Field Trip To National Art Gallery

Had a fruitful trip to the National Visual Arts Gallery yesterday with classmates. Most of the art that was exhibited was by Latiff Mohidin because the theme was  "6 Decades of Latiff Mohidin: A Retrospective". A collection of paintings, drawings, prints and even sculptures could be found here, and all are works from Latiff Mohidin. The painting series by Latiff Mohidin that were exhibited here includes Pra Berlin, Berlin, Pago-Pago, Mindscape 1, Langkawi, Mindscape 2, Gelombang, Rimba and Voyage. I like the Berlin series the most.

There were also other arts that were exhibited on the 1st floor and one of my favourites was this one by Khairul Azuman Ishak titled, "Syaitan Bersepuluh" means which Ten Devils (rough translation). The visual art was made of charcoal on paper. This piece was a huge one and on the drawing, we can see ten figures of the same face sort of like whispering to the main character in the middle. There was some kind of eerie feeling that I felt, especially since the hall wasn't very lit up. Not sure why was the lighting very bad either, I think to put in some feeling. I think the art appealed to me because of the meaning that I obtained from it. It somehow portrays the ten 'devils' as mischevous, trying to whisper something into the main man. The main man was actually frowning as if he wasn't happy and somewhat confused.

As a mass comm student and one that will venture into the world in such a field, I think one of the things that I can do to create more awareness about art and design is to increase exposure. How? I think we are all aware how powerful social media can be, especially when it's used correctly. We see how Instagram has gained success over the past few years. I think people generally love seeing beautiful things - pictures and visuals. What they don't know is that they are deprived from real art! I mean, it's not there's no "fake art" around us, of course. However, I think it's time Malaysians gain some real exposure about artists around us. Using social media, we can share about what we think about art and also post some really good posts about the art scene in Malaysia rather than post some gossip, right? I always believe word-of-mouth marketing is always most effective.

Vintage Pop Art Design Tutorial

I tried to make a vintage pop art design using this tutorial (link). I did this on two different PC/laptop. For some steps, I used Control+Click (Windows) or Command+Click (MAC).

Here's my first attempt. 

1) First I searched for a vintage kind of paper (link) and use it as my background

2) Then, I created a new layer and name it "clouds" above the "paper" layer. I did this by selecting the foreground and background colors (pressing D) and then to go Filter > Render > Clouds. I used the eraser tool (with 0% Hardness) and deleted some of the area of the clouds randomly. Then, I changed the "clouds" layer blending mode to ColoR Burn and Opacity to 75% 

3) Using lasso tool, I removed the white background from this man (link) and paste the image into somewhere at the bottom right corner.

4) I used a soft black brush and brush it across the man's head so I can't see it now. I added a layer mask (Layer Mask > Reveal All) to the reading man layer. Then, I added the head of a dog (link) on the man. Using the Magic Wand, I deleted all the white background of the picture and user a eraser tool to round the neck area a little bit. I find this the hardest to do. 

5) I placed the dog's head over the neck of the reading man, and hide the dog head layer for a while. Using the lasso tool, as the tutorial taught, I selected and copy some parts of the man's suit and shirt and even the hair and paste the selection over the "Dog Head" layer. I als o erased some tiny areas of the dog's neck to make it fit right into the shirt.  I took some time to complete this step as I was trying to find the right angle.

6) I erased the dog's neck to make the join softer, and then pressed Control + U to adjust Hue/Saturation to match the man's hair colors.

7) Then, I put "Reading Man", "Dog Head", and the tiny shirt selection layers into a new folder. Then I converted the folder into a new Smart Object and named it "Man-Dog".

8) Using some guides, I selected the Man-Dog smart object and placed the book in the middle of the design. Then, I duplicated the Smart Object. Also, apply a Motion Blur angle of 0º, a Distance of 50px, and place the layer below the original.

I also changed the "Man-Dog copy" Blending Mode to "Color Burn" and set the layer’s Opacity to 25%. Next, I set the "Man-Dog" layer Blending Mode to Hard Light. Finally, I moved the "Clouds" layer above all the layers in layer’s palette.

