Rowlets Digital Journey Upgrade

For this semester, I had decided to teach myself how to draw digitally. One thing for sure it is not easy. Just like drawing on paper I needed to first understand the fundamentals of shape. How different shapes goes together and how details are very important to help define your figure. I stated drawing pokemon as they are simple and their colour pallet wasn’t too complex. After that I started experimenting more on the different kinds of techniques I could use on photoshop to help me in my drawing. One of the problems I had looking for techniques to use was not knowing what I could do.

For example learning to lock my layer so when I paint it does not go out of that layer (Youtube, 2013). I discovered this technique from watching videos on Youtube and I was not actively searching for this. Another issue I had when I was drawing was that sometimes my tablet doesn’t follow my pen. Some occasions it would blink out and a very thick line will pop up out of nowhere. It’s easy to correct it as I can click the undo button but this just shows a communication error that is happening between the pen and the tablet. How the tablet works is that it generates a magnetic field. The pen also creates its own magnetic field and the tablet reads that. This allows it to determine the location of the pen (Kershner, 2017). Maybe the reason why there was a delay with the pen can be due to something in my surrounding that affected it.

One of the hardest obstacles I had to face in this project was discovering my art style. Using reference photos to draw is always important but at times I feel like I’m doing a replication. I had to test myself and try different art styles, an art with more line work or an art with no lines and just colour. Going through this was very important to be as it allowed me to understand that whatever I draw is not for nothing. Whatever I draw is helping me refine my skills and it allows me to rediscover what kind of art I want to create. Similar to how pokemon is constantly evolving in both its character and its art style. If we were to compare the first-generation Pikachu with the current generation (Pokémon sprites, art evolve over the years 2017). It’s art styles are completely different, even the colour pallet has changed. The reason for this change is because pokemon was moving from a painting on cels to digital coloring (Anime News Network 2016). However, people were not too happy about this change. Instead pokemon added noise filters on their image to purposely make it look more cel-like and less digital. As time passes they decrease the noise filter bit by bit till it was no more (Anime News Network 2016). This is important to highlight because it shows that technology helps redefine art.

Which brings me back to the question of what is considered art. There are many theories of what art is. Plato first idea on what is considered art is the ability to copy or imitate something that is beautiful or meaningful (Marder, 2017). Then there are people like Immanuel Kant who believes that art has no concept and the art should be judged alone for its qualities (Marder, 2017). If that is the case, why is it that we do not see an art gallery filled with digital art? One of the reasons why I believe digital art is still being rejected is due to its “singular value” being non-existent. Digital art allows multiple people to have a copy of the art and because of that its value has dropped, it is no longer unique. We also have to look at art as a money-making industry. If the industry were to accept digital art as real art. The foundation of art changes. People would not need to buy canvases, brushes or paint to make art. The industry itself will be deeply affected by this change in both its philosophy and business. Hence why it is still rejected. They are not ready to accept this game-changing technology but one day they will have too. If they don’t they themselves will be killing their own industry.

My final problem I had with this project was recording and editing the video. I tried using several apps to try and record my screen but some of them could not work. This is because a game needed to be played at the background so that I may record. I finally manage to find a feature on one of my laptop apps called Xbox that lets me record without a game being played. The next problem was editing the video as I had a lot of footage. Even speeding it up eight times still made the video lengthy. At the end, I decided to cut off parts which I thought were not important to help shorten the video. This was when my video I had edited got corrupted and I had to redo the entire thing from scratch. Overall my experience with this project has been amazing. I have managed to teach myself on how to draw and I have learned many different techniques that can help improve my drawing. I am still yet to find my own art style but until then all I have to do is experiment and practice.

