11.6.2021 - 2.7.2021 (Week 11 - Week 14)
Wendy Seto / 0348805GCD60804 Design Principles / Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Final Project: Visual Analysis
INSTRUCTIONS
PRACTICAL
1. Visual Analysis
Our final project for this module is to do a visual analysis of a visual
narrative, it can be anything from posters to illustrations. Since I enjoy
watching painting breakdowns, why don't I do one for this project? I am
the kind of person that prefer simplicty, I appreciate little things so
much. When it comes to photography, I love taking street pics. Capturing
the reality of people walking here and there, talking to strangers,
dancing in the middle of the streets, having lunch together, helping each
other makes me happy. These moments are priceless, because those people in
the pictures didn't realize that they were actually making memories. Same
thing when it comes to art movement, I prefer realism.
One
place where I can meet a lot of people doing various kind of activities in
modesty is the traditional market or better known as pasar. Pasar has
impacted my life in many different ways as it was my childhood. I used to
live in an old town area where the largest pasar in the city is located.
Have lived there for at least 13 years since I was born, there were
too many memories that I can't really remember most of them.
I
also took some pictures when I was visiting the pasar recently. Here is
some of them.
fig 1.1 pictures I took at the pasar recently
I also did a shoot there last year as an awareness for the covid-19
outbreak.
fig 1.2 "A Message From Bali" covid-19 awareness video
For the visual analysis, I decided to explore this painting of a
pasar in Bali that is hanging in my parents house's living
room.
fig 1.3 the "pasar" painting hung in the living room
fig 1.4 scanned version of the painting
Sadly, I have no clue whos artwork is this. I tried to do
multiple image searches through Google but can't seem to find the
exact same painting. These so called "visually similar images"
don't even look visually similar with the painting I am searching
for.
fig 1.5 google image searching results
After a while, I finally found some similar paintings
displayed in marketplaces like shopee and
bukalapak.
fig 1.6 a similar painting found in shopee
fig 1.7 a similar painting found in bukalapak
I am pretty sure that the one from bukalapak was painted by the same artist as mine, as you can
see both of them have the same painting techniques
applied. Nevertheless, I am still unable to get any
information about the painting I am about to analyze.
Observation
This painting is showing a landscape of a traditional
market in Bali, Indonesia, we can see that from the
obvious gate design on the back. The colours are
dominated by warm tones like yellow, green and brown
with a touch of cyan and magenta in the details. I
really like the colour combination here, colourful but
not too much. There is a variety of line, shape and
texture used to produce the whole masterpiece. The
painting itself is showing an everyday situation in the
pasar. There are people with similar backgrounds walking
around carrying their goods, various stalls providing
different qualities and of course regular human beings
who come by to search for their needs. There is a huge
tree in the middle of the scenery as well which looks a
lot like a banyan tree. The artist remained the artwork
borderless to let the viewers know that there is a lot
more outside the frame. Overall, it is a pretty crowded
painting with a strong intention.
Analysis
Looking at the banyan tree that is placed in the middle
of the painting, this artwork is symmetrically balanced.
Talking about the visual plane, this painting has a
foreground, background, and multiple middlegrounds. The
highlights in the background and the shadows in the
foreground create a beautiful contrast. This painting is
emphasized right at the tree trunk and the stall in
front of it as they have a deeper shadow compared to the
rest. A bunch of repetition were applied for different
elements of the painting, from the people figures to the
strokes that represent nature which creates unity.
Moreover, we can see that the people is moving in two
directions, the tree branches and leaves are pointing
towards the ground and the two penjor in front of the gate is facing each other. These
give a sense of movement. Lastly, everything in
this painting is very well wrapped together that we can
feel the harmony within all the colours, elements and
compositions.
Interpretation
Realism or sometimes also known as naturalism is an art
movement of representing an artwork or subject matter
truthfully, precise and accurate as it is. Realism
refers to a mid nineteenth century artistic movement
characterised by subjects painted from everyday life in
a realistic manner, or generally also used to describe
artworks painted in a photographic way. The term realism was founded by a French novelist,
Champfleury in the 1840s. Later, the term realism in
art was exemplified in the work of a painter, Gustav
Courbet. Going deeper into the painting itself, it
is a portray of a scene in the Island of Gods, Bali,
Indonesia. This painting was done in a Traditional
Kamasan Style. Between 1920 to 1930, Balinese painting was limited
to religious matters revolving on serialized stories
about religion or classical Hindu-Bhudda culture. It
was used as display for temples or collections by
local rulers. The paintings characteristics are busy
and crowded textures along with a complete story from
beginning to end. The artist also managed to include a
strong Balinese architectural principle to make his or
her intention clear to the viewers. The split gate
shown in the painting is called as Candi Bentar, this type of gate is often used in a nista mandala. Nista Mandala is the outer zone that connects a pura compound with the outer realm and the entrance
to the temple directly. Based on this, we can conclude that there is a pura behind the pasar pictured in the painting.
