Wednesday 30 October 2013

Assignment 4 - Color Theory (Change of Plans)

The ticket booth, formerly the one who will be built on carnival day, was sadly put aside.

Ms Lisa and the class decided that besides having just decorative structures, we should make them functional. Giving out cookies is claimed to be 'not functional enough'. After much consideration, we thought of making face cutouts.

Our plan is using a HUGE piece or several combined pieces of cardboard, draw carnival characters like clowns. magicians etc, cut out their faces and allow people to stick their heads there to take pictures. At least this idea has a bigger purpose compared to the ticket booth.

Sadly, people these days prefer taking photos than eating cookies.

Friday 25 October 2013

Assignment 4 - Color Theory (Carnival Themed)

After understanding color terms, we are applying color theory into practice. We were asked to build sculptures with the color theory in application. We thought of several themes and narrowed it down to two, which were Carnival and Desserts.


Candy Crush candies, rainbow milkshake and macaroons? Yum!

At last, we chose Carnival theme over Desserts, even though I felt like doing both. And we are going to make it big. When the word 'carnival' is mentioned, people would usually think of merry go rounds, colorful erected tents, games and hanging triangle flags.

And that is what we will be doing.

The class is divided into 6 groups of 5 or 6 members each and we will be building carnival objects. Our group will be making a ticket booth, without selling tickets but would probably be handing out cookies. It will be about 6 feet tall because we wanted people to go inside that booth, just so to make it an interactive exhibition.

It's going to be a HUGE project. One of the other groups had to make a Ferris Wheel and I heard that they are making it 10 feet tall. We are going to light up everything and it will take place at night. Hooray!

For now, we will be thinking of the materials and the entire structure of the ticket booth. So until then.

Saturday 12 October 2013

What is Life without "Colors"?

Years ago, I was in kindergarten, primary school and then high school. When teachers mentioned colors, my mind was full of the words "colors", "colors", and more "colors". However, after I started this design course, when lecturers mentioned colors, I tend to think of these seemingly awesome art vocabularies: "shade", "tint", "saturation" etc.

I did some research and found a few of these frequently used words and phrases to describe colors.

Definitions

1. Hue
Color which can are obtained from different wavelengths of light – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, purple



2. Value
The darkness or brightness comparison of two or more different colors



3. Saturation
The intensity of a color from pure to gray



4. Secondary colors
Colors made by mixing two primary colors
- Orange, green, violet

5. Tertiary colors
Colors made by mixing one primary color and one secondary color
- Red orange, yellow orange, yellow green, blue green, blue violet, red violet

ource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Color_star-en.svg

6. Analogous colors
Colors that are on both sides of a particular color on the color wheel
- Blue green, GREEN, Yellow Green
- Yellow orange, ORANGE, Red orange
- Blue violet, VIOLET, Red violet

7. Tint
An act of adding white to a color to make it lighter


Source: http://www.color-wheel-artist.com/hue.html


8. Shade
An act of adding black to a color to make it darker


Source: http://www.color-wheel-artist.com/hue.html


9. Monochrome
A painting or photo with only one color of different values



Colors have temperature too! They can be considered warm or cold depending on different colors! 

Jokes of the Day:

"The room is really blue, can someone make it orange?"

"Hawaii is very red this time of the year."

"Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I need a fire extinguisher,
And a portable heater too."


Color Temperature

Warm colors
Colors that are associated with warmth and heat and stand out first to viewers
For example: Red, orange and yellow

Cold colors
Colors that are associated with coldness and look calm and relaxing to viewers
For example: Blue, green, violet


Colors can also be used to represent certain subjects like feelings or emotions. I'm not really sure if this is appropriate, but I'm feeling rather gray now (very sleepy).

Color Representation

1. Royalty and regality
Purple - because during Ancient Roman times, emperors wear toga which is purple in color as a symbol of their royal status


Source: http://www.partypro.com/mm_PARTYPRO_/Images/BULK-66109-PL.jpg

2. Freshness
Green - because fresh vegetables are green!


Source: http://adbot.me/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Fresh_Lettuce4519016a.jpg


3. Passion
Red - because this color associates with intense feeling and desire. Ever heard the phrase 'fiery passion'?


Source: http://thepapist.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/heart-on-fire.jpg

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Assignment 3 - Paper Cutouts (Final)

After two cuts, one sore finger and a permanent scratch on my study desk, I have finally completed the two paper cutouts with the theme Vintage Clocks.


Fig 1

This is a quarter section of a clock with a rather nature feeling to it. I managed to cut our little leaf patterns on the side. The background was painted because I thought that a single color of white or green would look rather plain.


Fig 2

This is a cutout of a grandfather clock. I painted it light brown to give it a wooden surface feeling. As you might have noticed, the roman numerals are reversed as I stuck the wrong side of the cutout on the bottom layer. When I realized that mistake, the glue had already dried.

Ms Lisa reviewed my paper cutouts this morning and she said she preferred clock Fig 1 than clock Fig 2. She said the inside of clock Fig 1 could have been left white instead, but nevertheless it was still alright. However, clock Fig 2 has rather poor composition as the edges of the clock touched the border of the A4 paper that it shows tension.

I know how to use the blade more efficiently now. Although it is not as amazing as how my mom chops her vegetables, but I can cut out finer details than before. I also learnt how to be more patient with my assignments.

I had to go through many trials and errors before finally completing a good, satisfying piece. I cut off so many roman numerals by accident that the back side of the cutout is actually a mess of hastily applied glue.

Determination is also the key. If I was not determined, I would have chucked the failed cutouts out of my window. You should also go for the impossible. When I chose the Vintage Clock theme, I did not realize that I would have to handle the roman numerals. When I found out, I spent ten minutes figuring how I could even cut those tiny figures.

All in all, the end product was satisfying, but there is always one thing that bothers me after every assignment hand-in.

Could I have done better?

Yes, I really could.