G-Dragon!

Title: G-Dragon chibis
Medium: Colour pencils with black marker
Size: A4
Date: 30 December 2009

G-Dragon in “Heartbreaker”.
I drew the chibis from the pictures in the lyrics book of the album Heartbreaker.

Overall satisfaction: ♥♥♥.5

SHINee!

Title: SHINee chibis
Medium: Colour pencils with black marker
Size: A4
Date: 29 December 2009

SHINee in “Ring Ding Dong”.
SHINee in “Juliette”.

Well, I don’t think I need to explain this. I was just feeling bored one day and decided to draw a cartoon version of SHINee (a Korean band). Yep. That’s it. Enjoy!

Overall satisfaction: ♥♥♥♥♥

Chair!

Title: Chair
Medium: pencil on paper
Size: 9.7cm x 11.2cm
Date: 10 January 2009

This is another NAFA drawing exercise we did at the start of last year. It was pretty simple. There was a variety of photos of different types of chairs. We were supposed to pick one that we like and draw out the ‘negative’ of the photo. This meant that instead of the usual copying of the chair, we shade out the background. The tone remained similar. However, we were told not to shade out every single negative space, treating some negative spaces to be positive. As such, the end product would not necessarily explicitly depict a chair, rather, it would look like an abstract artwork.

Overall satisfaction: ♥♥♥♥

2NE1-inspired Shoes!

Title: 2NE1-inspired shoes
Medium: Acrylic on canvas shoes, black permanant marker
Size: NA
Date: 2009

For those who are unaware, 2NE1 is a korean idol band that debuted in 2009. A variety show called 2NE1 TV was shown on Mnet (but obviously I watched it on Youtube since I don’t have that channel). There was this part when they painted their own shoes with the design, as shown above, and I was really inspired to paint a pair myself.
Being their fan, I went to buy white canvas shoes so I could do the same.

I copied their design as well. Initially, I wanted to draw a king and a queen respectively on each side. However, it kinda makes more sense to draw an ace and a queen because that’ll make 21 (if you know how to play Blackjack) and it also corresponds to their group name.
Well, it’s pretty fun. You can try it too! I shall not rate my satisfaction towards this work because the design was not original. Credits to 2NE1. <3

Coursework final – Materialism

Title: Materialism
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Size: 135 cm x 180 cm
Date: September 2009

Let me explain my artwork through FAQs.
1) Why did I choose to do a coursework on materialism?
Basically, I wanted to explore the idea of materialism in today’s society, how it differs from that in the past. Materialism is currently a rising trend, whereby teenagers (like you and I) are pursuing more and more branded goods. People now see material goods as a reflection of one’s status and ‘class’. By exploring this theme in greater depth, I hope to learn more about materialism in our current society.

2) What is my painting trying to show?
It depicts people reaching upwards, trying to catch the butterflies. These butterflies have branded prints on them, hence symbols of material goods. The people are clad in branded clothings, but they are still trying to catch the butterflies, showing how people desire for more branded goods despite already possessing branded goods. Some butterflies are out of the canvas, which shows the impossibility/ inability for some people to catch the butterflies due to certain factors such as poverty, unaffordability etc.

* This is roughly my entire final work. The painting had not been hung up at the point when this photo is taken.

3) Why are the figures all females?
The reason is simple. Since this painting would most probably be hung in Nanyang Girls’ High, my target viewers would naturally be the students there. I hope to relate the subject matter of my painting to that of our real life. As students look at this painting, I hope that they will have their own self- reflection and think about how they are similar to the figures in the painting.

4) So… Am I an opponent of purchasing of material goods?
Nope! I think that there is nothing wrong with buying branded goods. However, if one is spending excessively on such luxurious items, then I believe that he or she should start reflecting on his or her actions.

5) If I can improve any part of my painting, what would it be?
If not for time constraint, I would make my painting life-size. Since it is meant to be a social commentary, making it life-size will make it seems like the viewers are part of the painting, hence easier to relate to the subject matter.

Overall satisfaction: ♥♥♥♥

Prep Work 8/8 – Perspective

Title: Perspective

BOARD NUMBER 8 out of 8.
- Inspiration by Dede Eri Supria – The Labyrinth.
- quick sketch of blocks from different perspectives (one-point, two-point)
- composition with strong perspective from the internet.