Digital Artwork

 

---

Reference

Anime News Network 2016, Why Does Pokemon Look So Different Now?. viewed 3 June 2017, <http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/feature/2016-12-09/why-does-pokemon-look-so-different-now/.109646&gt;

Kershner, K, 2017, How Wacom Tablets Work, HowStuffWorks, viewed 13 April 2017, <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/tablets/wacom-tablets.htm&gt;&gt;

Marder, L. (2017). Ways of Defining Art. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at: <https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-the-definition-of-art-182707&gt;

Pokémon sprites, art evolve over the years 2017, Bulbanews.bulbagarden.net – Bulbanews, viewed 3 June 2017, <http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_sprites,_art_evolve_over_the_years&gt;

Youtube 2013, Tutorial: Basic Photoshop/Drawing + Kirby Tutorial [PS CS6], online video, StevRayBro, viewed on 20 March 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhVnVGWtCU4&gt;

 

Project Manta

For my final project for BCM310 I had decided to create a website highlighting the effects media had on manta rays. On this site, I discuss the importance of how media is in helping people become more aware of these creatures. At the same time, I also talked about how media can be used to harm these creatures as well.

Here is a link to the full website: https://livelifeivanng.wixsite.com/mantaray

Roll On

People have always been traveling but the style on how they show their travels have changed. In Matt Brays 100 people of dance, he is the subject but the scenery behind him is constantly changing. My video is not about traveling but more towards my university life here in Wollongong. I experimented using a ball traveling in one direction. The ball symbolises me, without being in it. The ball travels through numerous location in one direction. Of which I edit the scenes together subsequently creates an amazing continuity effect.

Different ball shots were added to show life is never a straight road. As for the sound, I paired it with a light jingle to describe the fun I had. I too experimented with the audio. In some parts, the jingle was not present but just the sounds of the video itself. At the end, the video goes black but the sound still plays. This represents the uncertainty of the future but our need to keep moving forward.

Lucarios Digital Journey

Exploring Digital Art

Having explored a lot about digital art I have found some interesting points about it. The first point is the community that has been created from digital art. Subreddits such as digital painting, allows users to post their works and get critics about it. I believe that critics are very important because it allows yourself to improve on your work. Sometimes when you keep looking at your own work you don’t see the mistakes you have done, so another pair of eyes are good to re-evaluate it.

Another amazing development due to the presence of digital art is the amount of tutorial videos available on YouTube. There are millions of videos that not only teaches you on how to draw but teaches you on colour theory, brush making, different kinds of drawing functions and much more. The community of digital artist continues to expand because the community itself is teaching other on how to use the technology we have available to us.

Draw A Box is another subreddit that I believe is very useful in learning how to draw. Similar to digital drawing but what makes this page special is that they give a step by step process on how to draw. They have a theoretical part which explains what they should do and then an exercise part for them to practice it. Not only that but they also prove samples on what the exercise should look like. Once a person has completed their work they can post it on the subreddit and get feedback on their work. It’s just like a classroom only there are not classrooms and the teachers are other students.

---

Is Digital Art “Real” Art

After going through the history of art I realise that digital art was not in it. I believe that some digital arts are worthy to be in galleries as they look beautiful and have lots of techniques and skill behind it. Recently I went down to the contemporary museum in Sydney and this was one of the works been displayed at the gallery. This made me question why this artwork was here and why something done on a digital platform wasn’t.

I believe there are three reasons why people do not believe that digital art is “real” art. This first point is because of the stigma people have on digital art. People believe that drawing on a computer is way easier and comes naturally. Drawing on a digital level does not instantly make your artwork amazing. There are some functions that allow you to correct your artwork but it still takes a lot of skills and techniques to do so (Zagrobelna, 2014). Digital art is using technology to help create your artwork on a digital level (Digital Reach, n.d.). If you are not good at drawing and try to draw on a tablet your artwork will still be the same. The tools used to create art does not define the artwork itself. It is the artist themselves that uses these tools to create their art.

The second reason is because anyone can own the digital art. The artist can sell multiple copies of their work to different people. Compare to an artwork done in an analog way. There is only one copy of it, people can try and replicate it but there is still only one of its kind making it unique. Because multiple people can have a digital artwork it loses its uniqueness. Finally, the last reason why it’s not considered real art is due to the art industry itself. Art is a business of its own and according to the global art market report. It has achieved total sales of $63.8 billion in 2015 (Kinsella, 2016). This shows how much money is invested into art. If we are to acknowledge digital art as real art it would change the entire art industry itself. Jobs may be lost and people would spend less on material like paint and brushes affecting the art industry dramatically. Because of these reasons, it may take a lot more time before people can accept it as real art.