Moving on, the banyan tree is also one of the most
important element here. In Hindu mythology, this
tree symbolizes longevity and is believed to
provide the fulfillment of wishes and material
gains. Therefore, the artist chose warm colours
for his or her painting not without reason. Warm
tone has the power of creating a happy and cozy
atmosphere that is inviting. These colours can
deliver the feelings of excitement and passion
which represent the merchants hard work and
integration.
2. Visual Research
Based on the analysis I did, I want to create something
that can represent my hometown as well. I wanted to
challenge myself on applying the similar design principles
to my artwork with a completely different art
style.
Lately, I spent most of my time listening to music as it is
the only thing that keeps me sane. Here is one of my
favourite artist, Surfaces. They have the ability to make
songs "feel good" so whenever you are upset, just listen to
them and I promise you will feel better. Surfaces has NO bad
songs but yet so underrated. Well, sometimes we just gotta
keep a "good stuff" to ourselves because people who do not
appreciate it enough do exist and they might just simply
ruin everything. Besides their songs, I also get inspired a
lot by their album covers. They are all so aesthetically
pleasing and I am just obsessed with all the colours and
graphics. Therefore, I want to use them as my references for
the final project.
fig 2.1 references: surfaces album covers
3. Idea Exploration
I searched for pictures that represent Bali and the
Balinese culture and decided to use these three
elements; the Candi Bentar, penjor, and
the people wearing our traditional clothing also known
as kebaya while carrying offerings on their heads.
fig 3.1 elements that I want to input in my design
work
4. Progress
I started off by sketching the gate in the middle of
the canvas to create a balance.
fig 4.1 rough sketch
Then I immediately jump to colouring with the
colour palette inspired by Surfaces' album
covers.
fig 4.2 colouring progress
fig 4.3 final design outcome.jpg
fig 1.1 pictures I took at the pasar recently
For the visual analysis, I decided to explore this painting of a
pasar in Bali that is hanging in my parents house's living
room.
fig 1.3 the "pasar" painting hung in the living room
fig 1.4 scanned version of the painting
fig 1.3 the "pasar" painting hung in the living room
Sadly, I have no clue whos artwork is this. I tried to do
multiple image searches through Google but can't seem to find the
exact same painting. These so called "visually similar images"
don't even look visually similar with the painting I am searching
for.
fig 1.5 google image searching results
After a while, I finally found some similar paintings
displayed in marketplaces like shopee and
bukalapak.
fig 1.6 a similar painting found in shopee
fig 1.7 a similar painting found in bukalapak
Observation
fig 1.6 a similar painting found in shopee
fig 1.7 a similar painting found in bukalapak
I am pretty sure that the one from bukalapak was painted by the same artist as mine, as you can
see both of them have the same painting techniques
applied. Nevertheless, I am still unable to get any
information about the painting I am about to analyze.
Observation
This painting is showing a landscape of a traditional
market in Bali, Indonesia, we can see that from the
obvious gate design on the back. The colours are
dominated by warm tones like yellow, green and brown
with a touch of cyan and magenta in the details. I
really like the colour combination here, colourful but
not too much. There is a variety of line, shape and
texture used to produce the whole masterpiece. The
painting itself is showing an everyday situation in the
pasar. There are people with similar backgrounds walking
around carrying their goods, various stalls providing
different qualities and of course regular human beings
who come by to search for their needs. There is a huge
tree in the middle of the scenery as well which looks a
lot like a banyan tree. The artist remained the artwork
borderless to let the viewers know that there is a lot
more outside the frame. Overall, it is a pretty crowded
painting with a strong intention.
Analysis
Looking at the banyan tree that is placed in the middle
of the painting, this artwork is symmetrically balanced.
