End Term Project was the first integrated design project which started off from where FVL-2 concluded. I continued to work on the same organic form that was assigned to me i.e. bitter gourd and took a systematic approach to explore and experiment with it creating 2D and 3D outcomes that captured the visual characteristic of a bitter gourd.
PRE WORK
Bitter Gourd
Bitter gourd has a distinct rough warty looking exterior and an oblong shape. It consists of flesh on the inside surrounding a central seed cavity filled with flat seeds and pith. Seeds and pith appear white if the bitter gourd is unripe and red if the bitter gourd is ripe.
The exterior of the bitter gourd is sap green in colour with shades of yellow merged into it and the flesh is watery and somewhat translucent in texture.
Materials used
Tissue paper
Glue
Refined wheat flour (maida)
Paint : poster colours
Cotton
I started by covering the skin of the bitter gourd with the help of tissue paper and a mixture on top of that made up of glue, maida and water.
I then baked the piece so that it could dry off easily.
In my first attempt the paper burnt and therefore I decided to heat it for a short period of time in my next attempt which turned out to be successful.
Similarly, base of the bitter gourd was formed.
I then filled the gap between the two with the help of cotton and stuck both the pieces using tissue paper and the mixture prepared.
Further, I painted the 3d replica with the help of poster colours after it dried up totally.
Form Analysis 1
To deeply engage with my form the next day, I did a form analysis of bitter gourd.
Analysis: a detailed examination of the elements or structure of something. It involves identifying these different elements and understanding their inter-relationships
After doing the form analysis and carefully observing the arrangement of seeds I realised that in my pre-work earlier, I had figured out the way these seeds are arranged but the seeds in those piths were missing.
I realised that the shape of the seed is circular when cut horizontally and oval when cut in a vertical cross section and their is a change in the size as well.
Form Analysis 2
Completing the first form analysis in 2d gave me a better understanding about the internal and the outer characteristics of bitter gourd, for example: arrangement of the seeds, the thickness of the pulp and the texture of the skin. Therefore I was easily able to represent the form in a 3d with the help of planer materials.
In order to represent the geometric shape i.e. oblong shape of the form, I used Intersecting horizontal & vertical planes and identified the appropriate gap between planes, as well as the position & orientation of the planes when seen through after cutting the bitter gourd into half.
Material used: Ivory sheet and micro tip pen.
Idea Generation
3D
At first, identifying materials that captured the characteristic of my organic form was an easy task for me but when it came down to combining and playing with these materials to make a single 3d form, I realised that I was playing safe in this thinking that all my forms should come out well and restricted myself to a limited no. of materials such as wire, matchstick, crepe paper and tissue paper etc.
When I further explored more with the materials and pushed myself to try new things, that is when the idea of using lenticels, cloth, putty and thread came to my mind.
The idea was to go wild with the material.
I then thought of taking a risk with thread and cloth specially to capture the characteristic of bitter gourd because lenticels were still granular but cloth and thread would give a plane effect instead of that warty texture.
So in order to give that warty texture I added Lenticels and putty beneath the cloth and wrapped it over that.
For the thread, I thought of doing embroidery and making small french knots for showing the granular part of it and long stitches to show the elevations that are present in it.
Idea Development
I further developed my ideas by merging and eliminating materials from within the 4 models that I had chosen.
I chose to go with the wire model first, merging it with the paper pulp mixture and the elastic material used in surgical gloves made up of latex and polythene.
The wire model that I had made in the idea generation stage lacked clarification in it i.e. it was hard to identify different parts of bitter gourd due to the presence of a lot of lines that were merging up with each other.
So I added mass to this model in the idea development stage which made it possible for me to identify different parts of it separately.
Exploring Colour
The green found in any organic form is never too dark or like the one I used in this illustration until and unless the vegetable is rotten.Therefore I tried to find the original shade of colours found in a bitter gourd
I then thought of playing with greens of the bitter gourd in order to indicate the bitter taste of it and now that we were playing with the space as a whole, I thought of making the background green in colour and create variations for the same because now, the art was not merely confined to just a bitter gourd but the space where it was getting placed too was playing a significant role in it.
Turning the background green helped me set the atmosphere and the vibe of the space available and indicate the bitterness found in a bitter gourd.
An interesting interplay of the greens in a balanced and a synchronized way is what then made me choose this illustration and then further create more variations of it by exploring with the space.
I selected these 2 art works as they best represented my organic form's visual character and attributes i.e. the right shade of green, the tangible quality of that pulp and the bitterness that a bitter gourd has.
Link To The End Term Project LJL:
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