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.