During the spring break, I went out to play a few times. I still remember the first time I went out, I went back home as soon as I went out because I found myself not wearing a mask. When I was walking on the street, I saw everyone wearing a mask. In Shanghai, the epidemic has basically been brought under control, and some restaurants and shopping malls have been opened to people again. Going out and wearing a mask in the UK was also a very bothersome thing for me because I often see news of Chinese attacks and ridicule.
In my opinion, wearing a mask is not meant to cause panic or make a fuss. This is something that is responsible for oneself and for others. I have to admit that I feel very at ease when traveling in Shanghai, and there will be staff in the subway station to take temperature for every passenger. I know that many countries in the world are still being attacked by viruses. I also hope that everyone can return to normal life as soon as possible.
For the final project, I want to show you my life and seeing things in Shanghai after I come back to encourage other people who are still at home.

I completed three sets of shadow illustrations. The objects I painted were parrots, dolphins and doctors. Looking back at these three pictures, I began to realize that humans are always selfish. We oppressed nature and persecuted other animal habitats. During the epidemic, many people ignored the warning and did not consider the hard work of the medical staff to go out. I plan to design this set of pictures as posters to warn such people.

When I irradiated the hand sanitizer with a flashlight, because it was a solution, I found that the pattern presented was very wavy. This immediately reminded me of the news I saw recently because of the impact of the new coronary pneumonia, which greatly reduced tourists and improved environmental pollution. On the coast of Italy, dolphins have even replayed. I think this is actually a phenomenon worthy of deep thought. The expansion of the range of human activities has caused a serious threat to the living environment of many wild animals. And many of our unexpected scenes emerged after isolation, and we should all reflect.

I started experimenting today. I put a mask under the light and kept turning the mask and flashlight to find a feasible shadow. The two lanyards of the mask made me a little helpless. Then I thought of a way to use iPad to take a picture of the shadow and then use procreate to draw a sketch on it. This greatly saves time and the inconvenience of hand-painting when blocked by a mask. After I got the illustration I wanted, I drew it on paper by hand.

Today I did some research on shadow art. I don't want to simply use it to cut out the graphic and take a flashlight against the wall. I saw some artists use a shadow of multiple objects to present a pattern at a certain angle. They always want to use this method to tell people that what they see may have another meaning behind it. And when I researched, I saw an illustrator named Vincent Bal, who created an original name called shadowology for his art form. His creative form is full of fun, and the audience can see at a glance what he wants to express. He often creates illustrations based on the shadow of an object. I got inspiration from this point, maybe I can combine the items about the epidemic with some current affairs to do some animation or illustration.

Today I started drawing banners and I want to arrange them on the street. At first I only drew people on it. But I think it is a bit monotonous, so I spread the slogan in the form of white letters on the background, which makes the picture more abundant. I think such special banners will be more noticeable than those with fixed templates.

The banner I saw was translated in English as "Going out and don't forget to wear a mask, preventing epidemic situation is the most important thing". In Chinese, these two sentences have the same word count and rhyme like a slogan. Because the material of this type of banner is very special and not paper, I plan to paint it on my iPad. And in my mind, I plan to use the red color for coloring because people can easily notice the bright colors and the roads are generally the gray of the building and the green of the leaves, which can highlight red.

I have just returned to China from the UK. According to the regulations, I need to stay at home for 14 days. My subject is about observing people but I have no way to go out. On the way from the airport to home, I used my mobile phone to record a few videos of pedestrians on the road. I noticed that large banners posted in the city are admonishing people to wear masks and keep their distance. This is something very much like our country. I rarely see this in other countries. It is an arrangement similar to an advertisement slogan, and is usually arranged in simple white letters on a red background to play a striking role. I wonder if I can use this form to create my SCALE project.  In this special period, people can no longer take to the streets as easily as before, and masks also prevent me from observing the complete expressions of others. Since my project is to observe others, I also think I should change my mind as people's lives change.

Today we had a print workshop. I brought some materials with no patterns to the classroom. Umberto told us that we need to create a storyboard consisting of four prints. I don't tell my story about the people who are designed on the subway platform. I cut out the shapes of rails and people with non-woven fabric, and used plastic bags as the background material because I think the folds on the plastic bags should generate many beautiful shapes. When I printed, I found that the non-woven fabric is a little non-sticky and the printed color is very light, giving pedestrians a ghost feeling.

After a few days of observation, I found that most people are basically expressionless and do not show any emotion when walking on the road. When I was deciding where to show it in public, what I wanted was to find a place where people would stop and stay. Finally, I think the elevator is a good place. Because I live in a hotel apartment, there are many people who go to school and work every morning. The morning of the working day always makes people feel tired and unmotivated, so I want to create a poster to encourage these strangers.

Today I want to sort out the ideas so far. Starting from the observational paintings, I thought about focusing on how people use small things in life to enhance their happiness. Go out with your companion dog, put on your favorite clothes, and travel to where you want to go in your leisure time. I want to combine these pleasant things to show the audience. Maybe I will create a new character and tell what I see from his story.
Through research these two days, I found that some artists will limit their creative scope to a community so that they will not lose their way in the later stage. I also saw an article about psychology that tells the author that when she receives strong fluctuations in her mood, she will treat this mood as a passerby and observe and feel it from a third party perspective To calm down emotions. I think this is also very interesting. I can also try to turn some elements related to myself into a personal community.

I showed some of my plans to my classmates today and got some feedback.

My first idea was to make some badges and give them to people waiting at the station. But Verity told me that people might not accept these badges because they think I might charge them. At the same time, designing and customizing badges takes time and is costly. Based on the above factors, I think I may not adopt this idea.
My second idea was to make some posters and stick them in the elevator. First of all, because there is no signal in the elevator, people will not stare at the phone all the time and ignore my poster. The elevator also symbolizes the 'coming soon' (going out and going home) of the day. I plan to use the elevator in the apartment building where I live as a location because it has a mirror inside. After seeing my poster, the audience can see their own reaction through the mirror.

Today I started thinking about the information that I want to convey to the public related to my project. 

AUDIENCE 

My target group is young people and middle-aged people who have just entered the society. I hope that my work will make them more motivated by the difficulties in life. Gender is out of my consideration because I think people are affected by the pressure from life.

HOW TO IDENTIFY THE PUBLIC TO INTERACT WITH

I want my place is somewhere the audience doesn't have to spend extra time stopping and see my work. I think it can be a public space for waiting for public transportation such as bus stations and underground stations. 

I just finished our Commune group research task. I collected plenty of primary resources of pedestrians through this journey including live sketching, photos, notes, and videos. I found video more useful than photos because it is dynamic. When I used my eyes to observe people's behavior and then I drew it in the sketchbook, I felt that most of them were filled with my imagination instead of observation. I knew the ability to observe requires constant practice. At this time, the video showed its advantages. I could watch and analyze the formation of each action repeatedly in a relatively stable environment at home.
I planed to organize some content on the sketchbook in these two days and use different materials to display it.

I am thinking about my third part of the proposal. Looking at the previous project, my favorite is Field Notes because I enjoy the process of observing the world and recording it with a brush. So this time I hope I can have that opportunity to observe others as a start. What I am confused about now is how to get a subject on this basis because it is too general to just observe others. Here are some ideas I came up with after discussing with my mentor, I think I will try them out.

Subject: strangers behavior in specific places

How people adapt to different environments

Process:

Series of drawing trips 

-stay on the bus for the whole route

-ride the lift for 2hours

Aim:

Show the behavior of people through drawn medium

Research:

Reportage drawing

Candid photography