Prep Work 7/8 – Hands, Sky & Clouds

BOARD NUMBER 7 out of 8
Title: Hands
- drawings of hands in various positions reaching out
- experimentation of different mediums

Title: Sky & Clouds
- self taken images of clouds
- paintings of different types of clouds
- gradient of the sky

Prep Work 6/8 – Reaching out

Title: Reaching out

BOARD NUMBER 6 out of 8.
- Self taken images of my friends and brother ‘reaching out’ – different forms (top view, side view, front view & bottom view)
- Drawings of Yunxin and Cynthia reaching upwards, with colour variations.

Prep Work 5/8 – Development of Ideas

* Sorry, the photo is slightly blurred. D:

Title: Development of ideas

BOARD NUMBER 5 out of 8.
- Sketches of various possible compositions.
- Inspiration by Paula Rego.

Prep Work 4/8 – People

Title: People

BOARD NUMBER 4 out of 8.
- Poverty vs materialism – Is materialism only for the rich?
- Poor African child carrying LV bag.
- Begger begging for money to buy food vs woman begging for money to sustain her expenditure on material goods.
- Poor people advertising for Prada.
- Babies wearing diapers with branded prints – Can only adults indulge in materialism?

Prep Work 3/8 – Animals, Butterflies

BOARD NUMBER 3 out of 8.
Title: Animals
- Drawing of animals wearing branded goods (puppy in LV sweater, cat with LV collar)
- Animals ‘born’ branded (Fish with LV logo on scales, LV logo imprinted on peacock feather)

Title: Butterflies
- Butterflies with branded prints on their wings. Butterflies are attracted to branded goods instead of flowers.
- Metamorphosis – changing viewpoints of the idea of materialism in the society.
- Sketches of people catching butterflies.

Prep Work 2/8 – Logos & Prints

Title: Logos and Prints

BOARD NUMBER 2 out of 8.
- Drawings of logos and patterns of various expensive brands, such as Louis Vuitton, Coach, Prada, Burberry, Gucci and Fendi.
- Branded products which consists of such patterns/ prints. Example: Burberry shoes, Coach bags etc.
- Incorporation of such prints into items found in our daily lives (Poker cards, Mahjong tiles, manicure, tattoos etc.)

Prep Work 1/8 – Materialism

Title: Materialism

BOARD NUMBER 1 out of 8.
- Short explanation of the significance of my final painting.
- Mindmap on development of materialism.
- Direct interpretation of materialism: Drawings of branded products, such as shoes, clothes, bags, and other accessories (ring, watch, keychain) of various expensive brands.

Insight!

Insight, 1990
Acrylic on canvas
89 x 58 cm

I have no idea, but this painting was done by an anonymous person. I came across this painting during one of our AEP trips to some art gallery. This painting is classified under abstract art, where the forms are not defined. There are obvious multi-layered swirls of circles in the painting, formed by thick strokes of paint. This composition and style seems to be achievable by soft pastels since they effect is really similar.

What I like about this work is the use of colours. As mentioned in earlier posts, I like bold, strong and solid colours, which explains my colour selection for my final painting for coursework. Also, rather clashing colours are used (purple, green, brown and white). There is also no blending of colours, merely overlapping of layers. I really appreciate this form of freestyle in terms of painting as it is not restricted by any other factors. Even though there is no defined subject matter in this painting, the artist used a white patch in the centre to act as the focal point for the viewers. It not only draws the attention of people, it also helps to balance compostion in terms of a variation of tones.

Overall, this painting reminds me of Yi Lin’s oil painting. The colours and style are similar, with direct application of paint onto the canvas. The differences between the two paintings are the choice of subject matter and medium.

Graphic Designs!

Title: Graphic Designs
Medium: Black pen, black marker and colour pencils
Size: A5 each
Date: throughout 2009

This is a series of graphic drawings I started drawing this year. For fun. These designs are purely original and impromptu, in the sense that no planning was done beforehand. Some of the shapes and patterns were inspired by objects around us. This will be further explained later. I drew these pictures in an A5 sized sketchbook and is still currently working on it. I aim to fill all the pages one day.

