Master's project 2 exploration by Sophia Ji

06 About me

Statement / CV / Skills Professional contact professional practice

32 My experience Illustrators Exhibitions lectures Tutorials

58 My work

Project Methods / Methodology

80 Bibliography

About Me

STATEMENT I am an illustrator currently working between Taiwan and the UK. An international client base has brought the importance of social media to the fore. Ornamentations, playful composition, and vivid colour palettes are my primary inspirations. Especially colour palettes are key. Both vivid and limited in range, they convey the distinctive and playful style with which I address contemporary subjects. Narratives are developed through repetitive patterns and ornamentation. Sometimes the imaginary scenes that arise are inhabited by small groups of individuals, sometimes recognisable as an iconic band. Although the audience is generally assumed to be adult, my illustrations can generate the spirit of childish mirth and simple pleasures. For example, humour is a prominent trait of the creatures and anthropomorphic characters through which I am currently visualising the growing dream world of Sophialand. Also, my outputs often reflect the formats of Instagram, exhibiting square, tiled and sequential imagery. Untitled / Digital / Sophia Ji

So Ji

p h i a

季 I

榆 u

汝

E-mail: sophiasartworks@gmail.com Website: www.sophiaji.co.uk Instagram: @sophiasartworks

Education MA Illustration

2018

(Pending)

BA Fine Art

2019

Pass

Arts University Bournemouth, UK National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan

Skills

C V

Hand-Drawing

Gouache / Coloured Pencil / Watercolour / Acrylic

Digital

Photoshop / Procreate / Illustrator / Indesign

Printing

Risograph / Screen-printing

Employment 2016

Children’s art course — — — — — Xue Ling Tutorial School

2017

Wall paintings — — — — — Taiflex Scientific Company

Awards, Exhibitions and Curation 2014

Hsing Tian Temple award winner

2014

Selected for Exchange exhibition

2016

Professor Tai Prize Department exhibition

2017

Coordinator of class exhibition

2017

Artistic Design of Art Festival in NKNU

2017

Vice Coordinator of Graduation exhibition

2017

Exhibition in Art Taipei

2018

The Graduation exhibition "Run,Passion,Run"

2018

Installation of Drawings: British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for Architecture

2019

"Watch This Space"

S K I L L Skill

Painting /Drawing

Adobe

Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

Research

How good

C H E C K

I currently?

How could i improve?

I am familiar with Painting because of my Fine Art background. My previous graduation project was mixed material, which included When I start to use digital to be my main oil pastel, acrylic, and pencil, so I technique, I seldom use painting to usually painted in my BA course. complete my illustrations. The only thing Besides, pencil is my favorite I need to improve is to try to do more material, and I love to combine multiform skills and do the adventurous with water-based material to make experiments on exploring new techniques. the elegant texture. Also, I do some experiment on drawing like paint on ceramics and do collage on diversity materials. After the Folio Society competition, my skills became I think what I need is to strengthen the inbetter and better. I can finish depth skills, such as the adjustments of whole images with Photoshop and image, shortcut key, and arrangement of use the texture effects and brushes patterns. really well. I used to use AI to complete my works. However, I started to practice PS, and I full in love with Although I did many works by AI, the only digital drawing. The textures in tools I used is image tracing. PS are so amazing, and when I do I want to create the illustration entirely by the poster design, I will use AI to AI, so I need to learn direction handles well format my text. So I can handle to complete the professional AI works. two software and combine them to get excellent outcomes. As an MA student, the research is necessary for my project. I used library sources well in this unit, and The language is my biggest problem. I also talked to the librarian to ask Sometimes I cannot understand the for help about the reference and content for the first time, I need to read recommendation of books. twice to understand. That problem wastes Besides, I start to use the index to much time so that I need to spend more search the information quickly and time to finish my project. precise.

The length of the presentation is too short. I can complete a clear structure I need to lengthen my time because the and format. My pronouncement next presentation of MP2 is 20 minutes. Presentation i s b e t t e r t h a n b e f o r e . T h e That will be a big challenge for me. The vocabularies I used are more only thing I can do is add more content professional and precise. and describe more details of my works.

Skill

How good am I currently?

How could i improve?

