Comments, Bleurgh

Haix, Have to go source all the comments I made on various posts…

Here they are:

1.  http://softballermaria.wordpress.com/2009/08/15/3rd-post-random-playing-with-the-camera/#comments

Commented on Maria’s posts on candles and rainbow. Has typo error :3

2.  http://bouncingponytail.wordpress.com/2009/02/23/cca-flyer-design-08/#comments

This one is a comment on Jenny’s designs for her CCA.

3.  http://sigmaplus.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/beijing/#comments

This one is on Jessica’s post on her GCP photos (winter sunlight RULEZ)

4.  http://jiayingisunartsy.wordpress.com/2009/03/11/randomly-taken-pictures-2008/#comments

A list of I-likes about jiaying’s pics.

5.  http://unlady.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/redox-red-ox/#comments

Amanda’s sculpture is simply ADORABLE

6.  http://perfectionforyou.wordpress.com/2009/03/26/inspire-09-programme-booklet-cover-design/#comments

Tingchih’s vibrant design with many many colours!

I’ll stop here! 6 is more than enough

Heh heh.

I’ll let DongDong use the computer now

Signing off, Nooboet (no dong dong, she will not edit your name off the post)

The next day…

I visited my papa at the hospital, he’s getting better, but the doctor’s still not sure when he can be discharged. hopefully tomorrow, if not, the day after.

Oh, people, help with these surveys:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Fm_2b_2f44BAb3glCEAk_2bbpFjw_3d_3d

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=48R0N6HdrE_2fJ2etsMs1gUA_3d_3d

Now…TA-DAA.

Digital Photography assignment, 2008

Mermaid Lagoon, Digital Photography (G-6), Printed on A-4 glossy paper somewhere in the middle of year 2008, mac lab. Photoshopped.

Took a while to photoshop. As in, a few lessons, meaning a lot of hours. Took even longer to paint it (oil on canvas), at least triple the time I used to do the photoshopped version.

Thiaboon has the oil paint version before it was complete!! <3

Half done oil painting of the 'mermaid lagoon'. 2008.

This started out as a subject for the black and white photography assignment last year. Went around the school and took pictures. My first film turned OPAQUE after the chemicals killed it. The dead negative is lovingly wrapped in plastic covering then attached to my sketchbook (sewed in 2008). My second one was accidentally exposed to light while developing it. It’s good in a way, since I took a lot of random pictures the second time. Thus, I became more cautious when choosing subject matter during the third time. The third one was fine, and I developed the one with the school fountain. The others cannot be shown unfortunately, it seems to be in the possession of the darkroom, and I have no way of storing it as well at home.

Here’s the print on the glossy paper.

Waterfall, nikon i think, 2008

To be honest I could have been a lot more careful when dealing with the pictures. I tend to get a little impatient as I go on, and since my pace is quite slow…i tend to take out my impatience on the photos. As shown during the pinhole camera exercise, I kept getting finger prints all over my print, all strange flashes of light since I refused to do it extremely carefully after a while. Most upsetting when I lost my best picture, so I had to do it again. But it ended up with…fingerprints. Gag. And thus I got more frustrated and uh…evil cycle of the greatest evil. Frutrated–bad print–greater frustration–worse prints.

Back to the black and white on glossy, special chemical paper. I was glad that the waterfall turned out well, as the water itself was lighter than the rest of the picture, thus it showed. Unfortunately, the sun is also rather happy that day and it shows on the school building…so the school building was rather faint. Art teacher suggests that exposing the school building more by covering the rest with a cardboard may help. Am keeping it in mind. Oh, it is also suggested by the very same old teacher that I use a tripod. I would try to next time…if the tripod wouldn’t topple! It’s way too off balanced, but I’ll work harder on balancing the tripod next time. Also suggested is playing with shutterspeed. From what I have read from a book on photography, slow shutter speed makes the water look like satin (it’s dang cool). I wanna try next time. But that needs tripod…gwaah.

Oh, not zoning out suddenly during class helps. Must pay attention (more) next time.

school's ecopond waterfall, 2008

was not chosen...

also not chosen, the water has less "character"

Being happy with the results, I decided to take the same shot again for the digital photography assignment, also last year. The camera’s way cool, both the black and white one and the digital one. After comparing with some other pictures taken, I favoured the one above (the one that wasn’t rejected among all the others taken) and photoshopped in the mermaid (after yeoboon’s comment) after choosing her among tons of other mermaids online. This one was chosen for her pose and more realistic tail.