 

---

My Art Journey

(http://www.deviantart.com/art/Pokemon-Lucario-180226551)

Improvements have been made. Practice is key, just like FEFO, Fail Early Fail Often. My drawing and colouring have improved over the few weeks but I have still a lot to go. I have been watching different YouTube videos and spoken to friends about my work. Some of them offers amazing tips and other skills I learn from watching other artists draw on YouTube. So for today, I would be showing you where I have come so far in my progress. Today I would be drawing Lucario from pokemon, so I get my necessary reference.

As always I start out with the fundamental shape of how it looks (this is a layer by itself). Once that is done I began adding more detail to the sketch. Once I was done I began adjusting the shape of Lucario with a new function I had discovered called liquify. Basically, what this does is that it turns your drawing to a water like state where you can push and pull the pixels in any way you like (Phlearn, n.d.). Once I was happy with my work I created another layer and began adding smoother lines. It’s good to have your reference close at hand so you can look back at it and see if you are following it. You can also use the reference to see the colours they used and use if for your own work.

The next technique I had learn was a function that allowed me to paint only the parts in the line. You would need to go to your paint bucket tool and uncheck the contiguous and all layer box. What this does is that it allows the whole canvas to be filled with the colour (lines will not stop it from filling). This is a going to be your colouring layer. Once that is done move your drawing layer on top of the colour. The final step is to take the magic eraser (right click on the eraser and you will see it) and erase the background.
What should happen is that the background colour will disappear but everything that was outline the colour will stay. It should look something like this. An issue I experienced while doing this was the fact that my lines were not connected properly and because of that some of the colours disappeared when I used the magic eraser. MAKE SURE YOU LINES ARE CONNECTED!

Once it’s coloured in don’t forget to lock your colour layer. What this does is that it only allows you to colour whatever is in the layer and nothing will splash out of it. Now it’s time to add more colour to drawing. Normally each part of the body would have 3 to 4 shades of the same colour. You can add a brighter colour if you are considering light in your work. Use the blending brush as it will help blend your work nicely. Always sample (this means to take the eyedropper sample the shade of that spot and blend it again. Do this for both the dark and lighter side) the colours around the blended area so it blends nicely. Shadows are important as well so if your light source is only on one side remember to make the other side slightly darker.

The eye is a small part to colour in. What I did was use the magnetic lasso tool and only select the eye. Since you had already locked your layer at the beginning, only the area you have selected will only be able to be coloured (so no worries of it getting colours outside of the line). After finishing most of the work I create another layer and add a bright yellow colour along Lucarios body. This is showing the light hitting directly on the body. Once the layer has been added change the opacity making it more transparent. After that erase parts of yellow to match the shape and shadows of Lucario. The final touch I added some rim lighting on Lucarios body. Some white around the edge of his eye and a light-yellow tone around his body.

---

Final Thoughts

As a conclusion, I believe I am improving in my work. Being able to learn from YouTube videos and experimenting it on my own has pushed me to my current skill level. One of the few feedbacks I have is to properly plan my work which also includes the background of my art. I should also branch out and experiment with more than just pokemon. Maybe some landscape drawings will be my next challenge and adding in more realistic things like animals.

---

Reference

Digital Reach. (n.d.). What is Digital Art?. [online] Available at: http://www.andrewreach.com/?page_id=137 [Accessed 28 Apr. 2017].

Phlearn. (n.d.). How to Use the Liquify Tool in Photoshop. [online] Available at: https://phlearn.com/phan-week-use-liquify-tool-photoshop [Accessed 28 Apr. 2017].

