Exercise: The 'Golden Thread' and Abstraction

For this exercise, I had to revisit some pieces that I created in the previous unit and reflect (with the abstraction technique), to find what is common throughout each piece-- my 'golden thread'.

I wanted to show awareness and express how we can help our oceans, I would like to influence people to implement positive changes to their lives to help our oceans and wildlife. Not enough is being done and it's important to educate ourselves on the planet we call home.

I made the webcomic using ink brush pens and digital this is because of how easily it is to colour the ink drawings I did. I tend to feel overwhelmed during the colour phase/rendering stage; once I get into the ugly stage of a design I always feel like the work doesn't improve. I struggle with colour theory and confidence.

For this piece I wanted to show how the future could look like if we didn't save our planet from climate change and global warming. The piece intended to create shock value and hopefully make people reflect on how their actions (or lack of actions) effect the planet- for people to take issues like this more serious.

I made the illustration with digital medium (on Procreate), with digital I was able to create perspective with guides and grids that helped assist me in creating a compelling illustration. It also allowed me to create interesting effects that I may to be able to achieve with traditional. I wanted to create an environment that feels real and lived in, but also feels grounded in narrative and devastation.

I wanted to create 2-page manga that showed a horror narrative- telling the start of the story. I love telling stories, I want to publish my own story and allow people to escape in my stories; to replicate the same emotions/feelings/thoughts that stir when I read/watch stories.

I used digital means to create this piece since I wanted the freedom of tools and brushes that replicate the manga style. I wanted to create a visually pleasing story that is at a standard that can get published-- because I wanted it to be perfect.

I aimed to paint a landscape that portrayed a mood and a narrative with an interesting perspective; I like the subtle storytelling in paintings since it allows you to imagine yourself in that world or to see the worldbuilding.

I used acrylic paint because I wanted to revisit a medium that I used to use, to me traditional art makes me stir up memories of when I used to paint as a teenager; I'm away from screens and it feels more intimate with a paint brush and a canvas.

I created a 'lift-the-flap' children's book, I wanted to attempt a children's book since I used to read books like Beatrix Potter and wanted to recreate that spark that I used to get from reading. I hope to inspire people and let people escape into a different world-- to share that feeling of excitement, enjoyment that I used to feel.

I used watercolour and ink pen to create the children's book, I wanted to recreate the style of children's book and show a naturally saturated style that could inspire future artists. Despite the fact that I've outgrown children's books, seeing children's books where I work-- I worry that some books are extremely bright and colourful-- rather than the natural dreamy books I got to experience.

Reflection

What the takeaway is from the exercise is that my 'Golden Thread' is storytelling-- and the use of digital medium. Storytelling captivates me, I read, I watch movies, I play video games; I find storytelling as a tool to help people when they need it most. With the mediums I use, digital seems to be reoccurring and i typically used it to colour pieces or refine the illustration further.

I would like to continue down the road with weaving narratives into my artworks, but I would like to use more traditional mediums to give me more confidence in my own natural abilities. I could explore story through a literal means like creating comics, zines, etc. and I could also create illustrations that hint at world-building such as the acrylic painting I did. With traditional mediums, I could revisit experimental mediums that I had fun with- such as charcoal.

Doing this exercise has allowed me to align what my artistic goal is and it helps me realise how I should approach what's to come in this unit.