Because of building my website To contact agencies is my next step. I have in this unit, I start having some not contacted any companies and agencies contacts from other illustrators. now, so that should be a significant I usually use IG to contact them. improvement in the next unit. I can share my works with them easily, and they would post my Social works on their social media. Also, I attended massive illustration events such as Bologna fair to collect contact information and exchange my business card to them. I realized the patten’s arrangement The content behind decorative patterns is so I can design the simple patterns what I need to enrich. Creating dynamic for packagings and fabric. Also, and playful patter n designs with my Pattern design I am working on my tile projects, illustration skills is the aim of my future which include pattern design so I projects. can develop my own patterns. In this unit, I built my website Online shop and the format of my website and turned my IG account to be are two aim to do in the next unit. To commercial as well. After I built a engage my selling of tiles, I need to build website and commercial account, an online shop to promote my products. Promotional the feedback from my audiences I do not feel familiar with Weebly, so the are getting more and more. It is a website can’t be flexible to format. The great start to engage my business. data of web viewers don’t increase so much, so I need to find a way to raise my exposure rate. I can format the publication like I lack the experience of the printing magazine, portfolio, book. I had process. How to set the file for printing and published my Indesign works on how to the contact with printery are my Adobe Issuu. Well, use the necessary skills weakness. Indesign and learn from successful graphic works, I can complete my own publication. I can do the risograph and screen To explore the different types of printing is printing well. I start to print some the next stage. greeting card for selling.

r i n t i n g Skill

Portfolio

I had made several portfolio Binding type is I want to develop more. b o o k l e t s f o r a g e n c i e s a n d I only use perfect binding to present my illustration fair. I am familiar with portfolio, but I try to make playful binding the making process and layout. way like experiment zine as my portfolio.

Skill

How good

I currently?

How could i improve?

Start to learn the skill of animation is what I

A nimation / I know nothing about After Effect need. I will start with a little animation like or using Photoshop to make a GIF. GIF. In the illustration industry, the skit of GIF GIF can catch eyes.

Many illustrators use paper cut to play with

a p e r c u t I havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t explored more paper cut different composition. Using the geometric illustration skills after the collage workshop. shape and combing illustration to produce

a new style is what I should try.

How to make an illustration with good composition is my task previously. I did the artist research, Keep practicing more from many which can help me to learn the Composition right visual language. Also, I illustrations and bring more vivid element to my works. improved my visual in the final project, and I am satisfied with my outcome.

My website uses the clear layout e b s i t e and pure white background to I want to add some animations on my show my works up. website and my online shop. design

PROFESSIONAL C O N T A C T 01. World illustration awards 2019 (WIA2019) WIA is one of the most prestigious awards for illustrators. Many talented illustrators desired to take part in this exhibition, so it is an excellent chance for me to collect information about these fabulous illustrators. Artist list: 01.Dani Choi / Where is my baboon Hiding? / Children’s books 02. Helena Covell / Jumble Wood / Children’s Books 03. Puck Koper / Where is your sister? / Children’s books 04. Tim Easley / Modified Man / Design 05. Elen Winata / Alphabets: Phenomenal Women / Design 06. Max Loeffler / Milk Tooth Sphere Collection / Design 07. Xoana Herrera / Ensayo Natural / Design 08. Lesley Barnes / Christmas stamps 2018 / Design 09. Eleni Debo / When to stop / Editorial 10. Thomas Paterson / The global arms trade is booming. Buyers are spoiled for choice / Editorial 11. Jinhwa Jang / NYC streets / Site specific 12. Luis Pinto / Daily graphic thoughts / Experimental 13. Arom Ju / Somewere / Experimental 14. Jonas Kalmbach / Zodiac / Research 15. Muto / In a landscape / Research

02. People of print People of Print is a team who provide a print consultation service for artists. It was found by Marcroy Smith and established in 2003. They sent me an e-mail and invited me to become part of there official People of Print membership community. It is really surprising to me, and I am considering to join them. I visited the website, and the memberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perks are useful and help illustrators on printing works. Some useful perks like sharing the new works or articles on the website which has a global audience of 2 million. Also, as I am doing the tile printing project, the advice of printing is beneficial for me. This invitation from People of print is proof that the promotion of my portfolio is effective.

