2023 Nichole 2D: Score 5

#1 SI Investigation
Material: IPad, procreate
Idea: how can i use angle to explore the theme hide and
seek through painting using watercolor and contour line.

#2 Twirl
Material: watercolor, pens
Process: I took a picture first as a
reference and drew it digitally as a
simulation, then I drew down the line
and colored it on watercolor board.
Idea: I hope to use colors and long
lines to express the dynamic blurring
of the space and create a sense of
chaos to express the mood of the
figure in the picture by using
perspective, as feeling nervous when
the Seeker is infinitely approaching to
her, or as the nervous feeling when
secretly peaking the Hider. The
shelves around her are also a sign
that this hide and seek game is
happening in a factory. At the same
time, I used a triangular composition
to increase the stability of the whole.
Inspiration from the manga Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

#2 Twirl
Note:
As this was the first official painting of
all, the conception of the entire
portfolio was not complete at the
time. Theoretically, the figure in the
picture should be the Hider, the side
that I will deliberately color, and from
this work till the end, all the side with
obvious color means the Hider, while
all those who only were only made by
lines are the Seeker. The purpose of
this is not to conveniently distinguish
the identity difference between the
two, but to show that although the
Hider is the oppressed personality, its
inner heart is full of color and vitality,
while the Seeker is the controlling
one, but all the inner colors are
absorbed by the outside world and
become an empty shell.

#3 Mirkwood
Material: watercolor,
black ink pen
Process: I used a 3-
D model to help me
understand the top
view of human body,
then I sketched out
the composition,
lighting and colors I
want to use on an
iPad, and then I used
basic drawing tools
to draw on
watercolor paper. In
the process, I added
elements of the
golden ratio helix to
the original
composition of rule-
of-thirds.
Inspiration from the novel The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

#3 Mirkwood
Idea: In this piece, rather than fear and tension, I
want to express a sense of bewilderment, as the
figure may be seen as the Hider hiding in the shade
of a tree, or it may be understood as the Seeker lost
in a dark forest. For the source of light, part of the
inspiration comes from the Mirkwood in the book
of the Lord of the Rings, where there is plenty of
sunlight above the woods, but it is completely dark
inside the woods, as if they are two seperate world,
and in deed in this piece I want to show the two
seperate world inside a human heart. Here the
golden sunlight represents the real personality of
the figure, the peculiar power of the Hider, while
the figure standing at this moment under the tree is
instead the Seeker, a false personality lost in the
surrounding darkness. The reason for this sense of
contrast is that I do not wish people to think of the
Seeker and the Hider as enemies under this
conception, but rather that the relation between
them should be one of mutual salvation in their
temporary ignorance of each other.

#5 Red
Material: watercolor and black ink pens
Process: I used 3-D models to help me understand the
perspective of multiple objects in one scene, then I
sketched out the composition, lighting and colors I want to
use on iPad, and then used basic drawing tools to draw on
watercolor paper. Finally, I used procreate to revise and add
the black background and a layer of light.
Idea: If the first two works are presented from the point of
view of the seeker, then this and the later one are
presented from the point of view of the Hider. Again, I used
wide-angle shots from the top view to emphasize the faces
of the characters and the strong lighting and shadows.
When describing the Hider, I will use more details of the
character to shape the work. When the work is concerned
with the Seeker, it will be shaped by the scene, because the
Hider exists in its own spiritual value, and the Seeker exists
outside in the physical world. In the piece, the Hider is in a
dark storage with a harsh light in front of her. She tries to
block out some of the light with her palm, although she
looks like that she desired this light, but eventually chose
not to step into the light, which is a sign of avoidance.