Kinsella, E. (2016). TEFAF 2016 Art market report-artnet News. [online] artnet News. Available at: https://news.artnet.com/market/tefaf-2016-art-market-report-443615 [Accessed 28 Apr. 2017].

reddit. (n.d.). Art Fundamentals: Learning to Draw from the Ground Up • r/ArtFundamentals. [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017].

reddit. (n.d.). Digital Painting • r/DigitalPainting. [online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/DigitalPainting/ [Accessed 23 Apr. 2017].
YouTube. (2015). Digital Painting Basic Tips & Tutorial | StevRayBro. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyticPBLixM&t=204s [Accessed 17 Apr. 2017].

Zagrobelna, M. (2014). Is Digital Art “Real” Art? Facts and Myths About Digital Creating. [online] Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+. Available at: https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/is-digital-art-real-art-facts-and-myths-about-digital-creating–cms-22010 [Accessed 28 Apr. 2017].

 

Ocean Dream with A hint of Wine

My work starts off with a metronome beat which then follows up with a series of sounds made with a wine cup. Meklit Hadero explains that she had a moment where her normal kitchen utensils created an odd sound which inspired her. She referred that moment as a John Cage 4’33 piece. As it was during that silence was she able to discover the sound. The same thing happened to me. I was working on a different sound piece but when I started to make sounds with the cup it became so memorizing that I decided to focus on that. I also drew inspiration from Matmos. A music duo that created a sound using a washing machine. This piece is made entirely from a wine cup.

---

Reference

Hadero, M. (2015). The unexpected beauty of everyday sounds, Ted.com, viewed on 24 April, 2017, <https://www.ted.com/talks/meklit_hadero_the_unexpected_beauty_of_everyday_sounds#t-576758&gt;

Pitchfork.com. (2016). Matmos: Ultimate Care II Album Review | Pitchfork, viewed on 24 April, 2017, <http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21017-ultimate-care-ii/&gt;

Soundcloud artwork by Shilin, <http://shilin.deviantart.com/&gt;

The Art Story. (n.d.). John Cage Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works, viewed on 24 April, 2017, <http://www.theartstory.org/artist-cage-john.htm&gt;

How Wacom Works

What About It

(source: http://cameratico.com/guides/how-to-choose-wacom-pen-tablet/)

For this blog post, I am going to break down more on what a drawing tablet is and how it works. A drawing tablet can be explained as another input device for your computer. Its use is not limited just to artist. Architects and engineers would need to use these kinds of tables to create accurately-scaled images (Barett, n.d) The tablet comes with two parts, the tablet pad, and a stylus. Another interesting feature about the tablet is that it doesn’t just register only in drawing programs. In a way, you can look at it as a huge trackpad. The same one you would have on your laptop. Even without the stylus, you can use your fingers to interact with it. Clicking on links and scrolling through pages and even using it to zoom into things.

If that’s the case, why do we need the stylus to draw? Can’t we just use the mouse and draw? The answer is yes you can use your mouse to draw but it will be very difficult. The mouse is not agronomical for free hand drawing. The device lacks accuracy in drawing (Lorenzo, 2015). Details are what helps bring the artwork to life. Not to mention you would need to constantly hold down the left key for the computer to understand that you want to draw something now. The stylus for the tablet acts as both a mouse in the form of a pencil. With the stylus, drawing free hand is now possible and because the stylus is now in sync with the computer. Drawings can now be drawn more accurately with greater detail.

(source: http://www.thewebcomiclist.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18460)

So how does the tablet and stylus work together to create what you have drawn on it to the screen? Just like any other person, they communicated with one another. The Wacom tablet (the one I am currently using) has a click-and-point navigation which allows it track the movement of the stylus (). Another feature it has is that it is pressure-sensitive (Kershner, 2017). This allows it to detect how much pressure is placed on the stylus allowing it to adjust the thickness and boldness of the stroke.