After getting her in the picture, I stared at the picture and wondered why the mermaid looked so out of place, before I realized that the lighting was off and there was absolutely zero shadow. With the fellow ape’s help, the mermaid managed to stop floating detached from the picture. Following the shadings of the mermaid were that of the rocks. I have Xinboon and Boonsicca to thank for all that shading and comments. Oh, blue was added to the water and the rocks for a glowy, and a non-earthly effect

Next came the background. I couldn’t accept the fact that such a mystical foreground and subject matter had a school building for a background. Not that our school is ugly— I absolutely love it—but unfortunately it simply did not fit. Thus the school was erased off the photo.

After stoning for a moment, the teacher’s professional opinion was requested, and he suggested that I replace it with a sky, best to have rain. Since I did not capture any photo like that, the helpful apes and I went through the filters. Finally, with sponge + the zigzag wadeva filter effect, ta-daa, the rain was made. Then I added some clouds that I took. Thus the sky was born. Here’s the clouds.

in the school, evening

Since the sky was overcast, more shading was required. Thx to fellow apes for helping out again. Minor, unimportant details were erased (‘cept for the brick. Can you see the little brick near the waterfall?) Finally, due to time constraint and an absolutely brain-juices-lacking me, I stopped fiddling with the image. Thus the above picture, aka the end product and my assignment. It was printed on the lovely glossy A4 paper, nice and shiny <3. Oh, The teacher used it for some card design or something…-   -”

This digital photography is then fit under the category of surrealism in our assignment (there were another two topics.). After that, the apes had to paint theirs, oil on canvas. The oil painting took me ages, since I kept going over the details, and I got to see that school far too many times when the sky was dark…meaning at 7 or 8pm. Both times meant that I reach home around 9pm. I’m still not quite satisfied with the painting tho. I got the mermaid’s proportion all wrong, being already horrid at proportion already. Her neck was…extended. Our teacher hid/distracted the viewer’s eye from the mistake by hiding it with her hair. Other than the incomplete mermaid (quite featureless) and some details that I have yet to iron out, I think the painting’s fine. I wish I could join the mermaid and splash happily there, with all that glowiness and glittering water.

’sides the proportion, the glowiness of the water is somewhat off too. Couldn’t seem to get the correct colour, even after the teacher provided me with a new tube of interesting blue (thx!) Without that particular blue…I think I’d have died. The ethereal blue-iness :3

Last bit, I should have been uh…more patient (again!) when transferring the picture from digital to canvas. Being rather impetuous I simply sketched everything on, instead of transferring square by square (using a grid) onto the canvas like some of my friends did. That uh…resulted in the proportion problem, mainly, and a skewed flow of water >.< Ah well. Oh, I should suggest that banging your head on the chair of the art room is not a good idea. I tried, it hurts…kicking the table leg is a better alternative, so long you warn the other occupants, make sure your aiming is ok (else you might trip if you miss) and make sure to apologize to the table for venting your frustration with it. (i didn’t do the last bit. shall do so the next time i m there) Taking a break and looking at your classmate’s pictures helps to give me the drive to continue to paint…esp Yong’s coffeebeans. I found out that I am quite slack after I saw her paint her coffeebeans…*gasp*, so went back and furiously uh…painted -      -” what else could I do?

Oh, the waves of the mermaid lagoon was added as an afterthought, as ze teacher found that with waves, it might look more convincing. Thus waves were added. I don’t think I’ve added it yet at the point of time when the oil painting was taken above by Thiaboon.

Yeoboon’s work featured Thiaboon with an umbrella, flying, and Caboon staring at her. The colours are made extremely saturated, and contrast increased. Composition was carefully arranged, else Caboon would be staring up Thiaboon’s skirt. Oh my. After the hassle with the digital photography, the painting came out well. Her choice of colour was pretty accurate, resulting in a surreal painting with strange colours. Flying thiaboon with the umbrella looked a little like Mary Poppins. Issit a coincidence? Maybe can add more elements of Mary Poppins. Caboon staring at thiaboon is disbelief completes the effect rather well though. It’s not everyday that you see a flying person. Maybe though, she could have used her time better. I think she started her painting even later than I did…which was already later than half the class…but my haphazard transfer from digital to canvas took a very short time in comparison…she had two people to draw!