03. Slowdown Studio Slowdown Studio is a studio that aims to discover global artists and collaborate with them to produce products with both functional and beautiful. I enter their competition of blanket design. I used the star face, which is usually shown in my final project combined with my dog character. The color palette is as same as final works.Â

The entry for Slowdown Studio

Professio nal p r a c t i c e

01. Instagram I got much more attention than the last unit I got. The most important twist moment is when my work was reposted by slowdown studio who hold a carpet competition. Thank Slowdown studio for sharing my work, my exploration is still growing now.Â Besides, I also tried the promotion twice on IG. The first result of promotion was not as good as I thought. The second time was much better than the first time. The difference is the content of the post. I explained more details about my final project, like where is my inspiration from and what the main topic is. I realized more explanation or more ideas sharing are a good way to build a bridge with the audience. Furthermore, IG can analyze how many new audiences that promotion discovered for me so that the result can be evaluated, and I can improve my works and the content of the post.Â Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sophiasartworks/

02. Website

03. Portfolio booklet

I uploaded my new works in this unit. To let my portfolio looks consistent, I expanded more different topic but used the same techniques and similar color palettes. The layout looks clean and professional; I am satisfied with this website. Also, I added a description which is in Chinese on each page of work, and it would let my audience understand my content. Â

I selected some great works I did in MA. This year is incredible and amazing. I learned many knowledge and people in the industry of illustration. When I selected my works, I can tell the difference between the works of the first unit and my final works. From traditional to digital is the most significant difference. Also, the style and color palettes are getting more and more distinguished.Â Besides, to strengthen my portfolio, I expanded more different themes to develop, like a playing card, portraits, and font design.

www.sophiaji.co.uk

Playing card / digital

Christmas card / digital

Cosmic alphabet / digital 26

04. Risograph for the exhibition

05. Postcard for exhibition

I used the star face as a consistent symbol to connect the main visual in my final project.

M Y EXPERIENCE

I l l u s t r at o r s In my final project, I focus on improving my quality of works. So the texture techniques and visual language are the most crucial aim in MP2. I did three artist research which can teach me three critical skills, which include texture, theme, and visual language. Event Type: Artist research (Texture) Name: Max Loeffler Description: The significant change in this unit is the textures. I grab the inspiration from the France printing studio, Icinori, and Max Loeffler, who is one of my artist researches. The first time I saw Max's works is on the website of house illustration because he was the winner of the competition. His textures are delicate and professional, so he is suitable for me to learn more about the technique of textures. Using textures well can let illustration be more mature and attractive. Max is good at the air-brushed effects, which can strengthen the perspective. According to Loeffler (2017), "I restricted myself by using the computer mouse, and rough splatter Photoshop brushes for loosening up. I tried a lot and came across a style which is a pretty nice mixture of these loose experiments and my detailed stippling and hatching techniques". The method shows the elements of visceral and immediate in Max's works. I imitate his sandy texture and limited color palette to finished my final project. However, most of his works are monochrome; I transferred his method into more vivid. I used the monochrome outline and filled the color inside the shape. Comparing my previous works, I used to use pencil drawing and color in Photoshop. So all the textures come from pencil and paper. The disadvantage of these methods is about time and scale of works. Because of the process of pencil drawing, 32

time is longer than the new methods. Furthermore, the scale of work is another problem. If I did an A2 poster with the pencil drawing, it takes much work, and I cannot complete my work in a short time. I started to try digital drawing since I came here, and I experienced the playful and amazing functions from Photoshop through the MA. I enjoyed to play with textures and explore the techniques which can let digital drawing nature, so I will continue to choose digital drawing to complete my future projects. Quotes: "My approach is a rather visceral and immediate one, and I realise only afterwards what the meaning of a piece could be." - Max Loeffler "At least for some - maybe most of us - how we are regarded by others is still more important than how we regard ourselves." -Max Loeffler

