Samantha Yeung

Birth of a Legend

Hayao Miyazaki was born in Tokyo in 1941. Because of Japan’s state during the war at the time of his birth and early childhood, much of his first memories were of evacuations and “bombed-out cities.” Though his father [name] enjoyed purchasing and displaying art, he didn’t have much knowledge about painting, so Miyazaki’s early interest in animation is quite interesting. It was possible that came from his mother who he was closest with, though she passed away from spinal tuberculosis later in Miyazaki’s life.

Early Career

Miyazaki graduated from Gakushuin University with a political science and economics degree, but he eventually found a job at Toei Animation. He stayed there for most of his early career, taking part in animating feature anime movies and slowly moving up the ranks. After leaving the company, his individual style began to develop shine through in manga strips he wrote for magazines.

Studio Ghibli

While he is a great illustrator and manga artist, Miyazaki is most known for his phenomenal and unique storytelling that he finally got to showcase through Studio Ghibli. The success of Nausicaa of the Valley inspired the creation of the infamous studio in 1985 and was later animated into a film produced by the company. Today, he has animated films include My Neighbour Totoro, Castle in the Sky, and Ponyo, and are all internationally recognized for their unique perspectives and mesmerizing music score. 

Miyazaki’s voice shines brightly through his work. While all of his films have an absolutely captivating storyline, they all have underlying themes of environmental consciousness and conservation. As someone who has grown up with his films, they give me a nostalgic feeling of childhood innocence that I don’t seem to get with anything else. The serene qualities and accompanying music add a very nice touch and complete his works.

Spirited Away

Spirited Away is possibly my favourite movie of all time. I remember watching it as a child and being confused and rather scared, as there was a specific scene where the main character’s parents turned into pigs. Though obviously, I grew very fond of the film as I learned to appreciate the beauty of not only the animation, but also all other aspects of the movie. His mystical concepts are truly out of this world and balance just the right amount of fantasy and reality.

I recognize that this blog post is mostly commentary on his life and films rather than specific illustration works. Despite that, I think that Miyazaki’s art was the perfect vehicle for him to grace us with his incredible talents, which, in a way, is precisely what being an artist is all about.

Happy holidays and happy almost retirement Jeff!

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miyazaki-Hayao
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayao_Miyazaki#Early_career
https://wherecreativityworks.com/illustrator-study-hayao-miyazaki/

Poster Concept

For our final project of this course, we were instructed to create a poster that illustrates and defines the different categories of type through the centuries in a creative and informative way. I was struggling for a while with coming up with interesting ideas, though I wanted to experiment with the idea of gridding because it seems to be very useful in different fields of design. Eventually, I came up with the concept of a “Periodic Table of Type.” I thought that this was very suitable for showing the most basic and recognizable categories of type, as the periodic table of elements represents similar information but in the context of science and chemical elements. I looked at many standard periodic tables for inspiration on how to lay out shorter pieces of information (like the year it was created and the order the type categories were created and popularized) and plan out the number of squares of the table. To incorporate the gridding aspect, the borders of each square look like design grids and is done in a different colour to imitate how it would look on computer software, as I think that it fits well with the theme and also makes the poster more visually appealing without being distracting. In the middle under the title, there is a square that acts as the key for what the numbers and words represent on each element square to help the viewer navigate the information. As for incorporating an example typeface for each of the type categories, I came up with the solution of a flap under the square so that it flips out to a longer rectangle, making for an interactive experience and more space to show and analyze each of the typefaces.

Execution

I wanted to keep the overall poster simple with a fair amount of white space, so I thought that coloured pens would be the best and fastest method for executing this design, especially for the finer lines. The title and informational squares are done slightly thicker and in dark blue to pull the hierarchy forward over the lighter lines of red that are mainly there to provide structure and context for the concept of the poster. I decided to insert red in the analyses of the typefaces so that it stands out from the blue and acts better as an accent colour. As the text is much smaller than I anticipated it to be, it was important that it would still be legible in a small point size, so I decided to slightly break the colour palette and use black Micron fine liners to minimize the risk of smudging. Though I was more careful with moving my hands over ink that has yet to dry, some words and designs in the coloured ink inevitably smudged.

Evaluation

I would give myself a 9 out of 10 for this assignment. I was proud of myself for coming up with an original and innovative idea and was excited about the planning process, but it was very time-consuming and slightly pressuring to execute in the amount of time I allotted for myself. I also wish I had a bigger piece of paper so the body text could be bigger, more legible, and less labour intensive to write. From research to final execution, I spent roughly 20-25 hours.

