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MEETINGS WITH CARLOS EVERY THURSDAY AT 2:30

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MEETINGS WITH CARLOS EVERY THURSDAY AT 2:30

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Padlet glitched throughout the end of the project and wouldn't let me add any photos to my research entries.

Therefore there will be a few entries that dont contain photos because of it.

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12th: start brainstorming ideas for the pecha kucha project, trying to come up with themes and topics for the project.

13th: make a selection of 20 of these themes/topics so I can begin researching references on them.

14th: research.

15th: research and organize the outcomes for the mind map.

16th: begin doing the mind map.

17th: continue doing the mind map.

18th: finish the mind map.

19th: hand in.

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For this project, I am heavily inspired by sub genres of japanese pop culture coming mostly from manga. I want to research deeper on this topic, looking at things that the mainstream media doesn't really talk about.

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After taking a look at the main theme, I was also inpired by themes and imagery which isn't commonly accepted or spoken about.

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- mental health
- harajuku fashion
- jrock
- god complex
- horror/ psychological horror in manga
- religion
- demons/supernatural beings
- romanticization of western culture
- contrasts
-colours/hues (the use of colours
to convey a mood)
-balance
- the portrayal/utilization of pornographic imagery
- use of symbolism

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I ended up not following these ideas since I was unable to print the images.

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The manga Oyasumi Punpun by Inio Asano is a coming of age story which touches upon themes such as the questioning of God, desensitization of the self and mental health.
I believe this manga to fit in with my research due to how it tackles these themes, using obscure and contradicting interactions and the portrayal of themes such as mental health and personal identity which are usually frowned upon by the Japanese society.

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A manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto which interested me for its inclusion on demons, the protagonist's complex relation with human affections the use of rather unexpected graphic scenes.

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A manga situated in Victorian era England by Yana Toboso which touches upon religious themes, a sense of romanticization towards western cultures (seen with the strong influence of not just this series but also others to be situated in the Victorian era England) and also includes the use of Lolita and Ouji fashion, which as I stated before, is inspired by the rococo fashion.

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Mononoke is a psychological horror series by Yaeko Ninagawa revolving around a medicine seller who's actually a demon hunter.
What makes this different from other series with similar themes is its overwhelming use of colours, making the episodes appear like hallucinations.

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Noragami by Adachitoka touches upon themes such as mental health and religion. The concept of gods only being alive as long as a memory of them remains in society and the vulnerability of the human mind, where negative thoughts become nests for evil spirits which feed off these thoughts, creating vicious cicles leading to the downfall of the individual.
Mental health is not commonly talked about in Japan as people tend to stay silent about troubles they might be facing, with the fear to become an inconvenience to others. This manga shows through a different lense how damaging this is not only to the the inividual but to those around them.

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Uzumaki by Junji Ito is a horror series of short stories revolving around the same protagonist and her hometown.
The use of repetitive symbolism to create a sense of forshadowing and unsettlingness within the reader.

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A manga and anime by Hideaki Anno involving themes such as religion (a lot of christian symbolism) and war, combining Doomsday with with scientific experimentations. The use of overly saturated colours to convey a sense of both futuristic and heated up environment.
The theme of identity is also touched upon with the character Rei Ayanami which is replaced various times by her own clones everytime she dies and becomes self aware of her past, present and futer selves.

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Ergo Proxy is an anime series created in 2006. The use of themes such as religion, abandonment, dissociation and genocide shown through different lenses (the eyes of various characters) doesn't leave gaps when trying to take in the whole story.
Some of the episodes of this series truly bring out these themes.

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Suicide Island by Kouji Mori tackles a very "taboo-like" theme in most Asian cultures. Revolving around an island where those who survive sucide attempts and wish to have a second attempt at life are sent to, creating a situation in which they're lead to believe society does not have a use for them anymore.
An island where those who now inhabit it struggle with their own mental illnesses and distrusts.

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Death Note is a manga (and anime) by Tsugumi Ohba which contains themes such as genocide and god complex.
These themes being portrayed in a ascending manner in which one thing leads to another.
The inclusion of Shinigami (death gods) which also reinforces the protagonist's god complex.

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A manga by Inio Asano telling a story following the death of a girl through the eyes of "God." The recallings of traumas of those which caused her death and the complicated use of framings which make the story very complex to grasp at first glance.
I found this really interesting due to the narration style and the use of fragmentation from these traumas from each characters to solve the story. Not only that, but the strong symbolism of butterflies in the story which create a feeling of unsettlingness as you read it.