Event Type: Artist research (Visual language) Name: Yuko Shimizu Description: Yuko is a successful illustrator, and she is one of my artist research because of her stunning and strong visual language. According to Buzelli (cited in Communication Arts, 2018), "Yuko gets to the point of a story—visually—without being literal". It means Yuko's works not only describe a story but also bring the audiences into the world of her perspective. I found two main techniques she used in her works. First one is the radial composition, which can lead visual focus on the intersection. According to Bradley(2015), "Because everything radiates from a common center, everything also leads to that center, making it a strong point of attraction". Second is the strong perspective effect. Fowler (2013) states that" perspective is a theory of drawing, which allows the artist a way to graphically depict three-dimensional objects on paper or other media, as they exist in space". It means the images used perspective is familiar to what we see in reality. Yuko is good at using perspective let her works dynamic and vivid. Also, the perspective represents the unique angle of seeing. So I learned these two design rule to realize in my works. The skydiving people series is the practice for perspective, and the entry for slowdown studio is the practice of radial composition. Textures are another outstanding point in her works. Yuko uses Japanese calligraphy brushes to create most of the textures. According to Shimizu （n.d）, " One thing I can tell you is that whatever texture you see in my work is hand-done, and not done on the computer. My advice for digital colorist is..... It is your hands that should be creating your images and not the computer ". It shows the concept of balance between traditional skill and digital drawing. Because of the trend of contemporary illustration, more and more artists give up the traditional skills and involve into the digital world only. It is good to try

something new but lost the base skill is not a wise way if we want to create a great diversity of art.

Quotes: "I was drawn to Yuko because of her clear, confident, conceptual work. She owns her artistic style, and she has a deep visual library to draw on." — Rob Wilson radial composition

strong perspective composition

E x h i b i t i o n s Event Type: Exhibition Name: Russell- cotes museum Artist: William De Morgon Description: At the beginning of MP2, I struggled with the new way of presenting for tiles. I visited William's exhibition and tried to learn from history and explore new thinking of tiles. William was a pre-eminent ceramic designer of the late Victorian period. In the exhibition, the color palettes of William's inspired me the most. Except for the beauty of symmetry, which I had explored in the last unit, I focus on the balance of color and shape, which bring a strong visual in the limited tiles. For example, "Fan pattern tile" used the Islamic crescent moon motif to create the triangular design. I imitated William's composition and procreated the other version with start motif and dog character. This composition makes visual vivd but stable. "Leaf pattern jardinière" is one of my favorite glazed earthenware. The geometric shapes in bold ruby and gold present the strong visual which was inspired by Islamic pattern as well. However, Morgon's tile design followed the rule of tradition, which is value symmetry, elegant patterns, and harmony color palettes. In MP2, I did the different design from Morgon's. My tile as a panel of the storybook, and I separated some continuous images to let the view loose. Exploring the new visual effect through the tiles is one of my aim in MP2. According to Mackay (n.d), "Deeply English and echoing the Medieval past, his ceramic designs also found inspiration in the vibrant colours and intricate detailing of traditional Italian, Spanish and "Persian" design too". It shows De Morgon's works represent the fusion of multi-cultures. The spirit of appreciating the diversity of cultures and learning from them is what I need to keep in mind. Taiwanese has an issue with cultural identity because of the political problems 42

with China. Many in Taiwan confuse with the origin and do not realize the value of Taiwan. Because of the blinkered mind, Some of Taiwanese only focus on political issues rather than appreciate the diversity of cultures from many amazing places on earth.

Digital by Sophia Ji

Dog and stars by Sophia Ji

Fan pattern tile by William De Morgon

Leaf patterned Jardiniere by William De Morgon

Event Type: Exhibition Name: World illustration awards (WIA 2019) Host: The AOI Date: 13th July 2019 Description: It has eight categories, which include advertising, books, children's books, design, editorial, experimental, research, and site-specific in this exhibition. My favorite and the most exciting part is the experimental illustration. Virtual reality and digital worlds allow an illustrator to create 3-dimensional and immersive spaces. For example, Daily graphic by Luis Pinto used three old-type televisions and one small monitor to play the animation. It's the most exciting place to use the different player to play the same animation; also, audiences can feel the contradiction between old material and contemporary topic. Another work small but significant by Jingtong is also fabulous. The topic of her work is potato, which is her favorite food. She used the view of human to tell the potato world with different materials, which is one of the spirits that contemporary illustration conveys.Â Because of technology development, I am involving in digital drawing and going to explore the small illustration animation, which is a trend in the industry. In the future, experimental work will continue to become more sophisticated and challenging.Â Quotes:Â "Illustration is the media which turns complex ideas into a universal language." Connie Lam, WIA Judge "Good illustration is one of the most vital methods of communication we have and is the dif ference between comprehension and confusion." Leyla Reynolds, WIA Judge

