Design Principle - Project 1
Tow Wan Tian / 0342765
W6 / 04.05.2021
Lecture 6 - Self-Portrait
After the conclusion of weekly exercises, we moved on to Project 1 where we were required to produce a self-portrait. Here's a quick recap of my understanding of the topic:
In the beginning of the lecture, we looked at the definition of "self". Self, as explained by the Cambridge Dictionary, is:
The set of one's characteristics, such as personality and ability, that are NOT PHYSICAL and make the person different from other people.
Under normal circumstances, I would agree with this definition. However, since we were exploring the topic of self-portrait, it seems appropriate to include the aspect of a person's physical traits in the definition as well. Therefore, according to the explanation given in the lecture video, self is the basic personality/nature of a person, often considered in terms of what an individual is really like as a person. We may consider how others view ourselves, how we see ourselves (e.g. physical traits and personality), our experiences, interests and thoughts. It is these aspects that made us who we are today as a human. Moreover, we get to learn more about ourselves by examining and comparing our relationship with other people, culture and society.
Self-portrait is defined as the self-presentation in the form of a drawing, painting, sculpture or design; also known as a visual depiction of the self. Traditionally a self-portrait shows the face of a person up until their shoulders. However, there are no specific rules that explain how a self-portrait should be presented. The artist has all the freedom to express and present themselves in various positions, perspectives and art styles. Sometimes, the artist will take into consideration the perceptions of the community and the society when creating their self-portrait.
Project 1 - Self-Portrait (15%)
Instructions & Requirements
Visual Research
W6 - W7 / 04.05.2021 - 14.05.2021
Here's another day of "I didn't know where or how to start the research". It seemed like this was the first time that I was truly clueless on what I want to do for this project. Normally I would have some rough ideas to help me begin the research, however, this time my brain was completely blank. Therefore, I thought that maybe I could start with the basics, by looking at some portraits that are painted/drawn in a more traditional fashion. There were many great examples on Pinterest, and the images shown below are two of my favourite portraits.
Figure 1. Self Portrait, 1954 by David Hockney (Left)
Figure 1.1 Self-Portrait with Amulets and Their Shadows by Kate Beynon (Right)
As for Figure 1, I like the simplicity of the line art and the shapes of the objects. The details in the outfit and the background gave hints of the artist's life and personality. Maybe I could apply this technique in my portrait as well. The portrait can also be quite symbolic in terms of the body language; the artist was depicted holding his own arms, which may signify he is very protective of himself.
The symbolism in Figure 1.1 was more explicit in comparison with Figure 1, though I did not understand most of them. According to the original post, the artist was inspired by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo who was known for her many portraits and self-portraits. It might be interesting to apply bold symbolism in the portrait, but I wasn't sure if it fits my own personal style.
As for Figure 1, I like the simplicity of the line art and the shapes of the objects. The details in the outfit and the background gave hints of the artist's life and personality. Maybe I could apply this technique in my portrait as well. The portrait can also be quite symbolic in terms of the body language; the artist was depicted holding his own arms, which may signify he is very protective of himself.
The symbolism in Figure 1.1 was more explicit in comparison with Figure 1, though I did not understand most of them. According to the original post, the artist was inspired by the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo who was known for her many portraits and self-portraits. It might be interesting to apply bold symbolism in the portrait, but I wasn't sure if it fits my own personal style.
Idea Exploration
W6 - W7 / 04.05.2021 - 14.05.2021
Making a mind map allows me to reflect on my past and how I truly view myself. When it comes to my physical traits, the first thing that came to my mind is an "RBF" (resting b**** face). I got this comment almost all the time when I meet new people. Whenever my friends and I talk about each other's first impression, they thought I was a very serious person (which only in some situations, I agree) due to my RBF. Moreover, I was often misunderstood if I was in a bad mood or I was annoyed by something. To do a quick analysis of my RBF, I have naturally angled eyebrows and a mouth that arches downwards, which contribute a lot to the resting annoyed or irritated expressions. In addition, recently I just discovered that I have a bad habit of glaring at things when I am taking a closer look at it. I think that bad habit might have added to the "presentation" of an RBF.
I used to hate those comments about my RBF and my appearance in general, and such comments often have a negative effect on my self-esteem and self-confidence. I am unconfident with my appearance and often concerned on how other people perceive me. For years I have been battling against this insecurity of mine and I am striving to learn to face, embrace and love myself the way I am in this current moment of life. Good news is that I could see that I have been making progress and I observed a change in me. For example, my chubby cheeks was one of my complexes, but now I seem to care less about it. I mean, it doesn't do any harm to me or anyone, so why not just let it be? Also I've accepted the fact that I can't do much to fix my RBF and have decided to let it be as well. My RBF has become somewhat an iconic aspect of myself, thus I planned to translate that into my self-portrait.
Don't force me to smile when I don't feel like doing it; even if I tried, you won't get much from me.
I liked this selfie and the possible caption for it. Hence, I would use it as the main subject for my self-portrait.