9) This part is VERY tricky. I downloaded the sunburst custom shape (link) and kept the book area clear. In order to use the sunburst shape, I need to load it first. Then, I rasterized the shape by clicking on Layer > Rasterize > Shape. Then, I changed the layer Blending mode to Overlay and set the Opacity to 75%.

10) I Control-Click the "Man-Dog" layer’s miniature to make a selection. Then, selected the "Sunburst" layer and delete the selection. Then, I applied a new Layer Mask > Reveal All to the "Sunburst" layer. Then, using some splatter brushes (with Opacity at 80%, Flow at 80%, and Color of black), draw a few random black splatters in the layer mask.

11) So, I gave the "Man-Dog" layer a Drop Shadow Spread of 0% and a Distance of 15px.

12) This step is to add patterns to the design. I created a new document with a size of 50 px by 50 px and paste this image (link) after downloading. Then go to Edit > Define Pattern and save it with a name like 'Pattern 101' or anything you like.

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Back to our main document, I drew a Rectangle (shape or selection) into a new layer above the "Clouds layer" and name it "Texture 1". Then, I filled it with red color(you can put any color) and go to Effects > Pattern overlay. I find the pattern that I just saved and press OK.

Then I rasterized the pattern by creating a new blank layer above the "Texture 1" layer, then merge both layers by selecting both and pressing Command + E. Finally, using the Sponge Tool, Desaturate some areas of the rasterized pattern.

13) Now, I apply a Layer Mask > Hide All to the "Texture 1" layer. Then using a 50px white Brush with a Hardness of 100%, draw a shape to make some areas of the pattern visible.

14) Now, I Control-Click the "Man-dog" layer miniature to make a selection of the man’s shape. Then I clicked the "Texture 1" Layer Mask miniature. Select the Fill Tool, set the foreground color as black, and fill the selection. Finally, I changed the "Texture 1" Blending mode to Multiply.

15) I added another pattern to the design, found over here. To convert them into a repeating pattern, I just crop a 50px by 50px square from the original picture, then just repeat Step 12 of this tutorial (apply the Pattern Overlay to a rectangle, Merge the image, and Desaturate some areas using the Sponge Tool).

16) Apply a Layer Mask > Hide all to "Texture 2" layer, then using the same 50px white brush, paint some random zones of the layer mask.

17) Control-Click the "Man-Dog" layer and make a selection. Then fill that selection into the "Texture 2" Layer Mask just as I did in Step 14.

18) I changed the "Texture 2" layer Blending mode to Multiply. I Control-Click the "Texture 2" Layer Mask on the Layers Palette to make a selection of the mask shape. Then click the "Texture 1" Layer Mask, and using the Fill Tool (Black foreground), fill the selection. To finish this step, select the "Texture 2" layer and apply a Color Overlay effect using the values at bottom of the following image. 

19) The hard work is almost done! I found some images and paste them anywhere in the document. Then I Free Transform each one to place them into a nice position. I applied a Drop Shadow effect to each work using the values shown below. Also, adjust the Hue/Saturation of each word using the following values as well.

20) I used these three pieces: one, two, three to add text on it later on. I used an irregular Eraser Tool to delete some areas of the paper sheets to give them a torn effect, apply a Drop Shadow style to each paper layer using the values shown below. Finally, burn some areas of the paper pieces using the Burn Tool.

21) I added some letters above the paper pieces, use any random font, but set every text layer Blending mode to Vivid Light.

22) Now add some text over the background paper, I used a font named Gigi, set the text layer’s Blending mode to Overlay, and duplicate it to make a strong Overlay.

23) ANDDD. It's done!

Not too bad for the first try eh?

Art Movement

Apparition of a Face and Fruit Dish on a Beach by Salvador Dali

Image source: (HERE)

Out of the many art movements, one of the art movements that I'm most interested in is surrealism. Surrealism was founded by Andre Breton as an artistic expression and as I researched deeper, I found out that Surrealism is a philosophy that was based on Freud's (one of the fathers in psychology) subconscious motivation. 

One important element in surrealism is the juxtaposition of images either by placing two images that has no logical connection with one another or by creating forms of unexpected materials. Both the viewer and the creator of the image can have different interpretations of the art because of the unrelated imagery and unlimited boundaries due to the free association that is available for the viewer and creator. Usually, our logic limits our own creativity because we don't want people to say the art doesn't make sense. Surrealism let us to go beyond what we think is logical and search deep to find meaning in the subconscious. 

The Scream by Edvard Munch

Image source: (here)

The painting above needs no introduction as the The Scream is a really popular painting that was created by expressionist artist Edvard Munch. When I see the painting, the first impression that I get is the feeling of distortion and agony.

From what I understand, expressionism allows artist to distort reality in order to bring out an emotional experience and to find meaning through emotions for artist and the viewer (Bruce Thompson). Expressionism lets people to explore the world around them and it's a very subjective type of art as it is based on the personal emotions of the artist. Usually, we would be able to find elements of exaggeration in expressionism because exaggeration is used to enhance the emotional effect. 

I find this quote by Alexej von Jawlensky very fitting. He said, "The artist expresses only what he has within himself, not what he sees with his eyes." I believe that the art movement of expressionism allowed artists to be more expressive in their art. I feel that the artists then must have been individuals who are very bold as most of the time, we are afraid of expressing ourselves because we are afraid that people would judge us. Since expressionists integrated their emotions into art, we can also know a lot about an artist or painter through their paintings or art.

Horse

Practicing my brushing skills. Not too bad, right? 

My Favorite Color

Long Days of Winter by Buck Shreck

(Image belongs to Buck Shreck)

Blue is one of my favorite colors. According to ScienceDaily, blue color actually boost creativity. I've always love blue color, especially the light blue, because I feel that blue color does not really stand out as compared to other colors like red or yellow, or even green sometimes. I'm a person who doesn't like to get attention as I feel awkward and uncomfortable when attention is directed at me. Thus, when I buy my clothes, I try to look out for blue-colored clothing as I don't want to stand out or attract attention. 

Besides that, I also love to go to seaside and beach to watch sunset and observe the surrounding. However, as I look deeper, I realize that I love going to the seaside and beach because I like the calmness that I feel when I'm there. I think the blue waters and the blue skies often made me feel a kind of inner peace I longed for. I cannot find this feeling in the busy city life. In his study about color psychology, Connor said that blue does make one feel calmer and experience serenity. The truth is, I had never paid attention to the waters and skies but without realising, the eyes captured the color of my surrounding - mostly the skies and seawaters both in blue color - and thus, leaving me to experience the calmness that I unknowingly desire. In my city life, I don't take time off to observe the skies due to the hectic lifestyle. It is only when I took time off, I realised that we all need this serenity inside us to feel really good and peaceful.

Just like in the image above, the Yellowstone Coyote seems very calm and composed even in the winter snow. This is the effect or the feeling that blue color carries. Had the background been a different color, it would have brought out a different effect or feeling on the Yellowstone Coyote - perhaps the Yellowstone Coyote may look like an angry creature ready to prowl on a victim, as it watched from a far.

On one hand, blue may carry the positive connotations like serenity, peace and harmony, blue can also carry negative connotations like depression, coldness and even obscenity. If we look again at the image above, we may also think that the Yellowstone Coyote seems to be left alone and feel lonely. Due to the dark blue background the place that the Yellowstone Coyote was in seems to be a very wide and open space. This only brings out more impact and emphasis on its loneliness since it's the only living creature found in the picture.

From the study of colors, I think I can conclude that colors gives different perspective. At the end of the day, it depends on how we see things around us - whether or not we pay attention to details like colors, we obtain meaning from our surrounding based on our visual and color enhances the impact and perception of how we see things.