Luis Pinto / Daily graphic thoughts / Experimental / professional

Max Loeffler / Milk tooth sphere collection / Design / professional Jingtong / Small but significant / Experimental / New Talent 48

Eleni Debo / When to stop / Editorial / Professional

Jinhwa Jang / NYC streets / Site specific / New talent

L e c t u

r e s

Event Type: Lecture Date: 18th June Lecturer: Sam Boughton Description: Sam knew she loves art and drawing, but she did not know that illustrator can be a career, and she did not ready at that age. In the period in Hong Kong, she had the drawing class, which provided creative content and aimed to evoke student's creativity and imaginary by using inspired way. To be a teacher of the creative class, Sam needed to prepare the samples and tested the different materials before demonstrated to the student. Not only students but she found many playful materials and techniques to play with. For example, the combination of paper cut collage and ink drawing was one of her favorite techniques. This method influenced her works' style in the future. During her MA course in Cambridge, she focused on the brief of city life. She explored the city she lived, the people she met and the shops she walked in. She spent eight weeks to expand many materials and topics for her project. After exploring, she chose ink to be the primary material and architectures to be her main topic. Sam did an experimental in this period; she focused on the compositions, so collage is an excellent method to practice the composition. She cut off the photograph of small illustration and rearranged and drew again in the same image. During the final show, Sam wanted to create one children's book. However, her characters and story were not mature enough. Finally, she decided to create several images with a different topic, including Chinese town and garden market. The materials she used were watercolor and collage. After graduation, Tate publisher contacted her to publish. "The extraordinary gardener" was her first published picture book which is talking about a boy who tries to change the 52

lifeless urban city into a vivid, colorful city by plant many different gorgeous plants. The method Sam used is to make sure the text first and then start to draw thumbnail in pencil. When pre-work had done, Sam started to complete the final works with collage and mixed media. Because of the twist of the story, Sam used the impressive color contrast which is gray and colorful to separate the different city's scenes when the boy starts to share his plants with residents to make city colorful. About the building, Sam also researched this field. The original building in her picture book is in Victoria style. However, the background setting is an urban city. She started to sketch modern skyscrapers and used it in her picture book. After the collaboration with Tate, she kept drawing her favorite topic like a dinosaur. She sent her dinosaur works to five publishers, but only one responded. Because of this contact, she got many chances to publish a big series "Hello, Mr/Mrs…..". This series is base on animals' topic and expand different storylines. The main idea that Sam wants to convey is to keep trying the little thing which can bring you a massive reward in the future. Also, keep the eyes to the ideas and let your mind open to many diversity ideas. Reflections: As an illustrator, I love to draw what I love, but sometimes I might be influenced by the trend of the market. It is powerless when I realize the reality of the career of illustrator. However, Sam gave me positive ideas and encouraged us to be confident in drawing the topic we want. Because of Sam's ideas, I start to explore more exciting topics, including classic alphabet, GIF, greeting card, and the design for carpet. The process of exploring different filed of illustration is delight which is a positive power that I can keep doing my thing in the future.

t u t o r i a l Tutor: Richard Allen / Jenni Date: 26th June 2019 Description: Artists list: 01.Jim Stoten 02.William de Morgan 03.Klaus Haapaniemi 04.Books of Hours Key point 01. Allow other artists to inform your practice 02. Isolated icons/motifs VS more complete scenes The former are bolder, more graphic and perhaps work better in this context, although both styles complement each other. 03. Continue to add to those designs and think new best to use the exhibition space. Reflections: The most important point is about the usage of space in the Gallery. I was struggling with the way of the installation, which is not as easy as I thought. Because of Jenni’s advice, I start to expand more images to tell more information about my content for my audiences. So I used the grid layout to represent my imaginary world and different perspectives in the dreams. Also, I visited the BA show after this tutorial; I saw Fay’s tiles, which inspired me. She did not make huge mural but keep the gap between some tiles. The blank gap can get more imaginary space by the audience, and the visual is expanded; even the image is not complete. The appropriate blank space is a point when the visual is too full and crowded. I start to deconstruct my mural and use the different layout of rectangular scales as the panels of my content, which includes my dream diary and the imaginary world. The way I changed is more dynamic than before. For example, the scene of a helicopter, I use four tiles to describe the skydivers and to