Boonsicca’s was a simple flower that stood out among the green leaves. While the subject matter was simple, she was able to compose the elements well and the flower’s colour was clean. She signed her name with initials at the side. The leaves look fat and nice The flower was a simple yellow-orange. If i really have to come out with something to improve in that painting…uh…make the flower more interesting? I dunno how tho. I find the simple little flower very interesting already. She painted the flower real big on a big-ish canvas, (as a few daring ones had) and it is now hung outside the hall. Unfortunately, teacher says that there is ze fungoos……….

Xinboon’s shows a monkey grinning at the viewer. Lucky for her, she saw it (on the way home, i think), and as she took a picture of it, it turned around and smiled at her. It was super cute. She played around with impressionism’s feel (the spontaneous feeling) the contrast too. The monkey’s eyes SHINE It now is hung on the wall in one of the artrooms, though slightly dwarfed by the 2 paintings beside it (it’s quite large-ish, actually, for us). I find the monkey a little blue-ish though, but that may be due to the lighting or something. Or it’s just me and my eyes. She took great care in making the monkey furry too.

Yongboon’s has a glowing vending machine which she took at school. Combined with the black background, the vending machine took on a life of its own. The drinks were swapped to become milo instead. And thus, Venus de NESTLEmilo was created. Go to the link, her E-portfolio describes it much better than I do. Furthermore…there’s a picture. -    -” But…well, for the comment’s sake…I was impressed by the attention she gave to the coffee beans. And the milo. And how she painted over the same spot again and again until it blends. As I’ve said…that’s what that made me rush back after staring for a while (a little paradoxical) and start blending mine properly and paying attention to the details. Unfortunately her vending machine is a little skewed. The lines are amazingly straight and clean though, and the machine seriously glows. Halfway through she used another green for her milo tho…I’m not sure which green I liked better…Oh, and I found that the negative space was rather large, but somehow the painting was composed such that the darkness emphasized the glowiness of the venus vending.

Caboon’s was a very tree-ful background. On a little path lies a pocket watch, with a little man running in it. Makes me think of the phrase running out of time. Her’s was painted superbly well, with good source of lighting and even texture. Her work had a lot of movement, ’specially in the trees and light filtering through. She patiently dotted out the leaves and sunlight reflected on them. The colour was well chosen to give that sense of depth Her watch is also cool, with the man in black and white. I wonder how the painting will turn out if she took on a different approach (meaning if she had not dotted the background but did it as Xinboon did. I also wonder how Xinboon’s would turn out if done Caboon’s way.)

Boonying’s also had plenty of movement. Hers was a sunset, with silhouettes of trees. Hers was vibrant with colours and, well, movement. Hers would have to be the most textured and action-packed one. It practically looks as if it radiates energy. It’s a very warm painting with red, orange, yellow and brown hues, with trees breaking into the sky. I wonder if a tiny person was added, would it add to the feeling of unlimited energy by giving a sense of scale?

Thiaboon’s was a black and white painting, with dozens of identical ladies popping out from here and there, as if playing hide-and-seek at the bus stop. She was able to concentrate on the shades and not on the colour…in fact, since it was in greyscale, hers RELIED on the contrasts to bring out the paintng. Must say it was a very brave attempt—I wouldn’t dare to draw that many faces in a painting. One was more than enough, thank you very much. Perhaps she could give her repeating figure more attention, and flattening the other people…? I found the the black patch of trees in the bg done quite well–it was dark enough to give the depth–but the pillars at the side were of the same shade…i would have thought that as the pillar is further perhaps the lighting will change…ah well. Daring attempt.

There were other extremely fantastic pictures, sadly there are 20 in all, I’m not that 强 to comment on all of them. So above are descriptions of what happened during last year’s classes. Very messy, very tiring, but very fun and interesting to explore the new medium (for most of us.)

Oh, bananas cannot support their own silly weight.

nooboet: “Goodbye.”