizontal and united on the right) to represent harmony and universality of Buddha’s teachings.  The specific meanings of these colours are: ‘The Blue light that radiated from the Buddha's hair symbolises the ...

Link to Tutorial Sheet  We did a follow up tutorial regarding the progress of my major project. As I already have a clear vision and goal on what I was creating, we mostly talked about some background information regarding my research and what I would have to post on my blog. I have done some of this already, and would soon follow up with necessary posts.  The important steps I have to take after this tutorial is to research into the organisation that I would be ‘working for’, Green Spirit, and analyse what could be improved in their original designs. Then I would have to research on the background behind enamel pins, especially how they have been used in organisations or charities. As I am done with the logo design, I would just have to finish the researches and finish the magazine covers for final digital processing.

 Below are some screenshots on the updated project plan sheet (purple sections). Although I did fall behind on the original timetable in some areas, I was able to complete most of the important actions I had to take within the plan. I have completed all the artist research I needed, joined and learned skills that was relevant to my final project and now only have to finish my work and do some follow up posts regarding some topics.   

  This workshop was intended for all Graphic Design students and was especially relevant to me as I had to create a magazine cover, meaning I have to best utilise the arrangement of texts and images in my composition. To not take too much time in the creation, we used a collage technique using magazines. As this process helps us get images that are already produced, we would not have to spend time in creating the work from the foundation. Additionally, we were given keywords to put as a text in its creation so it was easier to anchor the work.   This was a part of the process after cutting selected images out of magazines; I was aiming to create an advertisement for a vacation business for stressed, burnt out people. The background image is actually composed of two pictures, one of a beach background and the other (upper) one of a sepia tone interior, and the goal of this was to show a vivid vacation background under a semi-transparent image. However this did not work qui...

Link to Feedback Form  We have done a general presentation-brief regarding our projects to a small groups, of which I was grouped with Lucille, Amir, Joanna K. and sometimes Lauren or Sam. In my PowerPoint I tried to best compress all the relevant information I had to get across to viewers who have no background information of what I was doing, and I think I did quite well. According to the feedback, they were able to clearly identify what I was doing, why I was researching an artist and so on, repeating that my outline was clear and well-defined. Besides that, I have not have much comments regarding my project, just needing to finalise and update my works on my blog.  The PowerPoint used in my presentation can be found below. Link to PowerPoint

  Taking note of the artist research and my concepts, I began sketching our some designs for the logos and magazine covers. Sketch for logo design  In drawing the logo sketches, I tried to keep in mind of utilising symbols of Buddhism and of Earth, and if the design can be applicable in an enamel pin design. What is especially prominent in the symbols or logos of Buddhism is a shape which encircles all (i.e. usually in a circular shape), so I have attempted to give all the logos a rounded shape albeit with some differences to the overall shape for more dynamic look. I have tried both minimal look and maximal shapes to the logos, and while minimal logos are in trend currently I prefer the maximal logos as it seems more visually fulfilling. I would be building a digital piece based on selected sketches, which will be shown in a later blog post. Sketch for magazine cover  These are the sketches I have made for the magazines in relation to Penny Siopis and different issues of...

   Penny Siopis is an multi-medium artist of Greek descent born and working in South Africa, representing issues ranging from the traumas of children in South Africa to global, political issues. She has worked with a range of mediums, from photography and films to paintings, but I am focusing on her painting series and her techniques, specifically her abstraction and fluid art.   For a long time, Siopis worked with concepts that were ‘beyond representation’ (South African History Organisation, n.d.)– personal representation, psychology, trauma and such– and integrating dynamic materials into her works as if to show the organic nature of such psychological issues. This may be especially due to her life in South Africa which had and still has several social issues, one of which being ‘Apartheid’ which is a type of racial segregation that happened in South Africa to South West Africa during 1948 to 1994 due to the all-white government. She specifically mentions this iss...

 Odilon Redon had initially caught my interest for this research due to his significance as a symbolist artist working with abstract shapes and context, but further into my research I have learned that he was one of the first to introduce Buddhism– Buddha in himself more specifically– into the Western art environment. He was also iconic for his openness to different mediums and techniques, moving on from monochrome works to colour and integrating different art styles such as Japonism to his works.  Le Buddha, 1895  Like many of Redon’s other works, his first work of Buddha was a monochrome lithograph with an almost sinister look compared to many of Asian depictions of Buddha. This art style is dominant throughout his works in the 1870s to 1880s, where in the 1870s he was required to join the army to fight against the Franco-Prussian war. The war in itself must have been influential to his mindset and art of Redon, but the defeat and the chaos left behind by the war may ha...

 Week 5 was a tutorial week for us to learn different skills which will be needed in our subject areas. While Abstraction was not a requirement, I have decided to join as it was needed for my major project and may be needed in future works as well. We were taught on using different materials other than brushes to create abstract patterns including straws, sponges and cloths, and to work in textured surfaces.  Surfacing job with sand+gesso and foil+gesso  Before we worked on anything, we surfaced the canvas boards with sand and wrinkled foil for them to dry while discussing abstraction techniques. Giving difference to the surface that will be worked on can give unique patterns and textures which works well with abstraction.  Another surfacing job with acrylic wash  We surfaced another canvas board with an acrylic wash and cloth; we placed a layer of watered-down paint using one side of the cloth and wiped it off with another dry side. In my case, I have watered d...