(source: http://www.wacom.com/en-us/products/intuos-comic)

Wacom refers to its stylus system as Penabled technology (Kershner, 2017). Within the pen is a digital chip that has a modulator allowing it to transmit signals (Futureelectronics.com, 2017). The tablet and stylus works together with magnets. The board emits its own magnetic field. The stylus also creates its own magnetic field and energy so that it does not need to be charged. The board then recognises the stylus magnetic field which allows it to pinpoint the location of the pen. Within the board itself there are little antenna coils that help monitors and determine where the current (magnetic field) is. Wacom has patented this technology as EMR which also stands for electromagnetic resonance technology (Kershner, 2017). Why didn’t the tablet come earlier into our life? It is because of our technical limitations. Our graphic cards and processors were not good enough to handle the specs of our nowadays tablets. The resolution of our screens was still pixeled so detail artwork was not the easiest (Lorenzo, 2015). It is thanks to the evolution of technology were we able to achieve the current tablets we have now.

---

Issues

There were a few issues I had experienced using my tablet. The first issue was the space that I needed to use it, I’m taking about the physical space needed. Unlike a notebook, I can’t just take it out and start drawing on the spot. I need to start my computer and have a space big enough to place my laptop and my tablet. Which comes to my second issue, having limited power to draw. A notebook doesn’t run on battery. My computer, on the other hand, has its limit if it is not plugged in and sometimes I forget to bring my charger with me. I have had my laptop shut down on me a few times when I was drawing. The best part was that I had forgotten to save my work. Luckily my laptop had backed the unsaved data.

Having experienced this before you would think I would be more prepared for it, WRONG! I would check my computer battery time and it would say I have 50 minutes before it shuts down. Lesson learn, don’t ever believe it. It died in the next 30 minutes. The reason why I think this happen is due to the applications I had been using at that time. I use photoshop to draw my work and it is possible that the app itself is draining the battery faster than expected.

---

Final Thoughts

(source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/surface)

The issues I have stated about the tablet is not me comparing a tablet to a drawing pad. It is just some of the limitation the tablet has. It does not mean that one medium is better than the other. However, there are some inventions that are trying to combat some of these issues. For example, the Surface book from Microsoft. It is a hybrid of a laptop and a tablet. The screen is detachable allowing it to become a clipboard where people can use if to sketch or draw like a notebook (Ackerman, 2016). This is dealing with the space issue I am having with my tablet.

Another cool invention is called rocket book wave (Lemay, 2015). This is an invention on Indiegogo, a funding idea site. What’s so special about this book is that once you have written things on it. You can scan it and get it saved into the cloud. It can be saved on dropbox, google drive and many other apps. This in away creates a hybrid between a notebook and a tablet. You can draw on the notebook and scan it into the cloud. Once it’s there you can reopen the file in photoshop itself and start fine tuning the line and colour it in. As a conclusion, the tablet has changed the way people draw. People are no longer limited to just paper. There is now a whole different medium to be explored but it doesn’t stop there. People are making new inventions and having new ideas to try and redefine what we can use to help us draw.

---

Reference

Ackerman, D, 2016, Surface Book review: Microsoft’s first laptop shoots for the moon, CNET. , viewed 13 April 2017, <https://www.cnet.com/au/products/microsoft-surface-book/review/&gt;

Barett, J. T, n.d, How Does a Graphic Tablet Work? | Techwalla.com, viewed 13 April 2017, <https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-does-a-graphic-tablet-work&gt;

Futureelectronics.com. (2017). What is a modulator demodulator, best rf modulator, modulators demodulators – Future Electronics, viewed 13 April 2017, <http://www.futureelectronics.com/en/wireless-rf-radio-frequency/modulators-demodulators.aspx&gt;

Kershner, K, 2017, How Wacom Tablets Work, HowStuffWorks, viewed 13 April 2017, <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/tablets/wacom-tablets.htm&gt;

Lorenzo, A, & Loṕez, F 2015, ‘The digital draughtsman. freehand drawing on digital tablets’, EGA Revista De Expression Grafica Arquitectonica, 20, 25, p. 108-119, Scopus®, EBSCOhost, viewed 13 April 2017.

Lemay, J, 2015, Rocketbook Wave: Cloud-Ready Microwavable Notebook, Indiegogo, viewed 13 April 2017, <https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rocketbook-wave-cloud-ready-microwavable-notebook#/&gt;

Are Animals Having Fun?

