Pattern Design Selfie Reflection
Before I started creating my piece, I took some selfies and I chose the best one I thought for my piece and printed it out on an A4 paper. Firstly, I traced the basic outline of my face with a 4B pencil. I traced the lines thick enough so it can be rubbed onto the other paper. Secondly, I put another A4 paper onto the photo paper and paste them together with tape. I then flipped them over and used a wooden stick to press the surface of the paper so the paper was printed with the outline of my face. Next, I removed the tape then I used a black pen to trace the outline of my upper body.
After everything was set up, I started filling the pattern in. In the beginning, I did not have much idea on my mind. I browsed through several books searching for some ideas. There were too many patterns so that I did not know which one to choose and start with. I started to think about what feelings I want my artwork to have while looking at it.
I looked at the largest area that I can easily start with which was my hair. I wanted my hair to look smooth and curvy so I began to fill part of my hair with curvy lines. I gradually added more lines because I thought the pattern was too simple. I shaded some shapes irregularly that were formed by the curved lines to increase the value. I think I put the area of this pattern too big that when I look at my drawing from a distance, there is an obvious focal point on the white surface that isn’t shaded on the very big part of my hair. I should have cut half of the area and made it fill with another type of pattern.
This part I concentrated on the area of the portrait. I decided to fill more geometric shapes on the person and fill the background with organic shapes. I was inspired by the organic pattern designs in the books, so I decided to make the portrait of myself look like being in a garden. I tried to use patterns that are denser in the background. Therefore, the supporting background will be darker in order to emphasize the person because the pattern on the person is already filled with a certain amount of density. Consequently, the portrait of the person stands out of the whole drawing.
For the area of the shirt, I decided to put more geometric shapes. I filled the part with patterns such as houndstooth, blocks, circles, and lines. When I couldn’t think of a pattern, I referenced the pattern book in the classroom. I looked at various designs and tried to find one that the concept suits my idea of how that part of the area is going to be filled. Basically, I started to draw some random dots or lines when I ran out of ideas. Next, I would start pondering about if I want my lines to create shapes or spaces or just fill with only lines and spaces. Moreover, I included techniques like hatching and cross-hatching to create different values of the pattern.
I actually made a mistake with the flower pattern. I was going to leave some white space around the whole portrait, but I accidentally drew a flower that filled the part of the area that reaches the edge of the paper at the up right corner. As a result, I tried to balance the proportion by adding more flower patterns at the bottom left corner so the unity of the whole picture looks balanced with the two corners.
In my work, the style of the lines interweaved together like the fabric of clothes. My drawing contained certain types of lines in my drawing such as curvy ones, irregular sizes of thickness, telephone lines, and tree rings. However, these forming lines create numerous color blocks. The use of hatching and cross-hatching express different density, creating different levels of values while using only one color pen of black. The variety design of lines allows an even richer space for developing different designs of shapes. Different density of patterns creates different values in my drawing. The careful design of the pattern on the person closely combines together which made a strong contrast to the background of the organic pattern. Furthermore, I leave some space around the whole portrait to emphasize the movement of the flower spreading out from the back of the person. The whole drawing creates an effect of blending harmony and rhythmic feel.
In my peer Yujinia’s work, I think her choices of patterns are very profound and creative. Instead of some common and ordinary lines, you can see her creative drawings and illustrations forming a new style of the pattern of her own. For example, she used the word of her name “Yujinia” to create a pattern. Also, I see patterns like web but she added some changes and elaborated it into her own style.