represent the speed and perspective, I worked on the shape of the cloud and the scale of people. The visual language is stronger than before, and it has stronger contrast of composition. The secondary key point is about artist-informed practice. In the last unit, I could not find an effective way to build a great system of artist research. I know the importance of artist research, which is helpful in the future when I need some reference or inspiration for my project. However, the method of building good artist research is not easy. Fran advised me to look at the methods from artists and illustrators and practice in my works rather than describe how their works look like only. Let my practice help me decide what works to look at and only search what is relevant to current practice. Also, make sure to keep clear references for quotes and images, think of the research section as a library.

MY WORKS

Final

P ro j e c t

01.Brief In the last unit, I focus on tile designs, which are more patternlike. However, I realized I was limited in the square layout of the tile; I cannot break the boundary of thinking. Also, after observing some inspirations from exhibitions of BA and WIA, I developed a new style and the way of thinking but base on the same topic. In the MP1, I did the puzzle tile and tried the new forming landscape to the audience. However, someone asks me a question which made my works transform into a new level. “What is the name of your landscape?” is a crucial question from Lisa and I was confused about my theme, and even I was not sure what kind of landscape I want to describe. The process of finding the topic of my landscape’s topic is quite interesting. It seems like I am finding my memory which from several years ago. Because I wanted to draw the imaginary landscape rather than the real nature scene, the experience of contacting landscape is essential for me. My dream can be a good choice because it combines imagination and reality. Landscapes in my dream show the unique perspectives; people in my dream have weird appearances; animals in my dream turn into fantasy creatures.

The second version of puzzle tile / Digital 58

02. Research I researched history and design rule for tile in MP1, so the personal style and content development are what I focus on in MP2. About the color palettes and textures: Icinori studio is one of my main inspiration. I know Icinori studio in the Bologna illustration fair. In the last PDP, I mentioned Icinori studio, which is a French printing and publishing studio found by Mayumi Otero and Raphael Urwiller. The elegant textures and limited color palettes they make can always catch my eyes immediately. Not only appreciation but I desired to produce the illustrations have the same quality. How to create an elegant atmosphere by using delicate textures and limited color palettes is what I have been trying. I chose a digital drawing to be my material of the final project. To imitate the sandy texture, I bought many different brushes, which include pencil and oil pastel brushes which have much grain. Furthermore, I realized the color palettes they used is limited. Four is the maximum quantity of color in one image. I picked a set of color palette and used the brushes and created my first image for the exhibition. I am delighted with my outcome, and the process is playful and inspired. In the whole process, I realized the advantage of limited color, and I am fascinated with delicate textures. Here is the color palette a picked 01. C71 M64 Y0 K0 02. C3 M14 Y73 K0 03. C4 M23 Y9 K0 04. C43 M29 Y80 K5 05.C26 M37 Y60 K2 06. C13 M83 Y81 K3 07.C0 M52 Y75 K0

Obviously, the K in CMYK represents the black plate, and the percentage of K in each color is deficient. That is why I chose this color to represent the fantasy topic about the dream. About the content- Dream and imaginary world Two years ago, I was keeping the diary of dream and tried to use in my BA show. However, my ability did not allow me to finish the complex works, which requires highly accomplished creative thinking and skills. After the MA’s training and I become mature in the illustration field, I can handle the task of dream and imagination. I usually have lucid dreams, and the scenes are incredible. I record my dream, which is the method I learned from Jung and try to figure out what the message behind the scenes. As an illustrator, not only write it down but also draw it down. Although writing or drawing cannot convey the dream precisely, the dream has a connection with subconscious which cannot be represented by simple recording way. However, I still can base on my diary and get some inspiration for my project. Here are some selected dreams from my diary: 01. I was doing the wall painting in a white building. The clouds were getting thicker and started thunder. I saw a horrible thunder hit the opposite city and everything is falling. I was so panic and finding a safe place to stay. Suddenly, the huge wave caused by the fallen city was coming towards me. I run again, and a helicopter came to save us, and I survive in this dream. 02. I was walking in an old-fashioned street. There was only one vendor who was selling melon on this long street. I close up, and I saw surface creep of melon, I felt uncomfortable and ran away. At the end of the street is a bridge. There are three men with dolphin head and prepared to dive in the water. 03. I was in urban and surrounded by skyscrapers. It was a sunshine day, and I stood on grassland. Suddenly, there were many skydivers from the sky towards the people on the ground. Skydivers attached everyone, and I escaped away and hid in a hospital. When I stay in the hospital, I feel the time gone fast, and I spend a few years in there.

