Assignment Two : Making Images Talk, Abstraction

The first is an iconic sign of a beggar, and it is being distillated, till it evolves into the final image, of two hands being held out. Generic meaning sets in at the fourth image.

The final symbol - Begging.

After the lecturer had given us this assignment, i had deduced from the avid discussions amongst my coursemates, that many people were going to be abstracting cars, planes, cellphones. I wanted to increase the challenging level a notch, and so i picked on the furthest item from everyday objects, i picked the action of begging to be abstracted. It was a really interesting theme to be working with, as it triggered me to wonder about the various signifiers of begging, and finally, i decided that the most universal of all was outstretched palms, facing upwards, with fingers curled.

I did not attend class for presentation of this work that day, as I was running a high fever. SOOO, i'm going to need your comments for this work. comment!!! :)

/Edited
Comments:

Having not attended lessons, I had to show my family and friends the final picture, and ask them what came to their minds. Most of them said begging, or things closely linked with begging. (donations, beggar etc) So this will be my final work, thankfully as the constant fever was definitely making the creative juices flow to an ebb.

Reflections:

It was rather interesting, to learn about the concept of signifier and signified. In this case, the very first image is iconic of begging, while the final image is both indexic and symbolic, as it suggests begging by the link that begging is often carried out with the action of holding out both hands. It could also be symbolic, as the culture of begging could differ in different environments, for example a society could recognise begging when they see a hat turned upside down, instead of the hands. This is because in that society, maybe begging is conducted merely with a hat for people to throw in donations, rather than outstretched hands.

Draft Two of Assignment One



I love being around nature. (spelling out JOCE)

the top image (in white) is a pencil-drawn sketch, which i scanned in and made edits with Photoshop, to result in the second image (in black).






I hate the pressures of life.

the background replica of the iron, was to create a looming effect which would serve the purpose of further emphasising on the overbearing and larger-than-life pressures. Black, white and shades of grey, were the only colours used to illustrate the fact that i HATED the pressures of life.



Comments: I had thought these would be the final sketches, but alas for the second one, EVERYONE thought i loved ironing (which is actually kinda true, hmm.) instead of i hate pressure. I changed it from the previous egg image to that of the ironing, which depicts my name being flattened by the iron, to illustrate pressures being exerted on me. But i guess trying to convey such an abstract idea was too ambitious a task, so i'll be changing the entire theme to something else (i contemplated keeping the image and just changing the theme to 'I love ironing', but that seems like cheating, so oh well.)

For the first 'i love nature' image, comments were generally positive, yay! Some even commended that the drawing was pretty, which was really heartwarming after some really long hours of sketching, and getting pencil marks and eraser shavings everywhere. hee. So i guess the first image would be my final work already. (thankfully :p)

/edited!!

I hate being in cramped spaces.

and so, the final sketch of the i-hate assignment!!

Honestly, there is just something irksome with being stuck in a place (think a bus, or train) with virtually zero space to move, and having to be in skin-to-skin contact with the next stranger beside me. Multiply the whole degree of disgust by hundred, if the stranger is sweating/stinking(mostly the first two characteristics come together)/making weird jerking actions. So there, the justification for my edited sketch.

This was how it initially looked like. Okay, good for you if you've noticed that this is one of the thumbnail sketches in my very first sketch. But it's my design afterall, and that can't be considered plagarism right. Plus, i did think it was a good design, which carried a strong visual message, and should thus, not be neglected and left in the dumps of the first sketch. :P

I used Photoshop to erase all the pencil markings scanned in, and to fill the image with colours using Brush function, and Magic Wand.

When i was sketching this thumbnail, i was thinking more along the lines of pressure, and that led me to imagine being compressed from all sides, hence the image. I added the lock to further emphasise on how it was impossible to be relieved from all that pressure, and compression. And that I(my name) was being caged in, and given no space to breathe. Lastly, the lock also served to tell the reader that the pressure wasn't created by myself, but an external source. But as mentioned previously, 'i hate pressures of life' is too abstract a concept, so to narrow it down, one of such pressures would be being stuck in cramped places almost everyday when you have to be in crowded transportation areas during rush hour. and so, the theme changed to 'i hate being in cramped spaces.'

Comments: All my peers whom i've shown this to, guessed correctly what the image was trying to convey on no more than three tries. Brilliant!! :D

the 2 X 2 A5 sketches of "i am ... , and i love/hate ..."

wooo, first tutorial's over! pretty interesting, and definitely a refreshing change to see and hear my fellow classmates, rather than just staring at the tutor for two whole hours. :) Some of the works were really impressive, while some were, just , ahem, lets just say, they've got a bit of work to do.
okay, who am i to comment actually. Just look at my sketches! they're still so problematic! :(

"My name is Jocelyn, and I hate the pressures of life."

In this sketch, I've chosen to use the image of an egg cracking under PRESSURE, and the yolk seeping out, to depict the strain from the combined pressures of life. My name 'JOCELYN', spelt in capital letters, is embedded in the cracks of the egg for both first and second sketches.

In the second sketch, the concept used is similar, with the addition of a grey woman's high-heels stepping on the egg. This is to heighten the sense of pressure in the drawing.

Both sketches are hand-coloured with felt-tip markers.

Comments: I have realised that this is too abstract an idea to express, and most are unable to understand what the drawing is intended to portray. Also, it is hard to tell the name apart from the lines of the crack in the egg.




"My name is Jocelyn, and I love being around nature."

In the first sketch, there's a close-up drawing of a fresh leaf, with a dew drop on its very tip to emphasise on the vibrancy of nature. My name is written using the inter-twisting veins of the leaf.

In the second sketch, a butterfly is drawn flitting around a flower. My name is written using the trail left behind by the butterfly.

Both sketches are hand-coloured with felt-tip markers.

Comments: The second sketch, is too literal as it just spells out my name without incorporating it into the picture fully.

Bah. If there's one thing the teachers have been emphasing, it is to learn to not fall in love with your very first draft. And so, i'm going to heed their advice, and forge ahead, and trash these sketches. Time to take out those colour pencils again..

Assignment One

This is the very FIRST assignment, and i'm pleasantly surprised at how excited i am with being able to do something i love for a school assignment - DRAWING!! i've always been a artyfarty at heart. :P

So, after a few hours, these are what resulted.

Sketch One, of eight thumbnails.
'my name is Jocelyn, and i hate the pressures of life' and 'i love being around nature'



will be having tutorial presentation soon! wonder how THAT will be like, hmm.

Reflections:

This assignment invoked a lot of thinking about self, and what i REALLY like, or hate. I was stuck for a long time, as it suddenly seemed like there was nothing i felt strong dislike, or like for. i had to will myself to imagine the activity i would most enjoy or hate doing, and that finally brought me to deciding on the themes of nature and pressure.

Communicating the concepts through manipulation of my name proved to be quite tough, as to mesh both text and imagery together, in a visually pleasing and sensible manner, required quite a lot of work. However, the assignment allowed me to imagine things in a different and out-of-the-box way that i normally would not do, in order to incorporate my name in the image. Also, it got me thinking of how i can twist the alphabets in my name, to portray as objects that would fit in the image.

In all, this first assignment was definitely a challenge and got my creative juices pumping, after a long hiatus from art!