#6 One Moment
Material: Watercolor, pigment liner.
Idea: I wanted to use a wide-angle perspective,
looking up, to pull in the distance between the
Hider and the Seeker. This angle was chosen for
the purpose of obtaining an unexpected view of
the person hidden under the desk. In the
picture, the figure behind the desk was actually
added for making up an accident during the
painting. Therefore, I took it as the first work in
which two characters appear in the same scene,
symbolizing their meeting. The table, however,
by its perspective, obstructed the position of
the figure’s head, which unexpectedly added a
sense of danger to the atmosphere, as we could
not ascertain the identity and purpose of him,
and I do not want to confirm him as the seeker.
The background is made with loose brushwork,
but a few twisted windows are faintly visible,
indicating that the general hiding-place is the
school.

#7 Unreachable
Material: watercolor, pencil, pens &
photoshop
Idea: In this piece, the hider and the
seeker finally formally appeared in the
scene at the same time. At this
moment, however, the seeker did not
approach to her directly after finding
her, but chose to hide in the sark
corner and secretly observe the hider
standing in light. From the seeker’s
expression, we can see that she is
hesitant and insecure, as well as
revealing her lack of confidence.
Because at this time, the seeker is the
embodiment of cowardice, the
symbol of human unwilling to face
the truth. The light and darkness in
the picture produced an irony, for
originally the hider plays a passive
role in hide-and-seek, but now she
became an active role.

#8 Second Part
Idea: This is the first direct
contact between the two.
Although it is only a reflection
in the mirror, it represents that
the main character begins to
detect her inner self, which is
trapped, and decides to
communicate with herself. I
want to show the relationship of
the Seeker and the Hider using
a difference in color, in which
that the true self (the Hider) is
locked in a mirror, although It is
colorful, It does not have
freedom, while the fake self (the
Seeker) that other people see in
real life has no color, but is
"free", though they have to rely
strongly on the real self.

#9 Mercury Atmosphere
Idea: The perspective I used is mainly
reflected in the near and far sizes of the
two characters, which we can read from it
that the hider’s movement direction is
backward, while the seeker’s movement
direction is forward, showing that they are
going toward each others. However, the
cloudy background and the floating
figures both indicate that this is not reality,
but an illusory dream. At the same time,
the rushing gas gives the composition of
the overall work more movement, creating
not only space but also an atmosphere of
repression, with some kind of freedom.
Inspiration from the song Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space
by Spiritualized

#10 Stranding
Material: Procreate
Process: I first started this piece by
using bright and vivid colors, then
revised them to a more muted color
palette in order to bring a more
immersive atmosphere.
Idea: Unlike other pieces, I tried to
focus on the details of facial features
and expression in a realistic style with
unrealistic elements coexisting at the
same time. The transparent arms
surrounding the hider are the seeker’s,
showing the internal embracement of
the two. The emotion of the hider is
not made clear and thus can be
interpreted in any ways. For in this
case, the image speaks more
information than words.

#11 Stranding
(Progress Shots)

#12 Electric Charge
Material: watercolor and pens
Idea: I want to express the “merging“ moment
between the hidden self and the true self by
using movement of color and line. However,
this time, the Hider did not escape, but the
Seeker hesitated. The color difference in the
figure can be explained by the fact that the
Hider facing the camera chooses to give its
color to the seeker, while the Seeker chooses
to turn her back to the camera and is afraid to
face at the color, and is constantly resisting
the glitters from the Hider. Thus it is the
Seeker who is always looking for Hider's
sparkle, and it is also the Seeker who chooses
to flee after reaching to its dream. I have
often felt such ambivalence in my life, and
therefore I wanted to express it in this way.
After this piece, the relationship between the
two people will be reversed, and the
definition between hider and seeker will
become more and more blurred.

#13 Anchor
Material: Procreate
Process: I want to show the
acceptance of the true self to other
false self by using symmetry and
balance to create a silent and sacred
atmosphere, imitating the solemness
Greek sculptures bring. By using color
emphasis I contrasted influence of
others with quiet self actualization of
the hider.

