This painting shows a crystal ball emitting light in the midst of darkness. In the crystal ball, blocks of colour are put together, forming a maze. Above it is a pair of hands, held in the fashion of a gypsy foretelling the future.
Rough, choppy brushwork have been used to depict the subject matter. Composition is evenly spread out throughout the painting. Complementary colours, such as red and green, attracts the viewer's eye to the center of the painting. Striking colours linked to the red and green, placed toward subject matter around the crystal ball, initiate and allow for eye movement around the painting. Contrasting colours like black and white have been used, so that light in the painting will stand out to the viewer's eye. The hands depicted in the painting seem to be coming out of nowhere, due to the blending in of the upper arms to the background, which gives off a mysterious feel to the subject matter. The colours in the crystal ball are mostly warm colours, adding a touch of vibrance to the painting.
The artwork communicates a sense of mystery and a mix of emotions such as a distant coldness and, at the same time, vibrance. This is to symbolise the different aspects of light, where in the painting only a few perspectives have been given. The mysterious feel, achieved by the dark and murky background and the use of a crystal ball as a subject matter, could be an example of how alluring and magical light can be, while the maze of colours symbolises the many different uses and shades of light. Its vibrant contrast to the murky and dull background could suggest light in the form of revelation in the midst of ignorance.
Lights Out
Lee Shu Hui
Watercolour, colour pencil and toothpicks on paper
2010
This artwork depicts a building at night with some of its windows open and curtains drawn, revealing different people and families through each open window. All the figures have been cartoonised. One of the windows show an animated-looking figure speaking on a red telephone. Through the next window, an old man is resting on his couch in his bathrobe, staring at the television screen in front of him. Above the old man's room is a window with green curtains drawn back. Through this window, a boy is literally burying his head in a book, as the yellow book he is reading blocks his face entirely, so that only the top of his head can be seen. The window beside him shows a boy staring fixedly at his computer, his eyes wide, typing on the keyboard. A different window above shows a couple fighting and yelling at one another. At the window above them, a cartoon figure is hunched over a bowl of noodles, ready to eat his supper. The pots and pans hanging from the wall in the background behind him suggest that he is in his kitchen. To the right, another window at the top shows a cartoon figure kneeling on his bed, confiding in his soft toy. Subject composition is not balanced, but rather concentrates toward the bottom left side of the artwork.
Smooth shading of strokes using colour pencils have been used. Smooth brushstrokes have also been used to depict the pitch-black tone of the building. Colours used have been mostly cool colours, like black, which covers the whole of the building to show that it is night time. Warm colours have been added to create contrast in the picture, like red, for the mouths of the cartoon figures and for the curtains of the uppermost room at the right, purple, used for the old man's couch and the computer of the boy, and peach, for skin tones of the cartoonised figures.
There is little sense of movement in this artwork as the moving figures make up a small portion of the whole artwork, while most of the figures are stationary or seem to be moving very little.
Emphasis has been placed on the topmost right hand corner of the picture, where a lone window stands out amidst the blackness of the building and the surrounding windows. The curtains of this window are a striking mixture of bright and dark tones of red, which attract the viewer's eye towards it.
There is a repetition of squares throughout the artwork. These squares were formed by glueing toothpicks onto the paper. They have been placed uniformly side by side, depicting the steady goings-on of the night time. The artwork also has a rather flat perspective.
This artwork sheds "Light" on the lives of all these different people living together in the building. The artist's use of many windows revealing different people and situations could be showing the complexities of life, while the chosen setting of night-time and the use of black for the building could depict the darkness many face through the difficulties of life. The dominant use of cool colours, like black which dominates most of the artwork, and lack of a sense of movement in the artwork also creates a sleepy, stagnant mood which depicts the artist's opinion of a typical night scene in a residence.
Labels: shuhui
posted at 3:02 PM,
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The Hand
Lee Shu Hui
Charcoal sketch
2009
This artwork depicts a statue of a hand, clenching on to a cylindrical object, sitting on a plinth. The light source is coming from the top left hand corner of the artwork. The shadows are elongated. The statue of the hand is realistic.
The shadows have been made especially dark to contrast with the lit parts of the hand and the plinth. The pencil strokes are a mixture of rough and smooth, as the strokes for the background, which was done using charcoal, are somewhat rough, but the shadows, done using a mix of charcoal and pencils, are smooth. The rough background creates a rough, misty feel over the subject matter. Composition is balanced, as the subject matter is situated toward the centre of the picture.
Through this artwork, the artist might be trying to show that the things which we are attached to and cling on to are made beautiful in our own eyes, from our own perspectives, as shown from the light falling upon the cylindrical object, which could signify the things we are attached to. The artist might also be trying to say that we should truly treasure what we already have, as it is of much worth to us, as shown from the clenching of the hand over the cylindrical object, which could show the clinging on of the things which we already have. This artwork is related to the exhibition theme of "Light", as the artist portrays the hand literally bathed in light. This artwork also has a symbolic meaning, that we should always treasure what we have, and also showing our unwillingness to let go of the want for materialistic things, which in our eyes may be beautiful and hard to let go of.