03. Preparation The process of preparation is quite complicated. Many little detailed processes connect together; if something goes wrong, the outcome may be really different from the original plan. Here are the key stages of preparation. 01. Find the right tiles Before I started my project, I contacted Fay who did her BA’s final as tiling printing as well. She gave me many suggestions, which include where I can purchase tiles and who can print the tiles for me. B&Q is where I bought tiles. Size, price, and quantity are my primary considerations. I got two options to choose, the only difference is the ingredient. One is made with some reuse ceramics and materials. To use the recycling materials helps to keep waste out of the landfill. The other one is the standard ceramics. I chose the first one to be my tiles. 02. Contact the printing assistant, Auston Baker, and learn the settings of output When I decided the tile’s type, I brought the samples of tile to Aston to make sure the printing machine is ok with tile. Also, she told me how to set my output of files. It should be TIFF, dpi is required 300 at least and CMYK surely. She reminded me the size of images must be as same as the real size of tile, which may slightly different from the description on the package. 03. Set up the color palettes, main techniques and clarify what kind of visual language I want my audience to feel I had bought a color book from V&A. Many fabric designs from the 15th century to the 21st century maintain the content of this color book. I found an Indian fabric pattern which fills the delicate decorations. Although I am not sure the topic correctly, I can feel the mystery and fascination were attracting me. Because the mysterious tone matched my topic, which is conveying the dreamy and imaginary world, I selected this fabric to be my main inspiration of color palette. I have been trying to practice the more delicate and mature 62

textures in digital for my works. Fortunately, I had a huge improvement when I got the amazing brush pack of PS from my friend. The textures present well through my style, which needs some details to underpin my simple images. The way of my drawings is to use traditional skills but realize in digital. Here is the process of my works. 01. Fill the color 01 into the outline 02. Cover the color 01 with color 02 in a new layer 03. Use texture eraser to erase the color 02 and let the color 01 come out 04. Repeat the above actions until all elements are done 05. Add some delicate stroke on the top layer to make the shape clearer As you can see, hand drawing is the only thing I do in my process rather than using many digital skills. Some people say the stage of erasing takes lots of works and time, but I insist on this for my works. About the visual language, I did the artist research to learn the way. I desire to bring the unique but friendly visual to my audience and also can represent the sophisticated techniques of composition on my works. I used different perspectives in one image to make the playful visual effect. Also, some images didn’t complete because of the visual extension. These techniques are new experiments, and out of my confer zone.

01. Fill the color 01 into the outline

02. Cover the color 01 with color 02 in a new layer

04. Outcomes MP2 is a task which includes result, portfolio, exhibition, the body of work, and PDP. It is complicated but substantial. To produce a comprehensive, complex, technically proficient and highly accomplished body of works, I need to explore more fields that I did not reach and be patient on many complex details.Â Following the MP1, I was working on the puzzle tile that gave me a big challenge. I try to break the limited of tiles, so I visited exhibitions and ask feedbacks from others. I started from the transferred landscape, which includes plants and fantasy creatures.Â I used many different perspectives to make a dynamic effect.

The process of working

03. Use texture eraser to erase the color 02 and let the color 01 come out

04. Repeat the above actions until all elements are done

05. Add some delicate stroke on the top layer to make the shape clearer 64

Also, this series is inspired by the Voynich manuscript, which is an illustrated codex hand-written in an unknown writing system. Because of the mysterious background, So I chose these mysterious illustrations to be one of the inspirations for final works.