Sea World is a well-known park that allows visitors to get up close to their favourite sea creatures. It is also famous for its orca shows. However, in 2013 a documentary called Blackfish was released and has to affect Sea World dramatically. This documentary was based on Tilikum, a performing killer whale within Sea World. The film also unravels how the animal was being captive and how its living conditions were not favourable for it (Blackfish, 2013). It also revealed the truth about Tilikum killing several people but was still used in the park after these incidences. They still used him for performances and for breeding purposes.

---

Reviewing Blackfish, it had a lot of facts to back their claims but the more I watched it the more I felt it was a bias film. Evidence was presented about how sea world was treating their orcas but at the same time, the film was made to trigger an emotional reaction from its views. In fact, even exaggerate some parts of the film so that viewers may empathise more with the orca. The orcas were filmed in an anthropomorphism way. What this means is that we give the animal-human attributes so we can relate better towards it. We are able to empathise with it even more.

There was a scene in the documentary where they showed people hunting for orcas. At one point, they do manage to corner it. Once cornered, the narration then said that the hunters had taken the calf away from the mother. Following that, you could hear the calf crying helplessly for its mother. According to Chris Dold, Sea World’s head veterinarian. The sounds the calf was giving off was fake (Calderwood, 2015). Not only that but the orca calf that was taken was not a calf but an adult with her own children (Entertainment, n.d.). Although this was not proven to be true let’s say that it was true. This shows that Blackfish was biased in the sense that it was providing its views with false information so that we may sympathise with the orca. This is also another point of anthropomorphism. Using the reference of a mother losing its child by force. Allowing viewers to relate themselves more towards the animal.

---

At the end of the film, they did mention that they tried to interview Sea World but they refuse to be part of this documentary. Once again referring to my previous point on the movie being bias. If Sea World were to participate in the interview I believed that it would have been manipulated to the producer’s perspective. Of course, this is not a black or white situation. Is Sea World at fault for keeping Tilikum after he had killed three people? Was it right for Blackfish to exaggerate the calf seen with face sounds and inaccurate information? The point I’m making here is that it’s not just who’s right or who’s wrong. There is more towards the story, the deeper you go into the story that line of justification can be blurred.

---

The Documentary also raised some interesting points. From my understanding of the documentary is that just because people are having fun does not mean the animals are having fun as well. True the trainers and animals are doing stunning tricks together and putting up an amazing show but animals are animals. They have their own instincts to follow and an orca can still be very unpredictable. What cause it to be violent can be due to many things. Maybe Tilikum was getting to much stress from performing so close to people. Maybe it was the conditions of its tank, keeping it too enclosed made him uneasy (Sperb, 2016). This can also be applying anthropomorphism again. We keep giving it human attributes we forget that it is still a predator. “I am having fun so you should be having fun too”.

Another point from the film is that they show how trainers may not actually know anything about the animals they are working with. They might be physically good and is an excellent trainer but knowledge on the animals itself isn’t there. An example would be the orca’s dorsal fin. When its top fin goes lumpy it means it is not in favourable living conditions (Seaworldfactcheck.com, 2017). However, staff and trainers were told that this is a common symptom when in fact it is rare for wild orcas to get this. As a conclusion, the documentary raises a lot of issues regarding what Sea World did but I believe that there is more to it. There are more factors contributing to the use of animals for entertainment. We could blame people because we are the one that creates the demand to see these performances. We can question ourselves that we easily look away to such cruelty for the sake of entertainment.

---

Reference

Blackfish, 2013, About, viewed on 30 March, 2017, <http://www.blackfishmovie.com/about&gt;

Calderwood, I , 2015, Seaworld film Blackfish ‘distorted truth’ and ‘faked scenes’, Mail Online, viewed on 30 March, 2017, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3124645/Seaworld-investigation-Blackfish-faked-scenes-mother-whale-crying-calf-taken-away-distorted-truth-park-three-people-killed.html&gt;

Entertainment, S. (n.d.). Truth About Blackfish, Seaworldcares.com, viewed on 30 March, 2017, <https://seaworldcares.com/the-facts/truth-about-blackfish/#1&gt;

Sperb, J., 2016. From Nihilism to Nostalgia: Blackfish (2013) and the Contradictions of the Nature Documentary. Journal of Popular Film and Television, 44(4), pp.206-219, viewed on 30 March, 2017.