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Both Tokyo Ghoul and its sequel Tokyo Ghoul: REby Sui Ishida have a very interesting art style which contains a strong use of contrasting black and white and harsh lines. The themes of God complex and mental health are also tackled in this manga, showing the protagonist undergo extreme trauma, amnesia and at a certain point losing himself to his power.

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mind map

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I found this manga artist's work really interesting on how he deals with movement in his work. His simplistic and abstract work is very different from most manga artist's, showing a different approach to story telling.
Although I'm not too sure yet if I will use his work as an inspiration for my final piece, I do find his work worth looking at to broaden my opportunities with the work I'm planning to work with.

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Rather than inspiring me conseptually, Adekan by Nao Tsukiji struck my eye for its detailed clothings and sceneries which show a sense of clutteredness but still have a very delicate and refined appearance.
When it comes to the outfits, they remind me a lot of lolita and ouji fashion, with the strong use of ruffled clothing.

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NieR: Automata is a game which inspired me on its dystopian plot which revolves around an alien invasion occuring on Earth which forces the remaining human population to seek refuge on the moon, relying on androids to fight and try to save the Earth.
Considering that I've been ispired a lot in this project by psychological horror, I believe that NieR: Automata relates to this topic due to its dystopian nature.
Other than the plot, I really enjoyed the character designs in which the eyes are closed, it reminds me a lot of Justice and the blinded eyes to judge equally; and since I work a lot with the imagery of eyes in my work to create a sense of paranoia and constant observation, I thought that working with the opposing concept would be interesting.

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Compared to the other Dir en Grey videos I have used as research so far, this one interested me by it's different use of lighting and tones throughout the music video. Most Dir en Grey MVs have very dark themes, scenes and lightings, making Yokan stand out when put side by side.
I really liked the use of cool lighting and the use of transitions of the scenes in this video (although the transitions include a lot of flashing images, it is not done in an overwhelming manner).

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This music video intrigued me due to its use of explicit controvertial imagery such as gore, pornography and abortion (as implied by the lyrics).

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Versailles is a Visual Kei band which intruigued me for their clothing, which is heavily inspired on both traditional Goth fashion but also Rococo fashion.

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The song Rinkaku by Dir en Grey which translates to silhouette contains very strong imagery of a bird's fight to survive, with its lyrics and with the video projected at the back of the performance. With the lyrics
"As I flap my wings, I begin to sketch what I see
following the direction of my heartbeat,
which is playing for me a symphony of lies."
it can be seen how the strival for survival becomes 'useless' or evident as a hoax.
I was also captivated by the appearance of the vocalist, Kyo, in the performance, where he's dressed with a black veil, almost like a grimm reaper, forshadowing this death.

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This song is about the strife for perfection and the dangers of greed. What truly peaked my attention though, was the use of contrasting black and white costumes which pop out in the gloomy environment.

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Both being strongly inspired by rococo fashion from the 17th century, lolita and ouji fashion are Japanese subcultures which are distinct by their "cute" aspects.
Lolita fashion began as a revolt against the expectations for women created by the Japanese society - women started dressing in overly cute outfits which allowed them to become 'unlikeable' to the male gaze. Ouji fashion is mostly known as a more masculine form of Lolita fashion, more inspired by the clothings of Victorian era boys.
I really find interesting how these subcultures came to be, impacting the Japanese society.

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Visual kei is a fashion movement from Japan which is heavily influenced by Punk, Goth and traditional japanese fashion. It is mostly seen in J-Rock (Japanese rock) bands such as Dir en Grey and The Gazette.
I wanted to use this in my research due to how unique the style is and its close resemblance to Victorian fashion which is often used as an inspiration for other things in Japanese pop culture.

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The use of still-like scenes where you can see a balance between the emptiness in the expressions of the characters and the cluttered backgrounds full of colours and objects.

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I really like how Nekojirou-sou is able to portray a story without any words and making it appear so vague yet meaningful. I want to apply in my project this vagueness which leaves the audience wondering what it is about while still managing to grasp possible concepts.

