Shenyi Chen's Year 1 Blog 2023/2024 的复制 by Shenyi Chen

Mind map

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

This is a collaborative group mindmap made by my group and I. We found that our favourite drawing styles are quite similar.

Sketch of The Phantom of The Opera

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

We started with the concept of "perspective" to show our personalities and artistic styles as different illustrators. So we set the story as each of us looking at the same object from different identities and perspectives, with me as an "uninvolved bystander". I went to see The Phantom of The Opera at the weekend and drew my perspective as a back row spectator.

Final decision on the theme

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

The mindmap provided us with visual cues for the desired color scheme and overall atmosphere. Eventually, we settled on the representation of fire as a symbol. Each of us contributed a story that featured this symbolism and applied our individual perspectives to explain the significance of fire within the context of storytelling and symbolism. We also considered how our illustration could effectively convey our personal interpretations.

Experiment on cover 1

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

I referenced some glass painting and decorative painting methods to geometrise the figures.

Experiment on cover 2

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

The frozen hand is used to represent the little girl who sells matches, and the contrast between cold and warm colours is used to show the harsh reality and illusory wishes.

Cover Version 1

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

In this version we each drew a picture of the stories we chose and then put them together in chunks. In the bottom left corner is my drawing about The Little Match Girl.

Cover Version 2

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

A version of the collage of drawings relayed from cover designs done in class and drawings made for the first edition cover.

Final version of cover

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

After the Lab Studio for the typography relay, we thought that the former cover version was too complex. So we decided to simplify the cover to have the title text as the main body, with one of the most important elements in each of our stories as a decorative wrap-around text.

Thumbnail

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

Draft

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

I took a cue from Mucha's style, chunking the image and adding lots of decorative floral borders. I used light brown as the base colour because I wanted to reflect the texture of a fairy tale book from long ago.

Process

schen0320229_2 — 2023-11-12 19:55:09 UTC

The Little Match Girl is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen about a poor little girl who sells matches in the midnight of a cold winter, fantasising about warmth as she lights them on the way, and ultimately passes away in the bitter cold. The story emphasises compassion, warmth, the fragility of life and reflection on social injustice. Fire is a complex symbol in this story. On the one hand the flame represents warmth and false hope. The moment the little girl lights the match she feels warmth and she sees a vision of the things she longs for, which makes her forget the reality of poverty and cold. The flame provides her with a brief moment of solace and joy that fuels her deepest desire for happiness.On the other hand the brief flickering and extinguishing of the flame reflects the fragility of life. For a little girl in rags on a winter's night indulging in the temporary warmth of matches can be fatal, and when all the matches burn out that is when her life ends.