As mentioned earlier, some shapes seen in the above drawings are adapted from objects around us:
[left to right, top to bottom]
1) Inspired by a paper fan hanging on my dining room wall. -.-
2) The triangular pointed shapes were actually taken from the classroom speakers. I was stoning during lessons, looking for inspirations when I saw that shape.
3) NA
4) NA
5) The blue markings resemble an animal’s scratches with its claws. Just a random idea.
6) We were watching a video during IH and there was a scene where there were many migratory birds flying in the sky, so I thought of using their formation and simplifying their body shape to create this.
7) The inspiration came from some type of food cos I was watching some tv programme about food. Not sure what though.
The little stuff in between the petals of the flowers are actually adapted from Biology practical – drawing of citrus fruits with succulent hairs. Lime, to be specific.

Yep, that’s about it! ^^
Can this be considered as 8 drawings? :O I’m desperate already.

Overall satisfaction: ♥♥♥♥♥!

Tan Choh Tee!

Street Scene, 1967
Oil on board
93.3 x 77.3 com

This is an oil painting of an old traditional street scene by Tan Choh Tee. I came across this painting in our AEP fieldtrip to NUS (I think) last year. Well personally, I enjoy looking at compositions with a street scene because usually, these paintings have a strong sense of perspective, which i really like as it creates depth and 3- dimensional effects, making the paintings look realistic. In addition, street scenes usually reveals the tradition and cullture at that time, revealing to the viewers the conditions and environment the painting was being painted. Also, these street scenes shows the buzzling and lively lives of the locals, which is very heartwarming.

In this painting, there is a strong sense of lighting, such that light is being shone on the centre of the composition, bringing the focal points of the viewers to the middle part of the canvas. When seen from afar, this painting looks like any others, with a rather common subject matter. However, upon close inspection, the painting is actually made up of short choopy brushstrokes, resembling that of the Impressionists. It is impressive how this painting actually consisted of nothing but expressive brushworks, which forms the entire composition. In addition, we can tell that mixing of paints was done directly on the canvas, hence the raw and pure colours being used. Although details are not present, the viewers are still able to make out the different objects visible in this painting.

Another thing I like about this painting is how it reveals parts of the locals’ lifestyles, such as selling things on carts to make a living, and how people actually hung their wet clothes outside for them to dry, similar to that of what Singaporeans do in HDB flats in today’s society. Street scenes have always been facinating to me, which inspired me to take many photos of the streets at 泰康路 when I went to Shanghai for Global Classroom Programme last year. (I will upload the photos when I’m free.)

Urbanisation!

[photo taken by Yunxin]
Done by: Hui Ying, Yunxin, Yong Hwang, Ping Ting

Title: Urbanisation
Medium: Acrylic on Plaster of Paris
Size: To be updated
Date: 15 August 2009

This sculpture shows roots being integrated into buildings, suggesting urbanisation. We aimed to show how urbanisation has detrimental effects to the environment. Trees are cut down to build buildings and other infrastructure, which destroys the natural environment. We used green to paint the roots as green denotes environment, in this case, the natural environment being environmentally friendly. As time goes by, the roots, symbolising the trees, gradually disappear and transform into buildings. Red is used as firstly, it is a complementary colour with green and secondly, red denotes danger, showing how chopping away the trees will bring negative consequences to the nature. Different shades of red are deliberately painted in stripes to create a surreal and unrealistic feel, hinting to people that despite this being merely a sculpture, it meant to set people thinking about their actions on the environment.

This is a sculpture made using the Plaster of Paris, which was the first time all of us were exposed to such a medium. To create the roots, we used our fingers as the mould and plastered the strips of plaster onto our fingers, for about 2-3 layers. Texture of the roots is create after the shape is being removed from our fingers. To make the walls of the buildings, we used the ruler as a flat surface to pile plaster on it, before removing them after they are dry. We then connect the different pieces to form the building structure.

Overall, it was a whole new experience for us. We did enjoy ourselves initially but it sort of got boring after that. Even so, we are still glad that we were able to complete the sculpture within the time frame.

Feng Zheng Jie!