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The Vegetarian by Han Kang is a book about a woman who begins having nightmares where she sees herself covered in blood, leading her to becoming a vegetarian in the hopes that the nightmares will stop. Unfortunately her nightmares continue and her family isn't supportive.
The book is divided in three parts, each from the POV of one of her family members and the reader gets to see how they cope with her slipping into madness (first her husband, next her brother in law and at last her sister).
I think this book is really interesting for telling the story through different POVs, allowing us to piece the story together. In my project, I want to use this concept of a different POV to try and figure out what is happening.

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Francis Bacon's portraits were a reference given to me by Lauren while talking about my project. Since I am planning on creating a series of portraits that show some form of distortion, this reference really struck me due to the approach on how the faces in the paintings are distorted.
I want to try and implement this technique in one of my portraits.

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Belkis Ayón's work really impressed me with its use of a monochromatic palette, which creates a very mysterious atmosphere in her works.
I have been planning on working with monochromatic palettes since my primary inspiration for my project was manga but then I think Ayón's work can help me approach this concept in a different way.

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This song's lyrics and name were a major influence when i was coming up with the theme of my project.
Although the song sounds rather cheerful, the lyrics imply losing control of things and not keeping up to expectations:
"Because now I only see my dreams in everything I touch
Feel their cold hands on everything that I love
Cold like some magnificent skyline
Out of my reach but always in my eye line"

"I fashioned you from jewels and stone
I made you in the image of myself
I gave you everything you wanted
So you would never know anything else
But every time I reach for you, you slip through my fingers
Into cold sunlight, laughing at the things that I had planned"

Since I'm planning on creating illustrations that illustrate some form of disturbance, I thought that the theme of "spiralling" would help me come up with some ideas.

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AM
- organize entries on research padlet
- do morning reflection given by Lauren
- continue testing ideas for project
PM
- tutorial with Lauren
- finish today's testings
- organize all I have done so far for progress tutorial

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AM
- progress tutorial with Carlos
PM
- organize any feedback from progress tutorial (if received)
- start page 1 of project

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AM
- go search for framing stores
- go buy materials so I can start working on the final piece
- go to kalunga (i went but they didn't have what I was looking for)
PM
- meeting with Carlos
- start working on the final piece

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Baroque fashion inspired a lot what the clothing of my characters would be like.
Since I didn't want the portraits to look modern so they could fit more into a Dorian Greyesque style.

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Rembrandt's portraits really inspired me while designing what the poses and facial expressions in each illustration would be like.

His portraits have a melancholic undertone which is portrayed by dark colours (contrasted by the lighting that is concentrated on the individual illustrated). I want the characters in my portraits to have a lost gaze, emphasizing on this lost/melancholic vibe.

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The concept of post mortem photography really inspired my third illustration: showing an image of a little girl who is supposedly gone (this is portrayed by her obscured face).

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While chosing how I would present my illustrations I remembered of the cover of this album by Emmerson, Lake and Palmer. I want to keep my illustrations on the wall in a way that they're not aligned side by side and instead are a bit scattered around like the paintings seen in this cover.
Unfortunately, my illustrations are all of the same size and shape so I can't be as creative when it comes to random placings so I might have to look at alternatives.

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Final Fantasy Concept Art - Yoshitaka Amano

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Final Fantasy Concept Art - Yoshitaka Amano

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This is a book of concept art illustrations for the game series of final fantasy that I came across a bit too late into my project. I wished I had found it earlier because the way they show the concepts for the characters is very inspiring and considering that my project revolves around the illustrations of characters, having developed more their backgrounds (story wise) would have been an interesting touch to the project's development.

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AM
- group tutorial with Lauren
- finish the background of first page of final piece
PM
- begin sketching out plan for second page
- start drawing second page
- meeting with Lauren

I ended up moving the second page to tomorrow since the planning would take too much time for me to do.

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AM
- go to EBAC
- paint the easels
PM
- set up the easels in exhibition spot
- begin working on documents for assessment

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PM
- go pick up final pieces at store
- take pieces to EBAC
- work on documents for assessment

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AM
- fill out form for exhibition
- plan teaser for exhibition
PM
- prepare the teaser (I began working on it but I didn't finish it today)
- work on documents

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AM
- finish teaser
- work on documentation
PM
- send teaser
- work on documentation

It took me a bit to send the teaser because I wasn't sure on where to send it.

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time lapse of me working on the background of one of the illustrations.

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it has a light blue undertone to it unlike the previous ones.