(Side note: when I was looking up 'baby fat on face' and 'chubby cheeks' on the internet, almost all results show articles and videos on how to get rid of baby fat😕. Well, respect to those who are trying all measures to do so, but for now, I am comfortable with what I have on my face. )
W8 / 17.05.2021
The next aspect to tackle was to decide the overall style of the portrait. I was certain that I wouldn't be hand-drawing the portrait as I wasn't comfortable or confident in doing so, thus the portrait would most likely be done digitally. I didn't have much idea in mind, thus I turned to my good old friend Pinterest for more ideas.
I have been really into photo editing and digital collages lately and I thought I could start from looking up some examples. I came across this category entitled "photo illustration", where the illustrations were drawn over existing photos, either by hand or digitally.
This particular illustration/edit caught my attention:
Instead of directly illustrating over the photograph, the illustration was layered below the original photo and was revealed with what seemed like an "erasing" effect. It could be interpreted as the individual has many layers (or sides) and we would need to erase the surface to reveal the inner true self (hidden layers). I would like to emulate this approach for my self-portrait.
1st Attempt
- I started with a new vertical A4 canvas in Photoshop and inserted the original selfie. After a few adjustments on the scale of the image, I realised that the shoulders in the original image were cut off and it left an awkward contour of the body. Therefore, I did my very first of repainting the shoulders and the background in order to achieve a complete finishing.
- Next, I reduced the opacity of the original image (for easy viewing), added a new layer and began tracing the outlines. Afterwards, I coloured in the blank spaces.
- Then, I layered the original image on top of the illustration and began experimenting the different erasing effects.
I experimented with simple swirls and the finishing looked fine, but I wanted to present something more personal. Hence, I tried implementing the Chinese character of my surname "杜" (the top left image in Figure 2.7), or applying the initials of my name "TWT" (second row, first two images from the left). However, I ended up not liking any of the designs, because one, the Chinese character was not obvious enough and it seemed messy and too busy to me; two, the imbalance arrangement of the "TWT" was really bugging me (I further tried rearranging it the letters horizontally from top to bottom, but I wasn't satisfied with it as well). The frustration began to build up after more trials and errors; nothing looked right to me, thus I had to leave everything and take a break for a while to refresh myself.
After a quick break from the project, I returned with a new idea: how about changing the design to a horizontal canvas? Seems doable.
After resizing the canvas, immediately the design looked better as there was more negative space for the eyes to take a rest. The main subject was placed at the centre of the canvas, and with the help of the Symmetry tool, I drew a revised symbolised version of my initials (please refer to Exercise 5 - Figure 3.3 Initial sketches for symbol). I was satisfied with the finishing of the last three versions, the only thing left to do was to decide on one as my final design outcome and write a rationale for it.
Feedback from Lecturer / Highlights
Initial Feedback (W7)
Dr. Jinchi: You learned to look at yourself not just on the physical form, but also who you really are as a person and not minding a bit about what others think of you. You can think from this angle: one does not have to conform. Look for ways to visualise the idea of "non-conforming" into your design. Also, I was thinking maybe you can incorporate your initials as the fringes of your portrait.
Final feedback on E-blog and Project 1
Dr. Jinchi: In Self-Portrait, I can see that you try to think out of the box even in your sourcing of visual references. They do not look conventional. The incorporation of your name's initials into the self-portrait as a design element is a fresh idea as it is subtle and the actual photo+vector style blend nicely together.
Final Design Outcome
Rationale
Smile as I wish; not for your wish.Beyond the surface, true colours to embrace.
In the original selfie, I did not pose to smile simply because I did not feel like putting on a smile that day. People see me as a quiet person without much facial expressions. Quite often I would receive comments from people to ask me to smile for them and appear happier. The pose of pinching and pushing up my cheeks to force a smile signifies sometimes I would conform to such requests and try to smile, but the results may not be appealing or satisfying. Message of the day: just don't force me to smile.
The mundane grey background signifies how I appear as a serious and boring person from others' perspective (which I do agree to a certain extent). My initials act as a window that shows my inner self: unexpectedly colourful and bright. This symbolises that one should not simply judge me with what was shown on the outside, but should take a closer look at the person named Tow Wan Tian, to look beyond the surface and to discover her true colours. More importantly, I should learn to face myself, embrace myself and love myself.
I'd like to point out that the colours were not chosen randomly as they do carry certain meanings to me. Pink, a colour which I hate but would sometimes secretly admire it; green, my favourite colour at the moment but never looked good on me; yellow/blonde, a bold colour that I want to dye for my hair but never had the courage to attempt; blue, a mood that I feel most of the time.
Reflection
For this project, I found myself struggling a lot more than the previous weekly exercises. Nothing seemed to go right for me, struggling to generate ideas, the technical difficulties of using Photoshop as a beginner. However, everything could be resolved with a bit more patience and perseverance. I wasn't particularly satisfied with the final design outcome as it was far from I had intended it to be. I would probably give myself a 6 out of 10.
This project was a great opportunity to review and reflect on myself as a human being. I got to sit down and think thoroughly about everything that is related to me and made me who I am as an individual. I am now one step closer to embracing and loving my true colours whole-heartedly.
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