#14 Breaking the Angles
Against the Tide
Material: Procreate
Process: I decided to use simple storyboards to
convey a coherent action, including the seeker’s
expressions, surroundings and her purpose of
action at the same time.
Idea: Figure 1 shows the seeker’s anxiety
shuttling through the crowds and draws out her
purpose, which is shown in Figure 2. Figure 2
shows more intuitively that the seeker goes
against the crowd at this time by using a
looking down view, trying to run towards the
hider that she finally found, who is left behind
by the crowd alone. The reason I did not make
shadows for the crowds is because it may take
away attention of the two main characters in
the picture.

#15 Found Me
Material : Procreate
Process: I spent most time on thinking about
composition for this piece, and ultimately chose to
use the character's center of gravity to break up the
frame by dividing the negative space into black and
white. In the process of drawing, I paid special
attention to the simplicity of the lines, especially on
the right side of the picture I left as much blank space
as it can has, so as to make the picture look more
intuitive and vivid with the maximum dynamic. The
visual guidance in this picture is not particularly
obvious, But we can see the entire line where the two
characters overlap as the focus point, emphasizing
the integrating of the two. I did not traditionally use
yellow or any other high saturated color to represent
contrast and brightness because i didn't want to,
partly because it would be more consistent with the
color of the previous work, partly because i like to
keep the simplicity and a melancholic tone in this
picture.

#15 Found Me
Idea: This piece is in the
same group as the
previous short comic. It is
the moment when seeker
runs through the crowd to
hug hider. Through the
segmentation of the
composition, the hider on
the left seems to run from
the shadow to the light.
Although I did not depict
any expression of the
characters, and you can
even hardly see the
characters' faces, I wanted
to use the dynamics of the
characters to show their
respective emotions, the
answers may vary, just like
the ending of the story.

Quality Pieces
Material:watercolor, yupo paper
Material:watercolor, pens

Quality Pieces
Material: watercolor Material: iPad, procreate

Quality Pieces
Material: charcoal

Advice To All
In fact, my motivation to paint pr to draw is completely from
inspiration, and if there is no inspiration, what I create will look
completely dead to me. For example, #7 & #8 were the
bottleneck period of my year. At that time, I was struggling to find
inspiration, but because of the tight deadlines, I had to create in
an environment without inspiration, ended with both plain
composition and colors.
Speaking of plain colors, #7 obviously has more colors than 15,
but to me, its overall effect is much worse than that of #15, which
has only two basic colors. Therefore, I am blaming this onto my
lack of inspiration for #7.

Advice To All
So where does inspiration come from?
For me,
The first is to watch movies, comics (manga), novels, etc., to enrich the
perception of images. I watch movies very frequently, and like to search for
clips of the movie online after watching, so as to have a deeper experience
of what the director wants to express.
The second is to listen to music and read the lyrics. I personally like rock
music and post-punk, because the lyrics are often edgy and intuitive and I
enjoy listening to the rhythm while picturing where the song would fit if it is
in a movie made up by me. Therefore, most of the time, when I am fully
inspired, I can already have a complete picture in my mind before I start
drawing, and there is even background music or sound effects to match the
picture. So I will deliberately approach my imagination when drawing.

Advice To All
The third requires a lot of practices. I think most people are like me, very good at
“brain painting”, but then once you get started, you don’t know how to draw, so
that’s when practices come into play. In February, I signed up for an online gesture
drawing class, and I was required to draw six human bodies every day. As of May
10th, it has been the 101st day of continuous sketching for me, so I have drawn 606
human bodies in more than three months. Before February, human bodies were
still an absolute weakness for me. I need a lot of reference to draw pictures, and
sometimes too much reference would curb my painting inspiration and lead to
frustration. But after a few months of practice, those dynamic and aesthetically
pleasing poses can give me hundreds of ideas every day when I draw, so I no
longer had to worry about lack of inspiration or my ability to draw a correct body as
much. But don’t do those practices in class, because Prof. Robson will not like it
and I know that :(

2023 Nichole 2D: Score 5

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2023 Nichole 2D: Score 5