Design Principles - Project 1: Self-Portrait

28/09/2022 - 14/10/2022 (Week 5 - Week 7)

Ahmad Firas Bin Ahmad Fisal | 0345121

Design Principles (GCD60804) | Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Project 1: Self-Portrait

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INSTRUCTIONS

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1. A recap of Project 1 brief

2. Your design process:

    2.1 Visual references (designs that have inspired your own)

    2.2 Idea exploration and description

    2.3 Final outcome in JPEG and a short rationale

    2.4 Feedback was given by the lecturer

    2.5 Reflection on the particular week

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PROJECT BRIEF

- Reflect on our life experiences such as our family, friends, culture, emotions, music, food, etc.
- Have an observation of your surroundings and how it reflects on yourself.
- Record those in sketches, photography, etc as part of your visual references.
- Find other visuals online or offline that we find relevant and pieces that could be translated into this Self-Portrait project.
- Keep Design Principles that we have learned in mind so that we can apply them consciously as we progress through the project.

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PROJECT 1: SELF-PORTRAIT

Visual References:

Figure 1.1 - Acrylic Painting by Easam Darawshi

Figure 1.2 - Shadow Sculpture by Kumi Yamashita

Figure 1.3 - Expressionism Painting by Vivien Szaniszló

Figure 1.4 - Artwork by Firas Fisal (CCTS Class)

Figure 1.5 - Anatomy Reference from Pinterest

Idea Exploration:

I would like to centre the creation of Project 1 on Self-Respect and Self-Worth in the
mind map section.

Figure 1.6 - Self-Exploration Mind Map (Previous CCTS Mindmap)

Figure 1.7 Self-Exploration Mind Map (Project 1, Simplified)

Using harmonious colours and making sure that it's contrasting the puddle with muted figures and background to further accentuate the puddle from the tilted bin.

Figure 1.8 - Sketch Ideation (#1)

Figure 1.9 is mainly showing my tryout with different body and leg postures to see if they exhibit different emotions and vibes to the artwork as a whole.

 

Figure 1.9 - Idea Exploration (Posture)

Since I liked the idea of playing around with the posture, I've decided to play around with one of my visual research above regarding the different sitting-figure postures and see if I can create something that is heavily inspired by those. Along the way, I also included my preferred colour swatches/palette to see the harmony it brings to the artwork.

Figure 2.0 - Sketch #2 (Sketch + Colour Testing)

Putting my sketch idea into further outlining and colouring to progress further with my Self-Portrait project. It was also intentional to ensure that the puddle colours stand out even more compared to the colours around it; the figure and the background.

Figure 2.1 - Digitization of Sketching 

Using Liquify on the software to create a Pouring Art-like effect on the puddle as planned to keep things on the fun side to not make the overall artwork seems too rigid. I felt like the minor shadowing is a necessity to not make it too flat, although leaving the other parts of the artwork with little-to-none shadowing except for playing with different tones of a hue to create appropriate intensity to further introduce depth.

Figure 2.2 -  Creation of 'Puddle' and 'Minor Shadow'

I've also tried checking my composition of the overall artwork to the background by using The Golden Ratio composition rule to see how the art would've looked with a selected point of focus.

Figure 2.3 - The Golden Ratio (Composition)

Final Outcome (JPEG) with Rationale (50-150 words):

Figure 2.4 - Final Work for Project 1: Self-Portrait

The main message of this artwork is to show something that represents me as a person over the years especially during my teenage years a few years back. It is a challenge for me to balance out boundaries because I realised that I've been pouring out (the puddle) more goodness to the world even if it wasn't true to my current thoughts and emotions. I have become used to that whole process of 'faking-it-till-you-make-it' too literally.

Though I enjoy being a ball of joy and that is what I would've described myself in an instant but I couldn't brush myself with this (negative) part of the experience which I think would be well represented for this project because we all could easily empathise with the intensity of colours, the posture of the figure and all of the other conscious-decisions made to this artwork are well reflected with the story.

Feedback:

Week 6: Explore more the position and postures of the figure like making it sit with crossed legs and bent posture (tiredness) to further accentuate the dark theme that I'm trying to go for. Play around with those changes to see if it makes any changes but also make them intact with the message/intention of the artwork. Liquid could also be changed to words/statements that I used with my circle that weren't reciprocated or appreciated enough which is causing the tiredness in me to put this 'mask' of happiness on. Sticking with the colourful liquid as an emphasis would also work, these are only recommendations.

Week 7: The final artwork is a successful piece and the posture change is more mature looking and exhibits the figure in a contemplative state as intended in the artwork's story. There is also a presence of emphasis from the puddle to the figure and the story from the hat itself is also well displayed because it shows as if the figure is trying to 'hide' itself from the public. The only adjustment needed is to resize it to A4.

Reflection:

This self-portrait project is really an opportunity for me to introspect my life and translate it into a piece of artwork with adhering to the design principles that I've learned over the past 7 weeks. With the critiques and feedback that I've received for this project as documented above, I feel like I've really gotten a hang of showcasing multiple design principles in an artwork; be it conscious or a subconscious decision made. I've even used the colour theory that we have briefly learned and also with my own research on it, and how to manipulate it into my work to depict certain emotions. Making artwork is not always based on how pretty and technical you can achieve in your process but also on the ability to successfully exhibit multiple principles in your work.