Painting With Music

Bought myself a 24x24 inch canvas and three A3 ones. Really excited for this assignment as it'll be my first time painting with acryllics. Also, I've been assigned to pick the songs to be put inside the contemporary songs playlist. Another playlist is for classical music which Ms. Lisa herself will be picking the songs.  Before we paint anything we're given a minute to actually get a feel of the music.

The first playlist to be played is the contemporary playlist. The first song to be played was 'A Sky Full Of Stars' and the in my head was to paint stars. I didn't know how to though, so I waited for the next song to play. It was a bit difficult to actually be spontaneous about the painting because these songs were my own songs and they evoked a certain image that I had in my head. I tried to portray that image in my head according to the music. It was a bit stressful as songs that were appropriate to a certain shape or colour ends before the shape I want is completed.

In a way, I wanted to be in control of the image. It doesn't help at all when some of the songs are my own and has been embedded in me that it only shows what I want to see and nothing more. However, the music does have an effect of the movement of my hands. Moving against the rhythm feels forced and uncomfortable. So, my first painting wasn't as successful as I wanted it to be.

Next up, we have the classical music playlist. At first, I was still quite reluctant to let go of my arms and actually feel the music. I was looking for an image to draw out from the music. It feels forced as well and still very uncomfortable. 

In the middle of the painting, I was sternly told to let go and feel the music. I dropped the brushes and began painting with my hands. This time, I just painted what I felt like painting. I didn't have a clue of what I wanted in my head and just went with my gut. I even felt like every different parts of the song demanded different type of colours. Using my hands, the colours got mixed up and it created texture that I didn't expect to create. I even used my nails for some parts of the painting.

For the first time in my life, I've created something abstract without having to go through a very deep thinking process. It was like just me reacting to the music through colours, and I was quite happy with what I produced.

In a way, it kind of tells a story of a man who wants control to be able to succeed. He was given a choice to stick with his character and abilities or to just let himself flow and not be labeled or characterised in any shape or form. 

To be honest, that's what I went through actually during my experience on painting with music. Sometimes, you only need to let go of yourself to truly find who you really are. Not everything is written on a piece of paper for you to learn from. Some things are found not from far away places but actually from inside our hearts. In the words of Ashton Kutcher, "You think you know me? I don't know me!"

Batik Design

Research

As per usual, we hit the books to learn more about batik. We don't want to go for the conventional style of batiks that we usually have here in Malaysia which are usually just flora. So we're encouraged to research about other cultures of batik or even just patterns of other wordly cultures. As long as we'll be able to expand our mind in designing the batik.

We looked at designs from China, different batik techniques, and also the colour schemes that are suitable with our batik designs.

Conceptualisation

Bryan leads the batik conceptualisation. We are practically amazed by his speed at drawing. He helped us realize themes that we discuss about. One of the themes was landscapes in portrait format. Others are animals, weather and also psychadelic. 

In the end, we scraped out those ideas and went with pottery. For my batik, it's a labu sayong which is very prevalent in Perak, where I lived before. Bryan's pottery is a big Ming vase, while originally we planned for Jason to have an Indian-themed bowl. Ms. Lisa told us, that doesn't really fit in with Jason as he's not Indian.

 Now, we have to find subject matters that can do justice to Jason's nationality (He's from Mauritius by the way). One of them was the pink pigeon and another is sugarcane. Mauritius is known to be large exporter for sugar. So, it works well.

For the colour, our potteries are usually of  colours that are already set. So we decided to go with those colours and maybe experiment with it on the day itself. No worries, hopefully.

Demonstration

For the first time ever, I get to see how batik is made. We went to this place in KL called Jadi Batek. I guess that's it for this paragraph.

Batiking

We are definitely not batik kings for that matter. Very much out of my element as I'm not used to painting using dye let alone watercolour. Canting was difficult as well. I find it hard to hold it steady and also trying to avoid the wax from spilling onto the the fabric.

It was a lot of fun though. I could say the best moment is experimenting with the colours to see what mixture of colours works well with the design.

Presentation

We are quite pleased with our batik design because it works well together and even separated. The great thing about our batik designs are that each of them has their own meaning. When combined, these meaning come together to give a stronger context.

Bryan's Ming vase exemplifies wealth and high social status. It's like a dream of his to be very successful in his life. The flowers adds an element of beauty and softness to juxtapose that of the stern and strict asian culture.

Jason's Mauritian bowl uses the the pink pigeon as a symbol. As he currently resides in Malaysia and has to fly to get here, it signifies his current status as a student without restrictions. Especially in the case of family members. The sugarcane denotes the fact that Mauritius is a big exporter of sugar.

My labu sayong represents places I've lived before. As you all know, labu sayong is usually popular in Perak but I've added elements that are from Terengganu. As palm trees and paddy fields used to be my backyard instead of skyscrapers and shopping malls. Labu sayong also have the ability to make water that's stored in it to be colder and more refreshing.