Seaworldfactcheck.com, 2017, SeaWorld Fact Check – Dorsal Fin Collapse, viewed on 30 March, 2017, <http://www.seaworldfactcheck.com/dorsalfin.htm&gt;

Meda 101 Assessment 1

“Saya Dari Malaysia” draws much inspiration from George Ella guidelines. In my poem, I say “I come from a land with 365 days of summer”. I decided to depict this by filming a scenario where I take my viewers through a day of hot and cold moments. From laying down on the beach to going into the ocean. Watching Itzayana beach poem, I wanted to make something like it. The remoscope I have created is more towards a step by step process. It’s a journey where even without sound your brain already knows what to hear. The subtle movements of the elements create the video environment.

Poor People or Poor System

You are suffering and I see you suffering, yet I am the one who suffers. This is also known as poverty porn. According to Dortonne (2016), poverty porn is a tactic used by nonprofits and charity organisations. They show us images or videos of people in terrible living conditions hoping to invoke empathy on the viewers. The goal behind this is to use the empathy to get people to give their contributions to the cause. Isn’t it a good thing to be able to help these people? The answer is debatable. Sure it’s easy to call the campaign and give your donation to the cause. What happens after that? Do you know what happens to the money? Is the money being used to help those people you saw being advertised? Or worst is the money going to these people?

Speaking from experience, when I was in Malaysia some people will come approach you and ask for some donation. They would have a folder with lots of graphical pictures of their cause. Some will be about helping old people and some will be about proving for the needy. Thinking about it now that was poverty porn. Them showing me those photos made me empathise with the people in the picture. I did give a donation and that made me feel better as if I had helped them.

Coming back to the topic. Poverty porn is not just about getting funds from people. It is much more twisted than that. Nowadays in television, there are shows that specifically shows people living in poverty and it has been getting many views. For example, Struggle Street. This show was aired in Australia in 2015. The show was made as a documentary to bring awareness to the people about the hardship certain communities were having (NewsComAu, 2016). What I want to point out about this show was that it had received the highest ratings in SBS. Although the show was getting backlash on the controversy it had brought and was also labeled as “Poverty porn”. It had still gained many viewers around Australia (Lallo, 2015). Which come to my point. Watching other people suffer can be a form of entertainment for someone else. In fact watching people in poverty can be a form of gratification to others (Jensen, 2013). Watching others suffering in a way makes you feel better or more thankful for what you have. Isn’t that just twisted? Why can’t we be thankful for what we have already? Why do we need to watch others suffer to feel better about what we have?

---

There are also terrible side effects of using “Poverty Porn”. According to Roenigk(2014), one of the negative effects is that this encourages people to be donors instead of advocates. If they truly want to help eradicate poverty shouldn’t they focus more on people that will become activist to this cause? Instead of seeking people that will give a one-time donation. Another point is that poverty porn misrepresents the poor. Poverty comes in lots of different angles whether if he/she is having a piece of bread for dinner or does not have enough money to pump gas into their car. When poverty is being televised, they try to show those who are most in need. The “deserving poor” compare to those who are “undeserving poor” (Roenigk, 2014).

My final point about poverty porn is that it mispresents poverty itself (Roenigk, 2014). Most of the time it shows the people are to be blamed for their poverty. What if that’s not the case and it’s due to faults in the system that causes them to be poor. Should the system be more empowering for the poor so that it can help them get out of their situation? It could also be due to culture understand what poverty is. Because of people’s perception of the poor, they would not want to hire them. Poverty porn is more focus on the people’s suffering rather than the solution to help end their suffering. As a conclusion, poverty porn is more than what is being shown. There are so many more factors behind it but they don’t show it to us. Is it because people can make money out of others empathy? Or is it because people do not what to deal with the actually issue and instead do what they can at that moment?

