Traditional Japanese Patterns

Pacheco has quite complex and busy backgrounds full off obscure and abstract shapes throughout his portraits, so I decided to look at some traditional Japanese patterns to incorporate into mine.

Concept Developments

Moodboard

A moodboard I put together showing potential elements, colours, fashion and characters I can include in my portrait. 

Research: Japanese Pop Culture

Characters
Any first time visitor to Japan may experience a bit of cuteness overload as it is quite common for Japanese companies, the government and even the military to use a cute character or mascot in their promotional material. Many western people can find it a bit odd and amusing that even the most serious business will put out a publication with a happy character all across it. Today, the cuteness or “Kawaii” culture has become part of Japan’s identity. Characters that westerners would normally associate with small children’s books have become part of Japan’s hip pop culture scene.

Fashion
When talking about fashion in Japan it is just impossible not to acknowledge the fact that Japanese people have an incredible sense of style. Fashion plays a huge role in Japanese peoples everyday life because they have a special attitude towards clothing. In Japan fashion is considered to be a simple way to express yourself, to manifest who you are, and to show others that you are aware of the newest trends. This phenomenon can be easily observed in Japanese biggest cities, especially in such metropolis as Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. 


Japanese fashion can be seen as a mixture of all European, exotic, futuristic and traditional styles. The Japanese designers like Issey Miyaki, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo belong to the most famous and innovative fashion creators today. 

Anime
Anime is a style of animation that originates from Japan. This term is used to describe a Japanese cartoon that is originally derived  from manga comics. Animated films from Japan are acclaimed worldwide as the highest form of animation and include all movie genres, such as science fiction, adventure or romance. They are supported by all media in the country including television, video and cinema.

Otaku

Otaku are fans who eat, drink, shop, collect and obsess over every facet of Japanese comics, animated TV shows, movies, toys and video games.

A slang word derived from the Japanese word for "home," otaku generally refers to people who are passionately interested in any sort of hobby, but in Japan, it is popularly used as a term referring to obsessive fans of manga (comics), anime (animated movies, videos and TV shows), gemu (video and PC games) and pop idols.

Concept Thumbnails

Asaro Head Exercise

Artist Model: Jessica Sommer

Inspired by fashion illustration, Sommer takes a more sketchy and traditional approach to her portraits. There is a strong focus on beauty and empowerment, particularly through the bold eyes and subjects gaze toward the viewers. The inked outlines indicate form and flow combined her water colour brush work, also providing the viewers with a sense of surrealism and traditional media.

Artist Model: Javier Pacheco

Appearing quite abstract, Pachecos portraits distinguish a person and their unique interests and personalities. His images focus not just on the human form, but other elements that morphed the person into who they are when painted.

Artist Model: Rebecca Kereopa

Kereopas visual style reflects influence of surrealism combined with the inspiration of nature. Her use of bold outlines resemble that of comic and manga linework, and her essentially monochromatic settings allow the figures to stand out further.

Artist Model: Alphonse Mucha

Mucha was an Art Nouveau painter and decorative artist. He is best known for his distinct style, and produced many illustrations, advertisements and designs. The intricate linear designs and flowing curves are what define the Art Nouveau style to date.

Artist Model: Mercedes de Bellard

Mercedes offers a more stylized approach resembling traditional water colour and pencil sketch. Her use of line is predominant in defining form, and her monochromatic skin tones make the hair and cheeks stand out further.   

Artist Model: Artgerm

Artgerm maintains a strong focus on movement, evident through their brush strokes and flow of elements in particular the females hair. Their is a strong sense of beauty and empowerment, through the soft colour palette and fiery reds used.

Artist Model: Selene Regner

Regner is a digital Illustrator, who focuses on the portrait of women. Her illustrations emit a sense of beauty and delicacy, and often give the impression of fantasy. She focuses on tone and the form of the female face.

Biography

My name is Lucie and I was born in North Shore hospital, in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. My father was a member of the New Zealand Army and during this time was posted in Angola to undertake peace keeping as a Lieutenant Colonel. Soon after, he was stationed in London for the New Zealand defence attaché. My mother took the opportunity to be with her family so we settled in Lincolnshire. Wherever my dad was posted we followed, and eventually he was dispatched to Wellington where they decided to settle down and live.

I grew up living in Eastbourne surrounded by my parents as well as my sisters and best friends Emma and Charlotte. Eastbourne is a coastal area, so it wasn’t uncommon for us to go swimming and kayaking on weekends. My hobbies as a child were collecting insects, biking and playing video games in particular Gameboy.

I attended Muritai Primary school, then furthered on to Chilton Saint James School for intermediate and high school. Chilton is a Lower Hutt private girl’s school, best recognized for its dance and performing arts programs. During high school, most of my time was devoted to studies and sport. I played a range of sports including badminton, cheerleading and cricket. Cricket was my central sport, as it gave me and my dad an activity to do together which helped me persevere to a representative level.

In my spare time I would often draw, play video games or hang out with my sisters or school friends. I discovered an interest in anime during high school, which became a big passion and interest of mine especially after my school exchange to Tokyo.

Most people describe me as bubbly, motivated and kind; however I am often easily distracted and quite clumsy. A lot of people also see me as quite feminine but geeky, adoring anything that’s pink, cute or Japanese. 

Artist Model: Jamie Jones

Jamie Jones is a digital illustrator and concept designer. He maintains a natural colour palette, and has a great appreciation for lighting and shadow. He creates movement through his angular strokes, and even through a quick glance the form and tone is so accurate you know exactly what is there.

Form Studies Exercise

Classical Portrait Exercise