Turm Oil: How it's made
What does turmoil look like to you?
Turm Oil
The idea for Turm Oil came to me on a dark cold Thursday night (that is a guess - I can’t remember when) - when I was up late working on a uni assignment.
I was thinking about turmoil (fitting as I was working on an assignment) - and I wondered what it would look like to express on paper.
It was a concept I had thought up in my head and not taken very seriously, until I had a discussion with my housemate. I explained to her the concept I had in my brain - taking the concept of turmoil and presenting it in a way that was a little oxymoronic.
I sketched out some ideas for her to try to explain it, and she said “Oh… I pictured it completely differently in my head!”
My initial ideas for the Turm Oil bottle shape
Her turmoil came in an engine oil-shaped bottle, whereas mine came in a form similar to olive oil.
This got me thinking about how different people have different interpretations of concepts and how valuable that is in understanding complex emotions.
The sketch my housemate drew to explain how Turm Oil looks to her.
I decided this artwork was a great idea and started thinking about the bottle shape. There was a picture in my head that I just couldn't pin point until I saw this bottle on Pinterest:
The bottle I found on Pinterest via everythingkitchens.com
It was perfect and almost exactly what I had in mind.
I used this bottle as a reference, and changed the handle shape. I also changed some of the other details in the glass.
I used watercolour for this picture - I knew I would only be able to capture the reflective nature of glass if I used watercolour.
Half way through this piece I realised I needed to find a typeface for the label. It needed to be a little bit vintage but also quirky - and I couldn't figure out what I wanted it to be for the longest time. I stumbled across the Rawson typeface by Design Surplus on Creative Market and knew it was the perfect one. It is a sans-serif tall typeface with special characters.
Samples of the Rawson typeface by Design Surplus via Creative Market
I ended up making small tweaks to the flourishes in the letters, and added a little vintage flower underneath the 'o'.
The typeface ended up being perfect - and I had so much fun adding it to my painting. It is not often I get to mix my love for watercolour with my love for typography.
An Instagram reel I shared during the painting process.
So that is how my turm oil looks, and how it was made.
Maybe your turm oil looks different - perhaps it is similar to my housemate’s.
Of course, turmoil is different for everyone.
I made this artwork to suggest that turmoil is just a normal everyday part of life sometimes. Seeing it look like olive oil makes it seem less of a big deal.
Thanks for following along!
Join me on Instagram at @tatealuckensmeyer to see more of my work!
:)
The final work: Turm Oil
