Burning Man project / Self-portrait

I am so enjoying this self-portrait I'm creating. I gotta admit that I was very lost at the beginning and didn't know exactly where i was going, what my idea was, and how the finished piece was gonna look like. I started with pencil and a piece of paper and now it has become a mixed media painting with vibrant colors and textures. 
I struggled a lot with trying to make the person look like me since it was a "self-portrait" and I am not really good at portraying things exactly the way they look. However, i think i did a fairly well job on that since people can pretty easily identify my drawing as me (or at least an Asian girl with a really sharp look). I wasn't satisfied with how the piece looked when I finished drawing the face(it didn't look like a finished project at all; with messy pencil marks and no color it just looked like something that should have only been in my sketch book), so I decided to re-create it using black mat board and white jelly pen just like how I have always done most of my drawings. Soon I got bored and decided to try something new. Somehow I came up with the idea to cut off the painting and stick it to a separate acrylic painting, so I got all the materials I needed and began working on it. The first question I asked myself was - this is a self-portrait, what colors are you going to use to paint yourself with? It wasn't hard to answer, of course I had to pick the most energetic, loud(aka obnoxious on occasion), and vivid colors, so I chose gold and neon pink (Ugh such good choice I know myself so well). The rest became easier once i made up my mind on the colors. House brush and clear plastic sheets (not sure if this is how people call them)are all new to me, but they made the project so much more interesting. Can't wait to finish it! Currently still struggling on how to stick the paper to the canvas, but I will figure it out by next Monday!
Also, every Thursday Liz and I work on our burning man project. We have made some really good adjustments and improvements on it. I am really glad that we gave up the idea of using bamboo sticks because that would have been so difficult and we would not ever finish it on time. With a precise sketch and model of what the finished project is going to look like, i am confident that it is going to make a attractive appearance at Spring Fest! Right now I am trying to figure out how we should "stick" canvas onto the seawolf. Also, we need to make sure that the seawolf can stand on its own and not fall when people draw and write on it. 

How My Theme is Working (wink wink)

Since my theme is focused on things that are UNNOTICABLE, I try to use black background, vibrant color contrast and patterns to bring out the NOTICABLE differences. I enjoy the process and have never ran out of ideas. Little things such as the patterns on people’s outfits inspire me on a daily basis, so it has not been a struggle to be inspired since I am always surrounded by fashionable people. My theme is neither too deep nor too shallow; it is simply an idea that interests me and keeps me motivated.

Recently I have noticed on my own that many of my ideas come from how I look at things. I tend to look at one thing/problem from different perspectives, which directly resulted in my endless ideas when it comes to combining different colors and shapes. Being able to look at one theme from different angles (literally) really inspires me. For example, my first piece is a piece of an entire body, the second piece which I am currently working on is a close up, and the third one which I am planning on doing will be one body part(most likely a wrist).

I never really thought about revising my theme, because I am pretty satisfied with the theme I am working on. However, I would like to emphasize the theme a little bit more on how accessories can show one’s personality (so really, more on the INDIVIDUAL than of the accessories). I think delivering personalities to the audience is more interesting and challenging than simply displaying a collection of accessories.

After I finish my second drawing, I’d like to stick with black mat because I have sort of created my own style using black mat, jelly pens, and gouache. I am going to draw a variety of different vibes that different personalities show wearing accessories that usually go unnoticed (such as a thumb ring, a flash tattoo, or a belly button ring).

Burning man project idea

i THINK THE EVENT SHOULD TAKE PLACE AT TURF IN THE EVENING AT AROUND NINE O'CLOCK ON A WEEKEND.. EITHER FRIDAY OR SATURDAY.

ALL STUDENTS SHOULD PARTICIPATE. STUDENTS THAT ENROLL IN ADVANCED ART MAJOR SHOULD HAVE THEIR PROJECTS <PROJECTS INSPIRED BY BURNING MAN> READY. THE PROJECTS SHOULD BE DISPLAYED AT TURF.

THE CENTRAL IDEA IS <SELF-EXPRESSION>. 

EACH PARTICIPANT IS PROVIDED WITH A WHITE T-SHIRT AND 3 MINI JARS OF PAINT. <SELECT THREE FROM RED/BLUE/YELLOW/BLACK/WHITE>. 

four white boards <16x16> should be displayed on the center of turf.. each is labeled with a different emotion <passion/envy/astonishment/pain> 

first 20 minutes: introduce the project and display student art work

second 20 minutes: participants throw their paint on the white boards 

third 15 minutes: participants throw paint on their friends' t-shirts 

last 15 minutes: the advanced art major class selects three most artistic/inspirational t-shirts and take photos of them

indi-music and inspirational acoustic will be played at the event.

Finding a theme

For this pattern project, I used repetitive images of socks. My theme is accessories that are easy to be forgotten by people. My motive is very simple – sometimes the details that are easiest to be forgotten can make the most significant difference; for example, each pair of socks has a different pattern, which can make an outfit look in multiple ways: childish, punk, simple, preppy, business-like, etc. Part of my inspiration came from Mrs. Smith’s tights. I noticed that her tights play a significant role in her daily outfits; different colors such as black, brown and purple and various patterns like leopard, floral, and i-don’t-even-know can not only express her mood of the day but also adds personality and attitude into her outfits. The second part of my inspiration came from a drawing of Wayne Thiebaud showed by Mrs. Smith in class prior to this project started; it is a drawing of different patterns of bow ties. I thought about how bow ties play such a big role in the guys dress code at Tabor, and felt bad for those who don’t wear or don’t even know the existence of bow ties (in many Asian countries, men only wear regular ties which can be very boring). This piece uses different-patterned socks to emphasize on the important role small accessories can play in one’s life.

            After I came up with this idea, I started to think about what medium and material would be the best to express it. I knew immediately that in order to make the colorful patterns stand out, I needed black background. So I chose to use black mat. Then, I decided to use markers because of two reasons: first, I have been practicing using markers over the summer for fashion apparel drawings, so I am familiar with it; second, markers provide a lot more color options than other mediums (for example, I won’t be able to get any of the neon colors if using gouache or acrylic) During this process, I did think about using other mediums, but because I chose to draw on a black mat, many options such as gouache and acrylic were limited.

            I actually enjoyed the process of coming up with the idea more than actually making it happen because it required a lot of thoughts. I needed to choose one from all the daily accessories that are easy to be forgotten. Socks was a good idea because they play such a unique part in our daily life and outfits.