SUTD PORTFOLIO

These are a few snap shots from a comic that I am working on. It is a story about a young boy from a borderline abusive family who fabricates an imaginary friend, only to find out later that he is far from imaginary.

I would like to share these comic excerpts partially because I think that it was an interesting deviation from regular art that one tends to do, and also from what others conventionally consider art, yet it is undeniably; art. I feel that it showcases a certain degree of design prowess, as comics are not simply talking heads, but the onus is on the artist to integrate an ambience into the drawing in a manner that makes the story come alive. As can be seen from the snapshots, I actually did not put much facial or bodily detail; despite the fact that I feel that detailed portraits are my stronger suit. Instead by using only black and white imagery and focusing on atmosphere, I think the story truly came alive much more than I had anticipated.

This painting demonstrates the dramatic effect that can be obtained by combining streaks of different colour, and also that a vibrant background does not necessarily have to detract from the appeal of the focal point. The two halves of the painting aim to evoke different emotions in the viewer despite the similar design; relying solely on the difference of the colour schemes do so.

These two pieces were actually birthday cards from separate years for my grandfather. The two artworks illustrate versatility in design and art conceptualisation. Drawing animals is something that is difficult to do from memory, and both pieces required a certain amount of research to find appropriate designs that I could adapt. I designed the Bull Terrier card in recognition of my Grandfathers love for that breed. The Koi card was designed to appeal to his traditional Chinese upbringing as they are commonly used to represent prosperity.

The year that I painted this, my family had taken a vacation to France, and the Monet impressionist paintings at the Musee de Orsay had quite a profound impact on me. In the same trip, we also spent a great deal of time outdoors, mainly in Provence. There, I was again deeply influence by the dream-like forests and scenery. This painting is an integration of the two great impressions that France left upon me. The picture loosely depicts my sister and me during one of the outdoor strolls where we separated from my parents. The painting was my attempt at replicating the impressionist effect. By using the simplest shapes and playing with colours, one is able to effectively depict the scene. That was the effect that I was experimenting with in this piece.

We visited Venice in the year that I painted the piece below, and the architecture there was unlike anywhere else in the world. Venice is a miracle of engineering as the architects were able to construct the entire city on marshland. The citys sole mode of transportation was by boat or rustic Gondolas in the more narrow water alleys. The concept was completely novel, and I was inspired to paint a scene from one of the nights where my family took a stroll by one of the many piers that substituted walkways. The painting experiments with the effects of dim lighting by using variants of the same colour; in this case it was different shades of blue. It also explores the effect of moonlight spilling into the water, which I had always imagined to be very surreal and so I attempted to convey that feeling in the painting.