Born in 1882, Hopper was the youngest in a family of four and lived a comfortable life in Nyack, New York. He would often sketch boats while sitting by the Hudson River as a child, leading him to build a boat himself and seriously consider a career in naval architecture for a short time. He initially went to the New York School of Illustration for his education as his parents encouraged him to pursue a more commercial route in the industry, but he eventually left to attend the current Parsons School of Design instead. While he got into the field working as an illustrator at the New York Advertising Agency in 1905, Hopper was not satisfied, as his true passion lies in the world of painting.

Reoccuring Expressions and Motifs

Emptiness is a common theme in Hopper’s paintings. Many of his works show couples in an unhealthy relationship, possibly due to his personal marriage issues, where the two would be occupying the same space while their minds wander elsewhere. The themes of isolation are particularly easy to resonate with today, as it echos the sudden shut-downs that COVID-19 has forced upon us.

Nighthawks

Painted in 1942, Nighthawks is Edward Hopper’s most famous work. Featuring four distant and absentminded figures, this painting brings the feeling of void and loneliness to the forefront. The diner lights are the only thing illuminating the scene, while the absence of a door into the building connotates an isolated atmosphere. The streets are gloomy and empty, pointing to the frequent blackout drills that occur throughout the city during a time of war. Personally, I was fascinated by the way Hopper’s paintings could encapsulate a sense of hollowness while still feeling wholly complete, especially in a bustling place like New York City (though apparently when people were searching for this diner in the city, they found that Nighthawk was not a real place at all!).

After Hopper’s death, it was thanks to his many sketches and his wife’s journals that we get to see the laborious process he went through for each of his works. Though abstract expressionists like Pollock and Rothko took centre stage nearing the middle of the century, Edward Hopper’s naturalistic style of painting never wavered and remained universally appealing. With his massive influence on society then and now, it is safe to say that Hopper is one of the most iconic figures of art in the 20th century.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKIbT-4UFaE
https://www.wikiart.org/en/edward-hopper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdi4XXl2kUg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Hopper
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/hopper-edward/life-and-legacy/

In this assignment, I decided to research and recreate an artifact that connects me to my roots and ethnic background: ancient Chinese seals. My dad makes seal engravings for friends and family as a hobby and I have always been intrigued by the art form, so I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me to explore its history and culture as well as learn some stone-carving skills.

I decided to make a carving of my last name, 楊 (Yeung), in traditional seal script, as name engravings were the most common kinds of seals. With my dad’s guidance, I spent roughly five to six hours from designing to carving and finalizing. The process was quite tedious and I had to be very cautious to stay within the white space when engraving to prevent cutting off any strokes of the Chinese character, but patience is a major aspect of this art form and I slowly grew to enjoy it more and more.

Photography approach

For photographing my artifact and description, I had many ideas and inspiration photos from my research. Initially, I thought of writing my description on the brown piece of paper that ended up being the background of the photo, but the paper was very thin and ink would easily leak through. In the end, I opted for a simple piece of thick white paper, which I propped onto a small piece of stone to create a sense of depth and hierarchy in the photo. I was fortunate to have many extra seals and tools that I could use as props, but since the other seals were slightly larger than the one I chose to engrave, I had a hard time making my artifact the centre of attention when I arranged them side by side. Thus, I went with a composition that makes the focal point stand out through the use of the red ink and also by making both the seal and description closer to the camera. I also wanted to display what the seal would look like as a stamp, so I stamped it on the paper and cropped the photo so that it would appear at the bottom right corner, which is where they would have been placed as signatures when they were first created and used. From experimenting with different angles and layouts to capturing the final image, the process took around two to three hours.

Reference Images

Self-Evaluation

Overall, I enjoyed the majority of this assignment, from the creation of the artifact to taking the final image. I am also quite proud of the final photo as I like that I was able to show the seal and the design when it is stamped on paper in an effective and creative way. Though I would give myself a 9.5/10, as I had a little trouble creating the museum description in terms of its size in relation to the artifact and ink smudging, and it could have been better executed and more legible. Combining the estimated amount of time I spent on the different parts of the project, I used a total of 8-10 hours from the initial research stage to the final execution.

