Selaras (Behind the Artwork)

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Selaras is an artwork I made for Kreavi Challenge Pesona Batik Wayang with Java Jazz,
depicting the concept of harmony in local Javanese value in this cross-cultural era, giving rise to a very worth-celebrating music scene like Java Jazz.
I am so grateful for all the appreciations and the achievement to be in the Top 3.
Therefore, I bring you the thoughts and process behind this artwork.
Enjoy! :)

Given the task to combine Batik, Wayang and Jazz, here are what I immediately had in my mind: Gunungan with the holy balanced philosophy and all the complex ornament inside, Beauty goddess I had been really inspired by beauty photography lately (as the result of intense chat with my fashion photographer friend and too many American Next Top Model Cycle 20 episodes on TV), so I took Kirsty Mitchell's picture as my reference. Jazz instrument Trumpet, bass, drum, trombone....I kept thinking of the instrument name which happens to have a really complex circle shape...it is horn! The idea of bending the horn parts into Aksara Jawa came before it though :)

After finding the visual inspirations, I look for the concept that can be the spirit, the philosophy of the artwork *yes, the visuals came first I admit* Inspired by Gunungan, the word "Selaras" came into my mind, as "Selaras" also means harmony in English. It surely has something to do with music! So I did a little research about the concept of harmony in Javanese society and it happens to be the main local value of it! Lucky me! So I decided to write the word "Selaras" in Aksara Jawa *I learned Aksara Jawa since I was in primary school* :p So here comes the sketch. Pencil on A4 paper I made the gunungan and background frame reflected in Photoshop.

I started the coloring on Adobe Illustrator. I always do the face or head part first, and the background later...very very late, I mean in the end. I chose the main color blue and orange, because they are complementary to each other, that's what makes an artwork look stand out *that's what le boyfriend has taught me every time I had a color-block*

Here comes the most exhausting part: The Batik Skirt! The quite detail sketch helps me a lot to color the skirt. My Batik reference is floral batik from Jawa Barat, I made the ornament with little twist to make it look more modern and wearable for people nowadays.

So I moved on to the gunungan and frame. I had a little hard times when it came to pick the color for the Gunungan. so I picked the color randomly *all I had in my vision was it had to be a gradient color* and I thought it still can be adjusted in Photoshop later. So did the background.

I did a little adjustment in Photoshop for the Gunungan, frame and background color to make them more dramatic also with little textures. Ah, don't forget the hair extension and the cheek blush-on too! *I thought the hair was a little bit weird to be cut by the Gunungan shape, so I decided to add more hair* still, to make it look dramatic :p The sketch took 2 days of work (I did this project at 8 PM - 10 PM, after 10 I will be sleepy) The coloring took 1 extra day at 8 - 10 PM + 1 whole day of work :)