As a collective, there are different meanings that can be defined from our designs. The literal meaning is that the labu sayong provides cold water. When it is passed down to the bowl, it makes the water more sweet. Then it is stored in the Ming vase because of it's higher capacity.

The figurative meaning is that the labu sayong embodies the working class people because of the paddy and palm tree. Water is said to be the products of the hard workers. The Mauritian bowl represents the messenger or the middlemen, while the Ming vase signifies people of higher social status reaping all of the wealth.

You can even look at the design to have the context of diversity. It's debatable, yet not definite. As you can interpret it as you please.

Monogram Design

Lecture

A monogram is type of logo that usually uses initials as it's basis. Examples include Louis Vuitton, Chanel and etcetera. So for this assignment, we have to make our own monogram that we can use as our trademark for future artworks. There are are also different parts of the assignment where we are required to manually print our monograms on 6 or more objects of interest and display it as our brand. Another part of it is that we require to design a poster and also a pattern based on our monogram.

Research

We are required to do a little bit of research before we start conceptualising our monograms. We borrowed some books about logo designs and we were to show some logos that will inspire us in creating our monogram. Later, everyone will decide a keyword for each of us to continue our research with. Here are the ones I picked:

I was given the keyword 'dynamic' because I want something that portrays movement in my monogram.

The next day, we were told to do more research while conceptualising our monograms. This time we were told to find elements that can help not just our own self but others as well. I went and research about what makes a good logo design. The key aspect that I want to highlight here is timeless. Successful logo designs are usually timeless and can last decades and it also allows for minor modifications, yet the original aesthetic value is intact. So that's what I want to achieve in my monogram.

A timeless symbol that I manage to find was the Sigma symbol. Which is actually a symbol of summarization, this is good as it can be a symbol of summary for my work. So, I tried to infuse it into my monogram.

Conceptualisation

We started off with tons of sketches based on the keyword we got.

Later on, I infused the sigma symbol into the sketches.

It was down to the last two designs:

And we went with the more rectangular monogram as it's a bit more quirky.

Printing

I bought most of my 6 items from Daiso with the exception of some items like the t-shirt and the headphones. Other items that I have are a pair of slippers, a phone case, a notebook and a snow cap. Other than a terrible experience printing it on the phone case, it was actually exhilarating to print these on items that I own and would probably use. Personalising it makes it unique and special to me.

Poster & Pattern

With special permission, I was allowed to make my pattern digitally because of the details I'm planning to put into the pattern. While the poster has to be done manually just as the others have to.

The first pattern

2nd Pattern

I was told to experiment with colours. So, I did.

Purple & Pink

Gold & Silver

I was planning to go with the 2nd colour scheme as it's going to be accompanying the poster. In response, Ms. Lisa said it's better to be more experimentative with the colours. So, I tried to be.

Colour ripple

Colour rainbow

I went with the former, as it has a better pattern effect.

For the poster, I tried to sketch it on an A3 paper first.

I went with the latter as it has a better composition. Later, I even reduced the size of the monogram and the typography on the poster to leave a little bit more negative space.

Presentation

Judgement day. We're setting up our so-called merchandise like we want to sell it. Using the chair like a mannequin was hilarious actually but it worked in a weird kind of way. The only apparel that's missing are actually pant. It didn't crossed my mind that I'm actually able to make a complete set of clothing.

Context

My monogram was made to just resemble a sigma symbol which means a summary. However, I received a lot of input from others about what my monogram means. To others, it looks like a speech bubble. Which kind of represent my artworks, they are supposed to be art that makes us think and talk about it. It's thoughtful and debatable. The sigma element supports the claim that it's a logo for thinking as the sigma is usually used in mathematical equations.

The pattern also has it's own context. The game controller represents interactive, while the numberless clock signifies timeless. The television shows that it's entertaining and and holding the apple characterizes something dynamic. These 4 elements are those that I usually put into my artworks and designs. If not all 4, at least one of them is present.

Think Outside The Square

Lecture

On the projected screen, all that I can remember was these amazing cut-outs that was done by our seniors. All of the cut-outs are cut out from a square, and the pieces are arranged in a way to make very amazing designs. Our assignment is to do as such. Thing is, I'm quite stumped on this.

Ideation

We are to map out any potential theme ideas for our cut-outs. I have a few ideas that I'm not even sure of, one is about human behaviour and another one was about Noir. Ms. Lisa suggested that the human behaviour theme is quite interesting, it's just that I will have a hard time trying to make it into a design with great aesthetics. So, I went with Noir. This however does not last with a turning point into this assignment.