These are two out of many of the paintings displayed by Feng Zheng Jie in the Singapore Art Museum on 9 April 2008. I’m sorry I am not sure what this series is called, but I would like to talk about why I chose this series of artworks as my inspiration.

Firstly, from what you can observe from the two paintings above, we can tell that Feng Zheng Jia made use of mainly two colours in this series of paintings – hot pink and turqoise. Consistency is kept throughout the series, whereby the figures are either in pink with turqoise background or vice versa. This really catches the attention of the viewers, especially when complementary and brights colours were used, in addition to the gigantic canvas size. As this combination of colours is not common, it gives the series a unique touch.

Secondly, on a closer look, one will realise that the size of the iris was not proportionately drawn – being too small for the entire eye. Apart from that, the iris also point at opposite directions. These factors made the painting look unrealistic as it is impossible to do that. However, this feature evokes the curiosity of the viewers, making them have the urge to find out the meaning behind these mysterious paintings.

My favourite part of this series is the choice of colours. I really like how Feng Zheng Jie selected such unconventional and unrealistic colours, yet it contrast to the subject matter and painting styles, being so realistic. Overall, the paintings resemble the style of graphics – realistic and not realistic at the same time. Also, I really appreciate his daring use of bold colours, which really made his paintings stand out from the rest.

“The pursuit of perfection includes giving up other things. This in itself is a contradiction. Can there be ‘perfection’ when there is loss? It is the illusory or even falsehood that can be said to be truly perfect.” – Feng Zheng Jie

Pencil Drawings!

Title: Old Shophouses
Medium: Pencil
Size: A5
Date: 29 August 2009

This drawing was done based on a photo which my NAFA teacher took. Basically, this drawing was done by filling the dark places with shading, leaving the areas under light completely unshaded. We were told to adopt this method when drawing the photo, which gave the artwork an interesting overall feel. On the whole, the artwork looks really realistic and some parts resemble the effects of a negative photograph. This is not a compulsory assignment but I had the urge to do it because I felt that the end product is really cool and I wanted to try out this method for the very first time. Well, I did enjoy the process.

Title: Houses Beside Tree
Medium: Pencil
Size: A4
Date: 6 September 2009

Similarly, this drawing adopts the same style as the above drawing. Initially, we had the chance to go to the Botanical Gardens for outdoor painting (in this case, drawing) and apply the skills we learnt the previous week on our drawings, but due to the heavy rain, the plan was cancelled. Hence, we stayed in NAFA and I made a drawing from a picture our teacher gave us. It turned out better than expected, which was a relief as I certainly did not have a lot of experiences in this area.

When drawing such drawings, I did not face any difficulties as the entire process is quite straightforward. What I felt I learnt the most is that we learnt to  be more daring when it comes to drawing. Unlike usual times when we draw the entire composition with a faint sketch, this form of drawing requires us being ‘impromptu’, in the sense that we draw what we see directly instead of through careful planning.

Overall satisfaction: ♥♥♥♥.5

Dede Eri Supria!

The Labyrinth
1987 – 1988
210 x 230 cm

The main attraction of this painting would be the strong sense of perspective Dede Eri Supria chose to adopt for this artwork. I have chosen The Labyrinth to be my inspiration for my coursework as firstly, my final painting involves the use of perspective in the background and secondly, Supria’s painting had a strong sense of perspective, which was exactly what I wanted in my final composition. In The Labyrinth, Supria painted cardboard boxes in which the lines converge towards the horizon and gradually blurs. This helps to add depth to the painting as well as create a 3- dimensional effect, making the artwork look more realistic. The composition of this painting also plays around with the viewers’ senses, such that it seems like the entire composition is being enlarged/ expanded within the canvas.

I adopted Dede Eri Supria’s The Labyrinth as my inspiration as I was really interested in his composition rather than his style of painting, since my main focus is perspective, who I intended to explore in detail. Making use of this painting as my inspiration, I simplified the subject matter to rectangular blocks, instead of the original cardboard pieces. In addition, to enhance the depth of my painting, I made the lines of the blocks converge towards a vanishing point in the centre of the horizon. This helps to create some sort of movement in the painting, at the same time, allow the viewers to go ‘into’ the painting.