—- MY CROISSANT —-
Thought process:
- What should I choose? Ah! A pleasant croissant.
- How do I abstract this? Okay, reminder, Kai emphasised in tutorial that abstraction is about reducing…so DON’T ADD!
- Given that, I shouldn’t introduce more colours, but keep stripping it.
- The pelican sample was a huge source of inspiration because it is well done.
- Only 3 colours, so always remember to eye-drop the shade and THEN adjust the colour to the closest shade possible to the original photo.
- Which shade of brown should be my original shade?
My take:
- The brown I chose is the attempted average of all the shades of browns (not too dark, not too light)
- I wanted to capture the glaze of the croissant (it was important to me)
- During abstraction, I couldn’t decide if the glaze should remain. I shrunk it in size and complexity, but finally decided it was not necessary, because it was just the ‘cherry on top’ detail as a croissant can be unglazed.
- I was questioning if I should abstract this croissant specifically into the brand’s signature, or turn it into a typical/ well-known/ iconic croissant.
- In the end, I chose the latter option. This was also due to critique in class that made me realise it is better to make an icon representative of a croissant (my focus) than the brand itself (Bacha Coffee House).
self reflection:
- Initially, it was difficult to use Illustrator, I wasn’t familiar with the functions. The process felt infinitely draggy, but I’m glad I was determined to try.
- I really wanted to make a piece of art. Especially as my interest lies in artistic creation, I didn’t want this to be a let down to myself. However, this may have blindsided me initially as it steered me away from the focus of the assignment: abstraction.
- My workflow can be improved by being more organised from the very start, instead of trying to organise when I’m done with 2 stages already.
comments from my peers:
- My stage 5 resembled a beehive (hard to unsee…)
- I could have stopped at stage 4 (don’t extract the colours out)
- Some proportions were inconsistent (like the width of the croissant)
- What people liked: my use of colours instead of using outlines, stage 1 is nice (he liked the details i think)
- I refined the edges –> I tweaked my careless mistake of mistaking the proportions
- Used the colour
- The improvement in Stage 4 (below): I made it more abstract by adding in space between each element, so they are more disconnected
- Making each ‘block/blob’ disconnected eased the fruition of the final result for me (stage 5)
- The improvement in Stage 5 (below):
- Instead of using the main colour, I narrowed it down to the original tan colour. The dark brown is technically the chocolate glaze, so it is an addition to the croissant.
- As I am trying to achieve ultimate abstraction, the essence of the croissant is 2 things: Shape and Original Colour–constituting the bread (tan colour).
- Hence, abstraction becomes 3D, akin to stripping away the physical layers of the bread.
- Another reason for this colour is because it is more recognisable and relevant to the concept of a croissant. We are trying to create an icon!
- Grouping (very useful for locking and shifting)
- Pressing shift to make adjustments proportionate and fixed
- The eraser function was useful, and i appreciated the pen tool as it allowed me to tweak/stretch the shape
- I named certain layers/ objects when they are more important to me.
- (Difficulties): Organising them was a hassle because everything was under pen tool
- Screenshot of workspace is below
Thank you for reading! ❤
