Blog #5

1.) The biggest accomplishment for my midterm was focusing on a set of ideas that related to "dreamination."  To be honest this topic was hard for me to explore because its not a word.  I wanted to create a collage that was sincere to my vision.  At first my vision was screened from thinking outside the box on dreamination.  I started my brainstorming with lucid dream ideas and the idea of dreaming.  This was hard because it was an easy way to portray the idea literally.  After putting the midterm aside for a few days and growing to like the word I came up with my idea.  I wanted to create an image that conveyed dreams that we make with the help of imangination.  In my opinion dreams are created by thinking big.  I thought of space, time, change, destiny, fate, and imagination.  This helped me create a meaningful image that was an accurate display of my thoughts.  I was happy with the result and glad I was challenged to a difficult word or the result may have been different. 

2.) I started this class with little photoshop knowledge and I must admit it was quite intimidating at first.  I didn't even know how to add layers the first day.  This was frightening but I stuck through it and learned a lot.  Techniques that I learned and use the most are the cloning tool, eraser and opacity to a layer.  It took me many tries to a layer and make it look transparent.  The eraser tool is useful when I mask parts of the image out and cut in a new image.  A project in class where I was able to master these technques was in the tutorial project.  I researched many different sites on how to apply make up and realized how many ways one task can be demonstrated.  This complicated the situation at first but after finding my own way in learning a technique I knew I was learning. The image I chose was a screen shot from trying the different tools.  This was meaningful to me because I applied these skills to other classes and went back to the steps from this project if I had an issue. 

3.) The two projects I want to compare is the final and midterm because these were the most difficult (not to mention a huge portion of my grade).  The midterm as I explained in a previous question was hard to find meaning.  On the other hand finding meaning for my final was easy because I was able to choose my topic.  I changed my perspective on dreamination and had positive results.  It wasn't so much the techniques that were challenging but the idea itself.  For the final it was quite oppostite because I took on the challenge of scanning painted images into photoshop.  I wanted to create a snapshot of deja vu using paint and transparent images.  For this project I found meaning by incorporating images I created into the project and not just using other images from the internet.  For my midterm I found meaning by trying to demonstrate destiny, dreams and fate in relation to dreamination.  Every image had meaning: the wheel. the woman, and the caroseal all played a role in creating dreamination.  I wanted meaning with mystery with an uncanny approach.  The final was difficult because I was exploring new techniques and came to more obstacles.  I was satisfied when the image captured deja vu.  Both projects were equally as difficult but in entirely different ways.  The midterm was challenging in finding meaning to dreamination, whereas the final was difficult of a technical level.  Overall I am satisfied with both and will carry on my photoshop skills aquired from this class. 

Deja Vu

1.)                                                       Final Project: Déjà vu

            I chose to do a new big idea instead of extending the midterm.  My big idea: Déjà vu.  This has always been a mystical and mysterious idea that I wanted to recreate with photoshop.  I envisioned flowers, muted colors, faces, animals, buildings, and faded images.  To capture a moment of déjà vu I wanted to get my hands dirty and not just strictly use the computer. 

            To me when you fall into a daydream your thoughts are never based on anything from reality they are always a skewed perception, which changes the color of your thought.  When I daydream or experience déjà vu it is accompanied by a compelling sense of familiarity, and also a sense of strangeness which I also tried to capture in my photo.  The previous experience is usually attributed to a dream, although some people believe it occurred in the past. These feelings frequently occur in nature (and I think that applies for most people) because nature gives feelings connected to the earth, which are not only a sensation from déjà vu but also a memory that is recreated.  It’s connecting yourself to an experience that you feel you’ve already witnessed.  The experience is never clear and the colors are never the same leaving us in saying “I feel like I’ve been here before,” or “I feel like this has already happened” both feelings of déjà vu.  Our brain can only process so much information which leaves us with little information of the experience we just feel like we’ve been there but it could have been a dream or maybe we experienced it in the past.  The mystery leaves us feeling eerie and full of unanswered questions.  I envision my big idea to be found anywhere from a magazine to a museum.  I think the idea of deja vu is universal and can be applied just about anywhere.

2.)  An artist that influenced my work was Rodney Smith.  He captures surreal photographs especially in nature. 

Another artist/photographer that influenced me was Tram Davies.  His photos capture deja vu which is my big idea and I like his interpretation.  The elements in the picture below is a good representation of deja vu and the sensation that follows after experiencing it.

The last inspiration I used was from a blog I found by VioletJulia who takes Polaroid photos.  The images are tranquil and surreal.  The compositions are minimal and go well with the muted colors of the film.  I was influenced by her sense of color and lo-fi style.  I wanted to capture this in my photo.  There's something about lo-fi that creates a serene and dreamlike atmosphere that makes photos more natural and less commercial. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/violetjuliaart/


3.) The new photoshop technique I wanted to use was scanning painted images.  After scanning several images I ended up using the coffee stained paper method.  This was fun because I was able to use other medias when doing the project.  The tutorial I used was http://www.digitalartsonline.co.uk/tutorials/index.cfm?featureid=1699&pn=4.

I just used it for the how-to on scanning an image and what to do with it once in photoshop.  
 

Big Ideas

Big Idea Artists

Ruben Alterio, born 1949 in Buenos Aires, finished his art studies there before moving to Paris in 1976. His style, influenced by Velasquez, Goya and Delacroix, and his technique, oil on paper, is more of an artist than an illustrator. Similar to Toulouse-Lautrec he achieves a certain transparency and weightlessness by frequent use of turpentine.