Besides my imaginary world, I also selected some scenes from my dreams. I created images which based on the descriptions which I record after I dream.Â 01.City's dream: I was doing the wall painting in a white building. The clouds were getting thicker and started thunder. I saw a horrible thunder hit the opposite city and everything is falling. I was so panic and finding a safe place to stay. Suddenly, the huge wave caused by the fallen city was coming towards me. I run again, and a helicopter came to save us, and I survive in this dream.Â

02. Dolphin men: I was walking in an old-fashioned street. There was only one vendor who was selling melon on this long street. I close up, and I saw surface creep of melon, I felt uncomfortable and ran away. At the end of the street is a bridge. There are three men with a dolphin head and prepared to dive in the water.

03. Skydivers: I was in urban and surrounded by skyscrapers. It was a sunshine day, and I stood on grassland. Suddenly, there were many skydivers from the sky towards the people on the ground. Skydivers attached everyone, and I escaped away and hid in a hospital. When I stay in the hospital, I feel the time gone fast, and I spend a few years in there.Â

Rather than to draw exactly the same, making the difference is more exciting when I need to develop my style and train creativity.

Furthermore, to practice the ability of storytelling, I create two works which talk about disappeared dreams. Star as a symbol of the dream in the works. The falling star means the dream is far away from you. 72

Installation The process of the display was a challenge for me because I need to finish in two days. Before I went back to Taiwan, I need to make sure that everything was not out of control, and I can display on immediately when I come back. Fortunately, I completed the installation, and the visual is as great as I thought. The orange wall is the only thing I surprised. Because of some reason, I movedÂ my works to this lovely wall. Orange go well with my white tiles; color contrast also made my works more stand out.

Final outcomes 74

M e t h o d s / Methodology Clarifying the subject and starting point of the project I was trying to investigate the options of works which I can explore in this project. How can I decide the practice options of the project? To identify my interests and imagine the outcome of the practice are my main approaches. Having a conversation with tutors or friends and reviewing the artist list are the secondary approaches which are accompanied by major approaches. Also, all decisions would base on the aim of the project and connect with my learning desire. -Investigative processes To have a wild-ranging and integral knowledge base, I took photographies, notes, sketches, and read articles to collect the materials which would be used in my project. Materials include the style of images, color palettes, character designs, and drawing techniques. -Put my ideas and investigative materials into practice I usually use pencil to draw down the initial images and write down several descriptions of works. Also, my primary materials which I collected in the last process play the important rule on completing the first version of works.

-Adjust and improve Base on the feedbacks from tutors or peers, I can evaluate myself and decide the better adjustments. I will not accept all feedbacks because everyone is different and we all have different aspects of artworks. That means my work doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t live in someoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s concept but is part of me. Because my work is part of me, I know clearly what is my weakness and what I should improve. -Evaluation of the final result When works reach the integral quality, that is the time for evaluation. What is the standard of integral quality? The color palette, composition, details, and content are four elements which I consider about. My esthetic leads the first stage of evaluation but it usually has no problem because I have adjusted before. The second stage of evaluation is the reflection from social media. After I post my works on social media, my audiences will give me some advice or new ideas to my works so I can base on those ideas to improve my old works or start a new project. The third stage of evaluation is to share my works with other illustrators. Because of the same field, they can give me objective and more professional advice. Methodology The practice-based methodology was chosen for this practice on the exploration of the masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project 1, which connects with the final project.

-Review and debate Whether I complete the successful works or not, I will review the quality of works and debate the deeper connection between works and me. My intuition, which represents the sensibility and the feedbacks from tutors, which represent the rationality, are two factors to influence the direction of adjustment.

The inspiration of learning method from AlphaGO AlphaGo is a computer program that plays the board game GO. It used the Monte Carlo tree search algorithm to learn. The details of the program are too complicated but I was inspired by the three simple processes of learning from AlphaGO. Stage 1: Do extensive training, both from the computer and

human play. Also, learn from the best player and imitate the actives. Stage 2: Start the self-play game Stage 3: Adjust and surpass Those simple rules that I learned from AlphaGo and used in my practice, also the three stages of AlphaGO correlate with my methods. Stage 1 is realized in the last unit, I practice many works and learn from many professional illustrators also imitate their styles to explore my styles. Stage 2 is a debate and review, I debate myself to find a deeper connection with my works and also review the quality of works by myself. Stage 3 is the same as one of my method. To fix problems and improve are necessary to get a better result.

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