Sources

https://www.inkston.com/stories/guides/chinese-seals/
chinahighlights.com/travelguide/culture/chinese-seals.htm
http://www.chinaonlinemuseum.com/carving-seals.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_(East_Asia)

Impressionism is a movement synonymous with names like Monet, Manet, and Cezanne for their daring approaches to this new and evolving generation. Camille Pissarro rarely comes up as one of the first names you think of, but his contribution to this era was essential nonetheless and quickly became a pivotal figure in the world of art.

Early Life

Jacob-Abraham-Camille Pissarro was a Danish-French impressionist born in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. He would continue to live in his hometown until travelling to Paris for boarding school, where he spent his free time drawing and observing the life around him.

Growing up, and even when he made a name for himself in the art world, Pissarro was considered an outsider, usually for reasons relating to his family and ethnic background. Perhaps this unfortunate aspect of his life led him to empathize with new and upcoming artists, as he was kind, respectful, and welcomed many with open arms. He committed to becoming a full-time artist at 21, but when returning home after fleeing from the Franco-Prussian War, he discovered that his house, along with many of his early works, were destroyed.

Boulevarde Montmartre

During his later life, Pissarro suffered from an eye condition that restricted him from working outdoors for long periods. His creative solution was to start painting outdoor scenes through the windows of hotels, which occupied the majority of his time in Paris and London. He went on to create a series of 14 paintings of the same view of Boulevarde Montmartre from the window of the Grand Hôtel de Russie during different times of the day. Collections like these remind me of other artists who have done the same, like Hokusai and his 36 Mount Fuji prints, and make me wonder about the reason behind artists’ fascination with series paintings.

Pissarro was not only a notable leader in the development of the Impressionistic style, but he also became an important character for future generations that came after him and was an influence on Neo-Impressionism. It is truly a little disappointing to see Pissarro as such an underrated figure of his time, but his dignified life, stunning works, and remarkable impacts on the world of art will never be forgotten.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoEX16Stct0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIE7FME6F8M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW8Bwt2ZJwo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES5_kkOxKvM&list=PLnqgKdfiHvurTl2sC-8KECu53gYjLHBYs&index=13
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camille_Pissarro
https://www.camille-pissarro.org/biography.html
https://impressionistarts.com/first-impressionist-exhibition

I chose to research the font Cooper Black for my typography essay assignment. I wanted my colour choices to feature the font’s playful and approachable style along with its impact on the trends of the 60s and 70s. The use of limited colours and layout style gives the entire zine more consistency. My favourite part of the process was designing each spread to be visually appealing and following the rules of hierarchy. It was fun to experiment with different compositions and ways I could present my information. I also enjoyed learning about terminology for typography, like counter, base-line, and the difference between a single and double-storey g.

I would give myself a 9 out of 10, as I am satisfied with my layout, though there was a lot of ink smudging and squished writing in the execution process. I spent around 10-15 hours on this assignment, with the most time spent on research and layout.

Theodore Gericault, the pioneer and embodiment of the romantic movement, had humble beginnings in the city of Rouen, France. Learning from French painter Carle Vernet, Gericault first studied the style of English sporting art, which is the painting of animals in the setting of popular sports of the century. He also gained influences from Peter Paul Rubens and even Michelangelo later on during his time in Florence and Rome. 

The Epitome of Romanticism

Gericault’s most defining work, The Raft of Medusa, captures a shameful and dark history of the French in the 19th century. This painting depicts the aftermath of an unqualified sailor who ran the Méduse, a French naval ship, aground. Escaping on lifeboats, the captain and the upper class left 147 people abandoned on a makeshift raft to drift in the open sea for 13 days. The desperate fight for survival resulted in violence, murder, and even cannibalism, with only 15 people remaining when the raft was found and rescued.

There are so many fascinating things to point out about this painting, but what stood out to me the most was the portrayal of the only black survivor, Jean Charles, as the saviour of the raft. This message of the unseen and overlooked becoming the hero was an extremely brave choice, as the French would not abolish slavery for another 30 years.

Later Life and Legacy

Despite the current success of the painting, The Raft of Medusa was heavily criticized and did not sell during its display at the Paris salon of 1819. His confusing love life, reoccurring mental illness, and dissatisfaction with his achievements led to an unfortunate death at the early age of 32. One can only wonder if Gericault would finally be content with his accomplishments if he had only seen his painting bought and displayed by the Louvre, eventually becoming the painting only second in popularity to the Mona Lisa.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Theodore-Gericault
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Théodore_Géricault
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Charging_Chasseur
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUq9qMm9NtI&t=251s
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/438113
https://eclecticlight.co/2016/03/14/the-story-in-paintings-gericaults-raft-of-the-medusa/