---

Reference

Dortonne, N, 2016, The dangers of poverty porn, viewed on 26 March 2017, <http://edition.cnn.com/2016/12/08/health/poverty-porn-danger-feat/&gt;

Jensen, T., 2013. A summer of television poverty porn. Sociological Imagination.

Lallo, M, 2015, Struggle Street sets ratings record for an SBS documentary, with 1.31 million viewers, The Sydney Morning Herald, viewed on 26 March 2017, <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/struggle-street-sets-ratings-record-for-an-sbs-documentary-with-131-million-viewers-20150507-ggw15r.html&gt;

NewsComAu, 2016, Struggle to find the new Struggle Street. viewed on 26 March 2017, <http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/sbs-documentary-struggle-street-struggling-to-find-suburbs-to-film-second-series-in/news-story/60624b54cfb5b9f26caa098e0d61f83a&gt;

Roenigk, E, 2014, 5 Reasons poverty porn empowers the wrong person. viewed on 26 March 2017, <https://www.one.org/us/2014/04/09/5-reasons-poverty-porn-empowers-the-wrong-person/&gt;

Rowlets Digital Art Journey

                 Source                                                       Source

Continuing from my previous blog post. This is the breakdown on how I am teaching myself to draw. The first step is to always have your reference out with you. Having reference pictures helps you imagine what you want to draw. I would prefer to have 2-3 picture references. The paper size I am using for this drawing is A5 and I am using the second brush to draw. Before you start drawing, always remember to add in your layer and do not draw directly on the background.

---

Step 1

It is also good to label your layers. This will help you stay organized as you proceed to add more layers to your drawing. In your first layer add a rough shape on how your character will look like. Add the second layer in (I called it Sketch 2) and begin to roughly sketch out your character. Using the shape as guidelines of its body.

---

Step 2

Now here comes the interesting part. Decrease the opacity level of sketch 2 until the lines are kind of faded but you can still see the lines.

Create another layer (Label Clean Up) and start to redraw the line using one stroke. Why? It’s to make smoother lines for your final picture. It also makes it neater for others to see. As I have experienced before, I draw too many lines on what spot to get a nice line. It ends up really messy and after colouring the drawing, the lines will still be there. So, keep drawing that line until you think you have the right one and move on to the next outline. Having said that, Having to keep erasing your line can get frustrating. Instead use Alt + Ctrl + Z command. What this function does is that it moves back your steps. It is kind of like Undo but you can move backwards a few times. While undo only lets you go back one step.

For one part of my drawing, I was actually lazy to redraw its foot. Instead, I used the Lasso feature (hot key: L). This feature allows you to select a certain part of your work. Once you have selected it click Ctrl + T. This allows you to transform what you have selected. Transform allows you to increase/decrease the size of the selected part. It can also change the angle of the image. Once you have adjusted everything hit enter so that it can now stay in place. After that using the Lasso tool, right click what you had selected and deselect it. That will make the moving lines disappear. Once you have done drawing through and are happy with your lines. Go to the layers on your right and click on the eye for sketch 1 and 2. This means that all the lines are now hidden and only your clean up layer will show.

---

Step 3

Now it’s time to add colours and just as always you create a new layer and label it as colour. I went to this website https://coolors.co/browser/latest/5 which allows me to find different colour palettes. Here I found Rowlets colours and begin to shade in.

    

After you have coloured in the base switch to a slightly darker shade of the same colour and begin shading around the point (Note: It depends on where your light source is. If the head is closer to the light the top will be bright while the lower parts will have a darker shade). Following your reference colour your character as it is. If you want to change up its colours go right ahead.

For my final part, I locked my lines. Click on the layer you want to lock and click again on the checkerboard icon next to the brush. What happens is that only this area will be coloured in. Even if you go out of the line, no colour will appear. This is due to it locking what’s in this layer and only this layer. Colour the line according to what colour it is with. For example, the outer body line colour is same with Rowlets skin colour. Once you have done that it is complete! That is so far on what I have experimented with. Hopefully, with more practice, I can fine tune my artwork. Always remember to practice, the more you practice and get used to it. The better it becomes.