Time has flown by so fast! 5 months of Grade 12 done and we have welcomed a new year already!

But anyways let’s just get down to the meat and start reflecting about Memory Project!

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So I started my Grade 12 year in Memory Project redoing the painting I finished in my last session of it in Grade 12 (Around start of February so almost 1 year! *sweats*)

It was unexpected for me at first, as I wanted to join the group in starting a new portrait that we’ve just received from the organisation, but when the supervising teacher showed me the piece, I immediately understood that I needed to redo it because this drawing below? Is an injustice to how the girl looks.

What is that skin?! Why is it so orange? The chin is too long and unrealistic and the hair is so flat! I had to do something about it.

At first I attempted to do some touch up on the drawing directly in hopes that I can somehow salvage it, but after spending a lesson on it, I thought that I was only making it worse. And sometimes, you just have to start over – there’s no harm in it after all.

So that’s what I did – and I quite like the result!

Looking back at this drawing, I can now see some parts where I could have worked on like the neck and the nose bridge, and I just think that’s improvement right there – to be able to view your art more critically and learn from it. : )

 

So since everybody was still working on the latest portrait from Memory Project, I decided to take up one of the incomplete drawings from the Blue Dragon pile.

Taking over this piece was a new kind of challenge for me – to somehow paint the headtilt upwards and the teeth without it being awkward and odd – it was a new experience for me

When I started painting this, I was initially a little put off with how it had looked, with the 2nd session ending with the picture below, looking like a mash of colours that is amateur looking with odd colouring and lack of cohesiveness – some regrets that time when I was looking at this drawing

I mean it is actually very natural, for it to look like a lost mess when we just begin, which can be demotivating really because we can start feeling uncertain about what to do next, we can start imagining about how horrible it would look, we can start doubting our skills and experience. But then again, that is natural, and that is what we have to overcome not begrudgingly dragging our feet with the goal of just getting this portrait over and done with but really to complete it to the best of our abilities of that time, and fill it with our sincerity and respect to the subject and of course ourselves. Keep pushing. That’s how we improve, and that is really the difference in quality. (I mean sometimes but you get what I mean)

I think that’s also what makes me admire my friend who I paint beside with a lot. While my art style is to paint with thick colours, Shangyu’s style is to paint like she’s painting water colour, thin and semi-transparent. And in the beginning or even towards the end, I would look at her artwork and found that it is like a patchwork – it felt incredibly odd and incomplete, but experience with her tells me and still fascinates me how her thin layers of paint can build up so much depth and life in her drawing that it is realistic. You never know what is really going to happen in the end.

So that’s what I did, I continue to paint, and the picture below is what I managed in two sessions:

And I really love it a lot – and although there were concerns really about how the skin tone was quite dark compared to the picture, the usage of colours once again wowed me when I painted the background.

Below is the final version of the drawing. Along with a little smoothening of the highlights, only the background was added on, changing the whole lighting of the subject.

So for the background, I used colours from the shirt, mixing in some burnt sienna and yellow from the highlights into it. This technique was actually something I had learned from digital drawing, which is to share colours of the subject with the background vice versa in order to make them more eye pleasing and blend in. And I just want to point that out because I’m proud of the fact that I’m applying things I’ve learned in digital into traditional. Which I guess is a little weird but let me have my moment here haha.

 

My latest portrait that I’ve worked on is an initiative from the group, which is to celebrate the staff members of UWC East campus! We didn’t go for teachers, which not to say we aren’t thankful, but I don’t think we’ve really said thank you to the people in the background (?) The ones keeping our school running systematically.

Whilst many went for librarians, secretaries, security guards, I decided to ask permission from a cleaner that I see every Thursday after service (0WES)

As part of the leadership team for the service, I often stay back to discuss about the plans for the next meeting and organise the logistics for events. Even if the meeting does end early, I sometimes stay back in Ms Li’s room to take naps while waiting for badminton to start after a tiring day in school. And I would always meet her. Sometimes when I notice her coming in I’d try to sit up straight and put my legs down but she would tell me it’s okay for me to relax and sleep, that I can go ahead and rest because she’s going to clean the room fast. Sometimes, I’d be holding the door for her as she comes in to clean on the way out.

It’s just like a nice person, who I can correlate my highschool experience of being sleep deprived or tired and needing to nap after school, or that I stay back to actually be part of a team. And I’d like to thank her for that.

She looked confused to be honest when I asked her, probably really asking what this girl is doing in her mind *laughs*, and I was also really nervous to ask. But all went well – got her portrait and I have to say I did pretty good! Haven’t been much of a good photographer after all (I’m often in charge of the lightings when we take photos)

So for this one, I wanted to try something different. Which really isn’t that different to be honest, more like relearning a skill again. You see, I used to paint watercolour, even attended class for it! But that was around 13 years old, so 5 years ago.

And I love watercolour, especially the aspect that you can’t exactly redo anything, can’t hide the mistakes, have to make do with them and go forth. Watercolour is also one with patience, think like Shangyu’s style but except hers is still much exceptionally confuses me on how she paints really.

I’ve never painted a watercolour portrait as well actually, often stuck to still-life and sceneries, so adding that bit of life to the drawing was going to be fun.

Oh this, hahaha. The colours of the shirt and the hair were awfully light. Didn’t know how many layers I was going to do until Mr McGrath walked by and taught me how to get richer colours and not dilute them too much. Which to my delight works very well as you see below. This obstacle reminded me of when I was learning watercolouring really – I would always be asked by the teacher why can’t I get dark colours in it, everything was very light to be honest, light and shadow was minuscule and only differentiated by the bright saturated colours which I, funnily enough, was able to get it rich and colourful.

And of course, with the dark colours surrounding the face, the skin looks a lot paler and less lively – oh the joy and wonders of colours and balance really right here.

I decided that I needed more of the colour red in the face, mixed in with a little brown from the hair to darken it. I looked at the picture closer, noticing the extra layers of eyebags and the shadow of the cheeks as it curves into a smile, and added colour there. For the background, I wanted to push myself a little, by making it look spontaneous.

Funnily enough, another memory of when I was younger came up, with the teacher asking me why can’t I make the background look explosive, like how you see watercolour backgrounds accenting by spreading out in seemingly random and natural directions, it was really a reflection of how I was to be honest. I didn’t like to be spontaneous, I can think on my feet if I was forced to, but I didn’t like having no plans. It felt odd, and this experiment I was doing, reminded me of this.

And I overcame it funnily enough. Added the black (which actually there is no black, just navy blue and burnt umber mixed) to the background richly, before dipping my brush and filling it with lots of water, then spreading the colour around. Did that two times. Cut out a shape which covers the subject, filled my brush with lots of colours before flicking it, this time wearing an apron lest I’ll be washing stains out of my clothes again hahaha. And I love how it looks. It felt so satisfying to see something that I couldn’t do before, something that kind of has been holding me back when I think of painting in watercolours,  being achieved. I grew and improved. And I’m proud of myself.

 

I think that this is honestly a lot of reflections. Maybe I’m getting a little too sentimental because of the fact that I’ve been constantly reminded that I have only (as of now apparently) less than 4 months left, 15 weeks of school left, 45 school days left.

It’s been fun really. I’ve just submitted my yearbook stuff. Photoshopped my friends onto my leavers box. Shoved a random nice quote I like into the senior quote section to make up for how crazy and hilarious my leavers box is. Grade 12 huh? It’s really only hitting now.