Blog Assignment 5

1. My biggest accomplishment in the midterm was definitely
creating a meaningful artwork while keeping in mind the
importance of aesthetics. The actual creation in photoshop
was pretty simple selections and layering, but there were several
different aspects of meaning in the work. I was really happy
with how my idea evolved from the brainstorming into a metaphorical
idea that we are bound to reality, preventing us from reaching our
fantasies (which is more than just finding images of my reality
and images of my fantasies in my brainstorming).

2. The most difficult project for me was the masking project.
Whether this was because there were several steps involved and
combined most everything that we learned otherwise, or just because
I am not as familiar with it, I do not know. I have had a little
Photoshop experience, butnever with masking. I do not feel,
however, that I have completely mastered it and need a little more
work. One technique I feel I really mastered was the many types
of selections. I only knew of a couple before coming into the
class (such as lassos and shape selections) but I wasn't aware
of the magic wand or the other selection tools in the menu bar
(i.e. select>shadows) that make selections quicker and more efficient.

3. For the quizzes we did in class time was limited and therefore the outcome of the project was not as great as they could have been. For the make-up/retouching quiz I chose an image that would display my ability to use Photoshop technically rather than as a meaning making tool and way to create an aesthetically pleasing piece like was done with the midterm. The midterm was separated into different stages and was given a lot more time for the idea to develop, which for me led to a well-thought out piece, as well as a piece that followed the elements of design. You can see in the images that while both demonstrate technical skill, the make-up image is very simple and image choice is not very strong. The midterm, however, has several layers of meaning in the many layers that are represented.

Blog Assignment #4

After much deliberation I finally decided to stick with the Big Idea of Reality vs. Fantasy for the final, but I am taking approaching it in a slightly different manner. For the midterm I thought about how we are bound to reality which is preventing us from living our fantasies, so I chose to incorporate images associated with being trapped, including barbed wire fence and locks. I was thinking about taking on a new big idea of light vs. darkness after looking at the examples in class, and I found I was especially interested in shadows because of the way it is a reflection of what is there but is often distorted by the angle of light. From here I realized I could use this with the reality vs. fantasy idea, where the shadow of a person is positioned in a way that is their fantasy( i.e. dancer, athlete, small, big, etc.) but having the person in the image being the reality. This also relates in a way to my midterm idea, where a person is bound to reality by their physical and biological make-up but their shadow shows who they really wish they could be. Apart from real life references and references to the examples during class, I searched for images and I came across a blog that used an image similar to what I was thinking : http://blogs.targetx.com/pbu/Sam/2009/04/you_game_part_1_1.html

More specifically this image:






The last photo is one that was taken from a website about substance abuse from athletes, so this idea is one that could easily be found in health illustrations (substance abuse, eating disorders, etc.) or even on commercials for medications for depression since the person is trapped by their physical being but is trying to break free.

In photoshop I plan to take my own images of people and either distort their shadows, or more likely use different images for the shadows. I can use the mask technique, similar to how we worked in both of the mask lessons during class where we selected the shadows and created a mask. I could also select the entire figure and fill them with black, then use the opacity settings and eraser to create the effect of a shadow. High contrasts are also going to make the shadows stand out. the compositions of the images will depend on the photographs I use, but I really like very simple compositions to keep the focus on the big idea, rather than being distracted by the background. I was also really drawn to the artist in my previous post who used strong depth of field in his work, so I could also make the background very out of focus.

