PROJECT 1: SELF-PORTRAIT

Week 6 (28/09/2021) - Week 8 (11/10/2021)

Faith Aimee Choong Jia Yi / 0345509

Design Principles [GCD60804]

Task 01: Self-Portrait

LECTURE [28/09]

Ms Jinchi gave us recorded lectures and created slides to help us learn about our first project on Self-Portrait.

WHAT IS A SELF-PORTRAIT?

A visual representation of yourself in a form of a drawing/painting/sculpture/design. It doesn't have to be an ordinary painting of yourself, the artist can get creative with the way how he or she views themselves. This could be an exercise of self-exploration, which allows the artist to know him or herself better.

Figure 1.0
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/09/85/58/0985586f5f1ca0f2aef1c98fbc4f757b.jpg

Figure 1.1
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/2e/d6/32/2ed6322b70986ed5e6b9ce9b888581d1.jpg

INSTRUCTIONS

PROJECT 01

To create one self-portrait composition based on yourself, you can be as creative as you want to construct your portrait.

VISUAL RESEARCH

For this project, I wanted to make a surrealist portrait. Below are some images to kick start my ideation process for this self-portrait. I thought of the word surrealism as I searched for these images.

Figure 1.2
https://img.youtube.com/vi/FLGCGc7sAUw/hqdefault.jpg

In the music video of Bella Poarch's first song Build a B, there lays Bella's head on a tabletop. This idea inspired me because most hand-drawn portraits include a head with a face and hair. Personally, I think our face tells us so much about us because of our facial appearance and expressions.

Figure 1.3
https://inspgr.id/app/uploads/2020/10/art-aydogdu-03.jpg

This surreal portrait was designed by Aykut Aydogdu, who is a Turkish graphic designer. This piece captured me because I love the technique of each facial part of the face which is broken down into pieces and floating around forming a partially completed head. 

Figure 1.4
https://phlearn.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Natalia-Seth-Paint-Splash-Large-Before.jpg

Natalia Seth is a photographer and a Photoshop expert. The colors on the hand attracted me as it was bright and colorful. I think the visual meaning in this piece is 'opening our eyes to creativity'. The brightly painted hand symbolizing creativity while the hand is stretching the eye on Natalia meaning opening our eyes. 

I created a mindmap so that I can do some self-exploration on myself. I added personality, appearance, hobbies/interests, strengths, and weaknesses. 

Figure 1.5

IDEA EXPLORATION

Considering Ms Jinchi's suggestion, in Week 7's tutorial session, I decided to use one of my traits (appearance), in my mindmap, to sculpt my self-portrait piece. I chose my appearance because it represents me as an individual, I want to present a self-portrait piece which reflects on my features because our features is what makes us all different from each other. 

As I was thinking about how to begin my self-portrait piece, I thought about my interest (from my mindmap). One of my common interests is fashion, and I'm a fashion student at Taylor's. I thought of sculpting myself as a mannequin. A mannequin is an artificial doll or dummy used to display or fit clothing.

Figure 1.6
https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1600502281976-e0e31b326509?ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxzZWFyY2h8MXx8bWFubmVxdWluc3xlbnwwfHwwfHw%3D&ixlib=rb-1.2.1&w=1000&q=80

I decided to use one of my photos which I think reflects on being more mannequin-like. I traced out the shape of my figure and colored it, according to a mannequin.

Figure 1.7 [Mannequin look-alike (me)]

Figure 1.8 [Self-Portrait Progress]

The reason for including my glasses is because it completes my look or myself in general. I often don't wear glasses at home but when I'm outside, I wear them. People, outside often view me as a girl with long hair wearing glasses. My glasses are rose gold in color, which is why it looks more pinkish in Figure 1.8. 

A thought came to mind, as I was looking at the mannequin illustration, I thought about revealing my inner self, the part of me when I'm at home (without glasses). 

Figure 1.9
https://cdn.apartmenttherapy.info/image/upload/f_jpg,q_auto:eco,c_fill,g_auto,w_1500,ar_1:1/k%2FPhoto%2FLifestyle%2F2020-04-4-Easy-Ways-to-Clean-Up-Broken-Glass%2F4-Easy-Ways-to-Clean-Up-Broken-Glass-Tips-from-the-Kitchn661

 Looking at Figure 1.9 gave me the idea of utilizing the broken glass to reveal my inner self. It is as if the outer shell of the mannequin is breaking off.

Figure 2.0

FEEDBACK

By: Ms Jinchi

"She told me to apply a bit of contrast so that my image will be brought to the front."

I decided to make the shadow of my mannequin self a little darker so that the mannequin is more shaped out. Now it looks even better because the shadow is contrasting with the lighter tone of the mannequin which gives the spotlight to the mannequin. I also included some glass breaking marks to show that the shell is breaking apart from the mannequin.

Figure 2.1

As Ms Jinchi commented on my Self-Portrait, during our feedback session, this composition has a decent amount of space used and it has a balance (asymmetrical).

SUBMISSION

Self-Portrait:

REFLECTION

Personally, this is one of the simplest yet outstanding projects I've ever done. When it comes to designing, I'm often not good with keeping the space because I always feel that something is missing or something hasn't been filled. Too many visual elements in a design can overpower the whole composition, having no sense of a focal point. In this first project, I've learned to accept and keep the space. From the beginning, I've thought of doing something remarkable or extravagant on my Self-Portrait but this time, it's different from I usually design and I'm proud of this piece even though I had to tackle many assignments during this week. I'm glad to have completed this project and I look forward to our next project Sense of Place.

SOFTWARE:

• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop