Transcripts
1. Introduction: Hi. My name is Yvonne, and I'm very passionated about spirituality and the strong
visual arts of Asia, where I am currently traveling. For example, in Japan, we have a recurrent
and powerful symbol known as the Kamon. So let's explore and appreciate
the beauty of Kamon. The Kamon has a powerful
and striking appearance, characterized by its pure
and stylized elements. It includes a universe
of shapes and symbols, blending abstractions
and figuration. In this class through
various exercises, let's explore the techniques for creating your own cammon. For example, you will learn how to simplify
a subject from a photograph or
duplicate elements around a symmetrical axis. You will learn how to round
shapes to include them in the circular form
of the camon and also create inverted designs
on black backgrounds. Of course, throughout the class, I will provide you guidance, give you examples, and demonstrate the different
steps of the process. I will try to keep
the demonstration as short as possible so you can stay engaged and also apply quickly the
techniques I show you. If you want to try a more unconventional approach,
it's completely fine. Feel free to develop your own style liberated from the traditional
representations. Alternatively, if you want to create something more
whimsical or funny, you're welcome to do so. And the reason for understanding the characteristics of
the Kamon is to allow you to deconstruct them to the point of breaking
the traditional rules. You do not need advanced
drawing skills to participate. The goal is for everyone
to create your own Kamon, and this is achievable for all. Also, I encourage you to select your most original work
for the final project. And if you want more
inspiration and update on Skillshare or
Instagram, you can follow me. Here is how you can connect
with me on those platforms. I'm really excited to
share this class with you.
2. Characteristics: Let us begin by the most important
characteristics of Kamon, followed by a brief
overview of its history. Compared to a European
family crest, the Japanese Kamon has a
distinctly different style. What strikes me the most about the camon is the
simplicity of its design. Compared to European
family crest, which often has ornaments
and decorative flourishes, such as those seen in
good family crest. The Kamon is
characterized by a clean, simple and plain design. A cammon sometimes
include the repetition of the same elements arranged around symmetrical axis with rounded forms designed to
fit within the circle. There is also this very recognizable bold
circle around it. Another characteristic
of the camon is that there are often
no narrative elements. The features are usually
related to plants or animals, but at times are
completely abstract. There is rarely a story or any suggestions of interaction, such as between people. This does not mean that the elements within the
camon don't have meaning. Each form or symbol can have an important cultural
or symbolic meaning. In fact, the Kamon
represents the identity of the family or the
individual whom it belongs to. There are more than 20,000 known common divided in five
categories, the plants, animals, abstract elements,
natural elements, and building tools,
and vehicles. The plants and animals are associated with
wealth and nobility, while the natural elements are connected to good
harvest and hope. The tools and abstract elements are associated usually with
the field of construction. To summarize, the
common is defined by its pure and simple design, often featuring
repetition exclusively in black and white and
typically without narration. Each design conveys meaning
or a message and is enclosed by a bold
black circle around it. In this class, our
goal is not to create a perfect logo that strictly follows these
traditional rules. Instead, we will deconstruct the conventional rules and
focus on creative expression. I encourage you to design
freely without constraints. For me, this process
is a way to explore harmony between black
and white surfaces, visual balance between the
positive and negative spaces.
3. History of the Kamon: Now a bit of history. The Kamon or Mon were initially used on battlefields by the Samurai to
identify each other. During the Heian period, these emblems were
useful to distinguish the different
chariots on the road according to their
owners social rank. Those belonging
to a higher caste had the priority over
those of a lower rank. In Kamakura period,
Kamon began to appear on closing at
the mark of identity. And later in the
Muromachi period, they were adopted by the merchants for shop
emblems or brands. By the Edo period, common people were allowed to use and create their
own family crests. However, certain
designs were exclusive, like the chrysanthemum were associated to the
imperial family, and the Holy hawk motif were reserved for the
Tokugawa shogunate. It is worth nothing that the
hollyhok design features a threefold repetition of its central figure a pattern we will examine later
in one of the exercise. From the Gen Roku period onward, the use of Kamon became widespread among the
general population.
4. Material: Is the materials you
will need for the class. So you will need a
few colored pencils, pentel Japan pen or any
black pen you have, two white pens of
different weeds. Here I have a posca
and a paint marker, a pencil and an eraser, a block or a few
sheets of brown paper. A thin brush for the outlines. Also black ink. Here I use a Chinese
stone and solid ink, but you can use a bottle
of liquid ink instead. Two little balls to make the
circle around the camon and also a item with a
rounded shape of three, 5 centimeters in diameter. Here I use a capo, but you
can use anything you want. Alright, now you
are ready to draw, so let's start. Yeah.
5. Warm up Exercise: As a warm up exercise, we will play with shapes. Examples include
half heart shape, elongated moon, crescent moon, duck shape, cloud
shape, and others. In each drawing, we will use and combine one
or two of those, and you don't need to have
a specific idea in mind. Just improvise and let the moment guide you with
your hand movements. You will see after
one or two attempts, you will feel naturally more
confident and comfortable. Begin by drawing the circle
with your smaller ball. Then choose one or two shapes and start to repeat
them within the circle. Rotate, vary the spacing. And play with the composition. Allow an element to
overlap or appear behind another one to create an impression of
perspectives or depths. You can also add details such as star or eyes or mouth or any
kind of stroke you want. Let the elements overlap at different layers to
create visual interest. Use your originality to
create unique shapes. They don't need to be
figurative at all. In fact, abstract unusual
shapes are encouraged. And also, if your
composition is not perfectly well balanced or
symmetrical, doesn't matter. Finally, choose which shape you would like to fill
with solid black. It can also be a mix of elements between white
and plain shapes. The touched the touch to. That the
6. Ex 1 : Simplification: The Kamon often
represent something that is connected
to one's identity. Use your imagination
to design a camon that symbolize your family or
something personal to you. For example, imagine you are an agronomist and you are
working in a rice field. You might decide to use a rice stock showing
your connection, your link to your
work, and the land. Here is a coin from the city of Guanju manufactured in 1936. Look at the design. It features a rice stroke
with five branches. You can recreate this using
long brush strokes for the branches and little
small ovals for the stroke. Feel free to add another element on the
free space on the right. For example, I will
include Kanji characters, which means $0.01 pronounced as Yi Shiang and interestingly, the second character
also means immortal, which is connected
to local legend where the city was
saved by immortals. By the way, what is your
source of inspiration? Is it dreams, nature or simply the world around you as you work through
this exercise? Or you can find also inspiration from other
cultures or symbols, such as Singaporean
wood engravings. And if you begin with
photo or drawings, start by trying to
name what you see. For example, a man in a boat. And if your picture
shows an action, using a verb might
make your concept more interesting than a noun
here, Farmer harvesting. Saying, what you see can help
you clarify your message. Look at the fish
on this picture. With a few brush strokes, you can clearly identify it. Start by using geometrical
shapes to outline your idea, triangle for the head, a half trapezoid for the body, small squares for the fins, and a circle for the eye. Refine your shape
and add details. For example, the scales
can be drawn as grad. Observation is important. Add the small details that make your motif uniquely yours. Try to include an original
idea in your drawing. For example, give the
tail an angle so it is not perfectly
aligned with the body. This creates a more
dynamic shapes and that fits better
inside the circle. Use a brush or a pentel
to add the final outline. The did
7. Ex 2 : Inverted Design: The inverted design takes a
complete different approach. It gives a more powerful
aspect to the design. Ask yourself, what does the black background
inspire in you? For me, it evokes images of creature or shapes popping
up from the background. You may experiment
scribbling, for instance. And if you lack of inspiration, you can look at
other Kamon designs and give a new look to them. Choose a round object such as a sponge or a slice
of a round vegetable. For example, cucumber. Then pour ink into your bowl. Dip your cucumber slice into your ink and press
it on your paper. Once dry, use the white pen to draw a motif inside
the black circle. You may add organic
or irregular shapes in your circle to break the
symmetry and add interest. Remember, perfection can
sometimes be tiring. Why not trying something
a bit more irregular, like a happy accident? Experiment slight
irregularities and happy accident to create
more expressive design. 22. Begin by painting large surfaces of black ink on your paper. Then take a small
or medium white pen and draw a rough
outline of your design. It can be abstract and you can add the details afterwards. Mm. Then take your thin brush and your black ink to paint
inside the white shape. We find both internal
and external edges. So here the negative space, which is usually
white becomes black, and the outline which is
usually black becomes white. That's the difference between a normal and inverted design.
8. Ex 3 : Your Kamon In Situ: Stage, you should have
developed in house ideas and research to create
your personalized camon. If you haven't decided
on the design yet, please take a moment to do so. For example, I
like ferns leaves. So I created Kamon with four ferns leaves repeated in organic and balanced pattern. Here, have a look. Then let's incorporate the Kamon
in a real setting. Situ mean in a context
such as a phone shop, curtain in a temple. Check the photo in
the resources of the class if you want. And if the photo you are working with doesn't
have a curtain, feel free to add it. That's what drawings
are made for to create what doesn't
exist in the reality. And don't forget to
add the bold circle around your motif using
the little bowl you have. Now let's start to create
the building first with geometrical shapes and then add the details and
refine your outline. I suggest you start with the front door so you
can create it big enough because we will add
then the camon on the curtain using the
small little bowl. And now I will add the
curtain in front of the door big enough so I can
include the Kamon on it, and then add colored
pencils, for example, to add basic tones like gray for the roof and
brown on the door. Take your time, and you
can also ask yourself, what are you feeling at the
moment when you are drawing. Be aware of your emotions and feelings because the awareness of your emotions can influence the character and the
flow of your work. Next, with the white pen, add reflections on the areas that catch light like
the windows or the roof. And then continue adding
colors, for example, yellow on the walls or
hooker for the gutter, and why not a little bit
of blue for the roof? And finally, include the camon
in the pawn shop curtain. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
9. Class Project: And that's it. At the
end of the class, don't forget to
share your project in the projects
and resources tab. You can upload
either your research or your most original
piece of work, whether it's something
you've created during one of the exercises or your final command design doesn't have to be perfect
or even completely finished. I would simply love to
see what you've created. The camon you design might be useful for your
personal purposes, for example, on your
business card or stationery. The goal is to find a symbol
that truly represents you. As a small ancot when
I was at school, I transferred my family's
ancient crest into a camon. I chose to depict the needle in a very simplified fluid shape, almost like a brush stroke. If I were to recreate it today, I would probably design it
in a more original way.
10. Conclusion: Finally, you arrive at
the end of the class. Congratulations. Good work. So here I will quickly
summarize what we've done. Firstly, we learn how to create a composition
with abstract shape. Then we detach a circle from cluttered
background or foliage. And the second exercise
was about simplification, how to round shape also. And then we've learned how
to do an inverted design. We've learned how to create
a symmetry, and at the end, we've learned how to include the coamon into real context, and the additional
technique was about how to change the perspective
according to the thickness of the outline. And now I would like to welcome you to share your thoughts or
if you have any questions, you want to ask me in
the discussion tab, and I will be glad
to answer them. Finally, you can also tell us
what has inspired your work or about your feelings and message you wanted to
convey through your Kamon. I really hope that you
had fun in this class, and I will see you in
another one. Bye bye.
Yvan Mermod, Illustrator