Blog Assignment #3

The first artist that identifies with my Big Idea of the unknown is one that I already found in the first blog assignment. Daniele Gay seems to work with the Big Idea of technology and uses digital manipulation to combine humans and technology, creating a sort of robot. I was especially attracted to his work because our technology is continually changing and increasing and we could end up with robots running the world and overtaking human life, much like you would see in a fantastical horror film. The works make me wonder if in the future this will become something that is normal, and if our ideas of fantasy will be able to become reality with technology. I also really enjoy the very simple compositions, but it is obvious time was well spent seamlessly piecing the image together and making it look as real as possible, an aspect I will take away from the work and hopefully be able to reincorporate into my own. Gay effectively makes decisions to make certain parts of the image black and white while adding color to other areas to create emphasis.




http://www.somethingwelike.com/inspirational/chitchat-daniele-gay


http://bodnar.wetpaint.com/page/Gallery
The second artist I found is Vasily Bodnar. While Daniele Gay works very realistically, Bodnar's work is very animated. After looking at the website, it seems this artist has a Big Idea of humor. What caught my eye about these pieces was the play on the depth of field, and how sharp the focal points are even though it is an animated style. This is something I hope to use in my work as it gives the piece such a nice finishing touch.

Blog Assignment 2

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/162201/robotics


I chose the tutorial titled Robotics! for the second blog assignment. It provided three images that I would need to complete the project so I downloaded them and opened them in Photoshop. I followed the first few steps by selecting the background, wood piece, and grasshopper and giving them each their own layer. I then used a paint brush to blacken the background (different from how the author did it because it was easier for me), desaturate the grasshopper and left the wood by itself.



I skipped the part where he outlined the grasshopper following the exoskeleton because he noted this was just for helping point out where things went, so I figured I could just follow it on the tutorial. Next I created a folder titled Robotics (as instructed in the tutorial) with a subfolder titled 'back leg' and began cutting and pasting pieces from the engine images onto the grasshopper. This part was pretty easy to use the warp tool to fit pieces together, but I found that the images I used weren't great resolution so everything was very pixelated.





After piecing everything together, I merged all the layers of the grasshopper and played around with contrasts and colors, as well as on the background to pull everything together and give it a more realistic finished look. I used gaussian blur to add highlights around the body and the eye.



Final result:

Image-Self exhibition response

As an artist the self-portrait always seems to be a struggle. We are so used to creating artwork to reference everything else that we sometimes forget about ourselves. It has also been said that everything we do and everything we make is a self portrait of ourselves. Regardless, I was fascinated with the variety of ways the women chose to represent themselves in the exhibition. Each piece was unique, just like its creator. Some explained in the artists statements that they knew exactly what they were going to do while others took quite a bit of time to figure it out. It was interesting to read the artists statements and compare it to the piece itself, as well as to see how self image is reflected in personality.

Daniele Gay

http://www.somethingwelike.com/inspirational/chitchat-daniele-gay

The figure in the top image has very slender and soft features and appears to have eye make-up on. The only human flesh is on the face, the ear and the hand but the rest of the figure is composed of wires and mechanics and is looking to the viewer's left. The background is neutral and blurry with not much recognizable except a few dark lines. The image is cut off at the shoulders and the only clothing visible appears to be a red-dotted white blouse with a red collar. These all hold reference to connotations. The features of the figure imply that the figure is female, as well as the reference to a doll in the title, which often holds feminine connotations.

The second image is simple and shows a human arm laying wrist up on a table with the fist clenched and a wire connecting the inside wiring of the arm to a technological device. A square piece matching the hole in the arm rests to the side with a few screws. The clenched fist often is associated with pain or anger and may connote the figure's feelings.

The final image is more heavily saturated with denotations and connotations. The figure is shown at a side profile, shirtless, again with both human flesh and mechanical components. The image cuts off at the chest and shows a hand lifted holding a USB drive between the pointer and ring finger. There is a black "4" on the chest and a bar code on the shoulder with stitching around the body (what is visible) and a mask on the face. The image has low saturation and the background is again unrecognizable.

All three of Italian artist Daniele Gay's pieces that I chose have denotations of human beings and robotic technology. These hold the connotation that our world is becoming so reliant on technology that we are becoming a part of it. As with the last image, we are being reduced to only numbers in a bar code and are getting a high off of the technology we use. The fact that the images are all digitally manipulated all reference the fact that the artist wasn't entirely satisfied with the photograph as it was and felt the need to 'finish' it.