Woo Shuen Yan (DaisyWoo): Design Principles

07/06/21-30/06/21(Week 11-14)

Woo Shuen Yan / 0342415 / Bachelor's in Creative Media

Design Principles

Project 3

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Upload the final design of your Visual Analysis project in PDF in your blog.

2. Send your blog link in Google Classroom.

3. Your blog must have:

a) visual research

b) idea exploration

c) feedback from lecturer

d) final design outcome (pictures must neatly cropped and must not be shadowy/blur)

e) brief reflection for the week

f) FINAL reflection for the semester

PROGRESS

a. Visual Analysis

Chosen Artist: FUCO UEDA

Official website: https://fucoueda.com

Artworks by Fuco Ueda.

Fuco Ueda, this artist that I have chosen is a fine artist from Japan. Born in 1979. Ueda started to make artworks when She studied art and design during high school and college. As for her greatest influence, it stems from her familiarity with modern Japanese literature and manga in her teenage years. She was especially inspired by many Japanese female manga artists who reinvented manga scenes for young girls in the 1970s. In an era when men are above women, those philosophical cartoons that analyze social burdens from different angles and comfort girls and women. I would like to say that Ueda is a contemporary artist when she is an artist from the 90s. Contemporary art is a period where it starts from the year 1945 up to the 20th and 21st century now. I find this artist interesting because I like how she chose her theme and keep it consistent throughout all her artworks. Not only because of that, Ueda was the chosen artist because she relates to my theme as well. This artist explores around from manga characters, the cartoonish aesthetic that she carries on until these days, which she intended to keep it up until now since young age conscious in mind in order to never forget about her original intentions. I also started my drawing journey from manga characters back in schooldays in young age as well, I also kept my theme and continued to work on that up until now.

Figure 1.0: Work of design done by Fuco Ueda

Ueda’s style was focusing more on the direction of portraiture. As for what mediums she predominantly uses, she paints by using acrylic and powdered mineral paints to paint on paper, cloth and wood. Her artworks look more like watercolors which I think it looks interesting because she dilutes the acrylic in order to achieve a watercolor effect. As for a digital art lover like me, I would like to try out her ways with using acrylic and watercolor brush to do some detail work. I think Ueda worked a lot from all the observations and imaginations from daily basis in the modern days. It is undeniable that her work is amazing, but it is not without a trace of haze and darkness. Her paintings depict an unfamiliar world, dominated by female characters, but also have various natural elements such as animals, marine animals, flowers, bees, and mushrooms. By looking at these various elements putting together as a whole, it applies the principle of unity. The colors she chose, all harmonize and soft but the character. This method of applying the colors made the character stand out so well that it creates emphasis to the artworks. When the artist contrasts colors, she creates an important point in the artwork, texture or shape to direct your sight to a specific part image. Each of her paintings are full of mysterious atmosphere, the colors that brings warmth, coldness and beauty. The warm and cold colors in her artworks blends and harmonize so well together but also creates contrast at the same time. The variety of lines, tones, and quality of lights are performed nicely with detailed process with many layers of colors. Ueda’s work does seem to require a lot of patience as well, but she also mentioned before that she embraces all the issues that she finds herself wrestling with through her work consistently. As art itself, one of the things she cherishes is not believing in her own ideas. In some parts of daily life, even the slightest suspicion or feeling is inappropriate, she takes it very seriously. We can notice that Ueda reversed the shading when it come to shadows, what I mean is that some places where it supposed to be dark colored shade but instead, she made the shades in bright colors (under chin, back of the legs, other side of the face, etc.) which performed a strong contrast to it. Moreover, it applies the same effect as how normally people would shade the shadows darker as well. Space, in design principles also shown well in this artwork, Ueda tends to always consider about blank spaces and playing with the composition by arranging the characters spontaneously.

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