Talking about the visual plane, this painting has a
foreground, background, and multiple middlegrounds. The
highlights in the background and the shadows in the
foreground create a beautiful contrast. This painting is
emphasized right at the tree trunk and the stall in
front of it as they have a deeper shadow compared to the
rest. A bunch of repetition were applied for different
elements of the painting, from the people figures to the
strokes that represent nature which creates unity.
Moreover, we can see that the people is moving in two
directions, the tree branches and leaves are pointing
towards the ground and the two penjor in front of the gate is facing each other. These
give a sense of movement. Lastly, everything in
this painting is very well wrapped together that we can
feel the harmony within all the colours, elements and
compositions.
Interpretation
Realism or sometimes also known as naturalism is an art
movement of representing an artwork or subject matter
truthfully, precise and accurate as it is. Realism
refers to a mid nineteenth century artistic movement
characterised by subjects painted from everyday life in
a realistic manner, or generally also used to describe
artworks painted in a photographic way. The term realism was founded by a French novelist,
Champfleury in the 1840s. Later, the term realism in
art was exemplified in the work of a painter, Gustav
Courbet. Going deeper into the painting itself, it
is a portray of a scene in the Island of Gods, Bali,
Indonesia. This painting was done in a Traditional
Kamasan Style. Between 1920 to 1930, Balinese painting was limited
to religious matters revolving on serialized stories
about religion or classical Hindu-Bhudda culture. It
was used as display for temples or collections by
local rulers. The paintings characteristics are busy
and crowded textures along with a complete story from
beginning to end. The artist also managed to include a
strong Balinese architectural principle to make his or
her intention clear to the viewers. The split gate
shown in the painting is called as Candi Bentar, this type of gate is often used in a nista mandala. Nista Mandala is the outer zone that connects a pura compound with the outer realm and the entrance
to the temple directly. Based on this, we can conclude that there is a pura behind the pasar pictured in the painting.
Moving on, the banyan tree is also one of the most
important element here. In Hindu mythology, this
tree symbolizes longevity and is believed to
provide the fulfillment of wishes and material
gains. Therefore, the artist chose warm colours
for his or her painting not without reason. Warm
tone has the power of creating a happy and cozy
atmosphere that is inviting. These colours can
deliver the feelings of excitement and passion
which represent the merchants hard work and
integration.
2. Visual Research
Based on the analysis I did, I want to create something
that can represent my hometown as well. I wanted to
challenge myself on applying the similar design principles
to my artwork with a completely different art
style.
Lately, I spent most of my time listening to music as it is
the only thing that keeps me sane. Here is one of my
favourite artist, Surfaces. They have the ability to make
songs "feel good" so whenever you are upset, just listen to
them and I promise you will feel better. Surfaces has NO bad
songs but yet so underrated. Well, sometimes we just gotta
keep a "good stuff" to ourselves because people who do not
appreciate it enough do exist and they might just simply
ruin everything. Besides their songs, I also get inspired a
lot by their album covers. They are all so aesthetically
pleasing and I am just obsessed with all the colours and
graphics. Therefore, I want to use them as my references for
the final project.
fig 2.1 references: surfaces album covers
3. Idea Exploration
I searched for pictures that represent Bali and the
Balinese culture and decided to use these three
elements; the Candi Bentar, penjor, and
the people wearing our traditional clothing also known
as kebaya while carrying offerings on their heads.
fig 3.1 elements that I want to input in my design
work
4. Progress
I started off by sketching the gate in the middle of
the canvas to create a balance.
fig 4.1 rough sketch
Then I immediately jump to colouring with the
colour palette inspired by Surfaces' album
covers.
fig 4.2 colouring progress
fig 4.3 final design outcome.jpg
3. Idea Exploration
I searched for pictures that represent Bali and the Balinese culture and decided to use these three elements; the Candi Bentar, penjor, and the people wearing our traditional clothing also known as kebaya while carrying offerings on their heads.
I searched for pictures that represent Bali and the Balinese culture and decided to use these three elements; the Candi Bentar, penjor, and the people wearing our traditional clothing also known as kebaya while carrying offerings on their heads.
fig 3.1 elements that I want to input in my design work
4. Progress
I started off by sketching the gate in the middle of the canvas to create a balance.
I started off by sketching the gate in the middle of the canvas to create a balance.
fig 4.1 rough sketch
Then I immediately jump to colouring with the
colour palette inspired by Surfaces' album
covers.
fig 4.3 final design outcome.jpg
fig 4.4 final design outcome.pdf