Labels: shuhui
posted at 2:29 PM,
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Above the World
Lee Shu Hui
Pencil sketch
2010
About the Artwork
(the following art critique I did in 2010 was for our AEP SIA. We chose the theme Light, so I'm talking about how this work relates to our theme towards the end)
This artwork depicts a man standing on a narrow rectangular pipe, which could be stretching from one building to another. Below him, there are many buildings of different shapes and sizes, which show a cityscape. The people walking on ground level appear to be small dots. A linear perspective has been used so that the buildings appear large at the top and small towards the ground. The light source is coming from the top left corner of the picture, showing that the sun is beginning to set.
Contrast has been created through the differing intensities of light and shadows. Shadows have been made extra dark by using a 6B pencil, while the actual drawing was done using HB and 2B pencils, causing the pencil marks to appear much lighter. There is some sense of movement in the artwork, as from the direction in which the man's hair is blowing, one can observe that there is a breeze blowing from the viewer's right. Large rectangles, the tops of the buildings, have been placed around the man, to allow for eye movement around the artwork. Composition is rather balanced, as subject matter is not concentrated on any spot, but is evenly spread out. Emphasis has been placed toward the centre of the picture, where the man is. Beside the man, the side of the building not facing the sun has been made specifically darker, to draw the viewer's attention to the man.
This artwork is somewhat similar to Friedrich's Wanderer Above the Mists, although urbanized. The man stands alone, above a cityscape, looking down below at the happenings of busy city life. However, there is a sense of stillness in the picture, as there is little sense of movement but for the slight breeze, which shows the serenity the man is experiencing alone high up above the ground. This brings across a peaceful mood. Through this artwork the artist might be trying to portray that the man is fleeing from the troubles of a hectic life, and goes up to a quiet high place as a form of escapism. The dark shadows which spread across the artwork could mean that the darkness is threatening to overpower those on the ground level, who are still engaged in the bustle of a hectic life. Through this, the artist might be trying to say that having too busy a life would not be good for people, and that sometimes all we need to do is step back for a breather. This artwork could also show the serenity of being alone at times, bringing across a light peaceful feeling, and also shows striking contrast between shadows and light, hence connects suitably to the theme "Light".
Labels: shuhui
posted at 12:25 PM,
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Childhood
Lee Shu Hui
Colour pencils
2010
This artwork depicts a boy on a swing. A lollipop stick hangs from his mouth. Behind him, a yellow sun rises in a mild sky tinged with red. Beside the swing, a soft toy lies in a field of lush green grass. Toward the bottom right, the colours of the grass softly fade away in a mild Polaroid effect. The light source in the artwork is coming from the direction of the sun, which is diagonally behind the boy. Linear perspective has been used to create the illusion of the boy appearing closer to the viewer than the swings are.
Mainly warm colours have been used, like the shades of brown for the swing, the peachy skin tone of the boy, the vibrant yellow colour of the soft toy and the sun, the yellowish-green of the grass, and the red of the clouds and halo surrounding the sun. Pencil strokes are a mixture of rough and smooth, so as to bring out certain textures, like the roughness of the strokes for the boy's shirt, compared to the soft smooth strokes for the soft toy.
The striking bright red colour of the boy's shirt contrasts with the deep blue of his shorts. This striking contrast brings the viewer's eye toward the boy in the artwork. Also, the dark brown tones of the swing contrasts with the light blue sky. The ropes of the swing stretch upwards toward the top of the artwork, which allows the viewer's eye to travel around the artwork. There is a sense of movement in the artwork as a slight breeze appears to be blowing from the viewer's right hand side, which can be perceived from the direction at which the field of grass is bent towards. The boy's hair is also slightly ruffled towards the viewer's left, according to the direction of the wind. The composition of the artwork is not balanced, and concentrates toward the left. The boy and the swing dominates the entire left side of the artwork. This places emphasis on the boy, and what he is doing.
The lollipop stick in the boy's mouth might be showing the artist's impression of the sweetness of childhood, even as a lollipop is delightfully pleasing to the taste buds. The light breeze blowing could be portraying the artist's perception that childhood is gentle, and also could signify freedom. The two birds flying far off in the horizon also might show the freedom and lightness of childhood, as birds are lightweight, and fly freely in the sky. The soft toy lying in the grass could signify the innocence reminiscent of childhood.
This artwork is similar to the theme "Light" as it contains the sweetness, innocence and carefree-ness of childhood, which, in other words, portrays the lightness of childhood.
Labels: shuhui
posted at 9:58 PM, 20100903
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Candles
The Beginning
Wired: Apple