I wanted to combine the element of typography into the noir cut-out. Which Ms. Lisa turned to me and said, "Why not you scrap that and go with typography as your theme?" It opened more possibilities for my cut-outs but I only have one problem, making my own typography is not my strong suit.

The furby with one side of the palindromes

A typography element that I'm planning to infuse into my cut-outs are palindromes. Palindromes are words that are read the same forward or backwards. The difference here is that mine will make different words when read forwards or backwards. One example of the word I'll be using is 'pals', if read backwards it will be 'slap'. That's the rough idea.

The colour scheme I'm going with

Another element I need for this cut-out was an object of aesthetic value. This will attract the attention towards the words written. I've decided to go with a Furby because of its multi personality behavior and the fact that it works with many different colour combinations. The words will make up the structure of the furby. The colour scheme I'm going with is purple and pink. Which is the colour of my favourite ice-cream flavour, cotton candy.

The composition of the typography that's going to be cut

For the asymmetry cut-out, I was thinking of using the 'desserts' and 'stressed' palindrome. For this one, I'm trying to convey something that might show a change of behaviour from receiving desserts. At first, I was trying to draw out the composition one by one but it was extremely time consuming.

So, Ms. Lisa taught us how to bend the alignment of words by typing them on a shape. The object that will accompany this cut-out are gummy bears.

Cutting

Expanding the square isn't as easier as last year's cut-outs. It requires us to be precise in our cuts. I made a few mistakes here and there. Some parts were actually torn, so I had to recreate that torned piece. I was in quite a panic when some of my friends were able to finish one of their cut-outs in that short amount of time. Trying to cut faster only made it worse as my cut-outs have very small pieces. So, I got no choice but to relax and take my time with it.

Another problem that I faced was that my small pieces keep missing. I tried to put it inside a case, and I lost that case. Aren't I lucky. I however managed to finish the first cut-out. Yay!!! The second cut-out was left in the dark for five days before I picked it up again. Big mistake. This one actually took it's time to complete. I never expected that it's gonna take an hour to just paste it on the mounting board. Oh well, lesson learned.

Results

I'm very happy with the first cut-out. It's exactly how I imagined it to be. I don't know about you but I think furbies are creepy. The cut-out depicts the furby as being cute and cuddly on the outside, yet evil on the inside. The furby on the left-side is made of positive space typography. The words are also positive aspects of life to accompany the use of positive space. This furby portrays what we see the furby as on the outside.

The furby on the right however shows that on the inside, this furby is the exact opposite of what we perceive it as. Using the negative space to create the typography that accompanies the negative attributes of the furby. The typography creates an intaglio effect that shows that the these attributes are inside of the furby and a bit hidden. It's a bit like showing the true hidden nature of the furby.

There's another way to look at it actually. In a way, the furby represents a sort of human behaviour to act differently than they really think. What you are to other people might not be who you really are. Some people are just good at hiding their true self compared to others.

The second cut-out represents the way that life seems to treat us. You can't deny that life is not a straight journey. There are hardships that you have to go through before being able to get what you want or even need. The word 'stressed' embodies that hurdle that we have to go through and 'desserts' exemplifies the good things to come out of that hardship. Further more shown by the alignment of the typography, where 'stressed' is a straight sturdy line while 'desserts' is of a bending and quirky line. Gummy bears act out the words in their own playable fashion.

I had a composition problem with the second cut-out because of last minute work. I pasted it wrongly, and the other pices had to follow suit. Which didn't follow the original composition I had in mind for this particular cut-out.

Self Improvement Portrait

For our first assignment, we were asked to make a self portrait that reflects what we've learned so far and what we expect to achieve in our life through this course. It's up to our creativity, we can just draw or make a small sculpture if we think that represents us better.

While I was helping my boys out by cutting out pieces of masking tape, I accidentally cut my finger. I haven't started on my sculpture/self-portrait yet, but that cut gave me inspiration to talk about a recent turn-off events. My friend went for a health screening, and they found traces of HIV cells in his blood. If he's diagnosed with that particular disease, he might lose out on his chance to study overseas. However, that doesn't stop him from continuing with his life and now he's in Melbourne.

Compared to my current situation at hand (pun intended), it's very miniscule and I should not let this stop me from completing my tasks and assignments. So, I'm going for something that's red like blood and memorable so that it can be imprinted on my mind the next time I'm facing a problem like this.

So, I went with a dynamite because of it's explosive nature. That will hopefully make a great reminder to not lose my focus on what's important. Another reason why I chose the dynamite is because the size of the dynamite doesn't really tell how strong will the explosion be. It's the amount of gunpowder inside said dynamite that really determines it.

That part of a dynamite represents how we at times like to blow things out of proportion. We exaggerate most of our problems. It doesn't really deserve the blowout we think it deserves. So re-think that problem you're having, it might not be one at all. Which brings me to a proverb I just thought up, don't make a nuclear explosion out of a dynamite.