I'm inspired by his use of dusky colors and the awkward, exaggerated poses he uses.  Alterio's illustrations are more than just fashion illustrations.  The way he plays with lights and shadows brings his illustrations to life.  Many of his illustrations remind me of Daumier because of their exaggeration.  His big ideas are capturing mood, elegance, and Parisian street life.  I'm inspired by his use of colors and movement of his paintings.  The colors he uses are muted and faded.  My big idea is serenity, I want to capture the feelings and mood through color and images.  I like how Alterio captures the mood of all his illustrations in a subjective way.  I want to capture the same about serenity; a mood that creates daydreams.  Everyone finds serenity in different places and I want to re-create that. 

 
Lile Alam is an artists who uses several types of media in her art including computer painted drawings and manipulated images.  Most of her paintings are big and colorful expressing happiness.  She captures happiness through landscapes and beaches; mostly created on the computer.  Her paintings inspire me because she uses bright colors to grasp the sea's beauty.  The large shapes are aesthetically pleasing and give you a feeling of peace.  I hope to convey my big idea of serenity by manipulating images and colors. 







http://www.lile.com/art/
http://www.bartsch-chariau.de/Biographies.php?content%5B0%5D=2&content%5B1%5D=80
http://www.artnet.com/artists/ruben-alterio/past-auction-results

Make up Tutorial

http://www.worth1000.com/tutorials/161629/make-up

Original 

Step 1: For this tutorial I first selected an image and opened in photoshop.  I chose this image because I wanted an older person with more wrinkles as more of a challenge.  It was difficult to make some adjustments because of how small the image was if I had to do this again I would of chose a larger image.

Step 2

Step 2: For this step I followed the instructions to press the Q key, then select Brush tool, usually round, with 0% hardness and desired diameter, depending on the picture. Then start ot draw the face, except the eyes, the nostrils, ears, and mouth.  This step was fairly easy and already made a drastic change to the original image.

Steps 3-6

Steps 3-6: The next steps were easy once I figured out the technical parts of layering and using the brush tool.  I just kept adding new layers for each make-up application and setting it to soft light.  For the eyes I  applied eyeliner with a small black brush.  For the eyeshadow I added an additional layer and used a darker color because anything light wouldn't show up.  This step was very similar to applying real make-up and I had to erase a few times.  For the lips I wanted a subtle change and just added another layer with soft light and decreased the opacity to make it look more realistic.  I used to different shades of pink and colored in the lips.  I then went to menu-filter-blur-gaussian tool.  I did this after each layer for a final touch.   

Steps 7-8

Step 7-8: For the next final steps I whitened the "T" zones and applied make-up to the cheekbones.  To do this I added another layer and started with the whitening of the "T" zones first.  I softened the layer and decreased the opacity first then selected a hard brush.  After I had the right size brush I chose a bright white and colored in the forehead, nose, under the lip, chin and cheeks.  Then I went to filter-blur-gaussian tool and increased the pixels to soften the white.  The next step is similar to whitening but instead its to highlight the cheekbones.  To do this I added a new layer and selected a hard brush.  After selecting the brush I chose a deep black and highlighted the cheekbones.  Then I went to filter-blur-gaussian tool and decreased the opacity.  This gave a bronze look to the cheekbones.

Step 9: This was the final step.  I went to menu-image-adjustments-color balance and increased the cyan blue to +18 and decreased the red to -15.  This was the final touch.  

Before

After

 As far as difficulties I ran into I found it hard to make some adjustments because of how small the image was if I had to do this again I would of chose a larger image.

Matthew Ritchie

Matthew Ritchie's installations of painting, wall drawings, light boxes, sculpture, and projections are investigations of the idea of information; explored through science, architecture, history and the dynamics of culture, defined equally by their range and their lyrical visual language.

                                    "The Universal Cell" Whitney Museum of American Art, New York 2005

                                     "The Universal Cell" Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2005

Matthew Ritchie's work takes a basic line and takes it farther in meaning, in space, and in motion. He is a lover of layers, both literal and conceptual. His art goes back and forth between computer generation and hand execution: Imagery is drawn, scanned, projected, traced, scanned again, and printed and animated in myriad ways. The large framed canvases build up layers of different mark making: stains, drips, loops, and squiggles that constantly play off the macro and microcosmic.

"Universal cell" represents how Ritchie uses animated imagery by  incorporating the computer into his work.  The denotation of "Universal cell" is a cell that was created as a module (a small piece of many drawings) using the computer.  The connotation of a cell being portrayed as a representation of how small we are in the universe.  This piece was created using several different drawings and the sculpture is only a small fraction of the image as a whole.  Ritchie wanted to sustain the drawing.  The structure built is a cell conveying how society imprisons us each individually.  We are locked in to a point of view; we build prisons.  If we do one bad thing, we go to jail.  Every crime has the same punishment.  The context of information we gain defines everything.  "Universal cell" characterizes everyone in their own prison and captures our biology, life, and social structure; both of which are challenges and opportunities.

Matthew Ritchie, Proposition Player, 2003, powder-coated aluminum, Minicel foam, rubber, adhesive, electronic components, one pair cast resin dice, custom-designed deck of cards, 42 by 42 by 98 inches

"Proposition Player" is an example of interactive art which is creating art using drawn imagery and the computer.  The denotation of this is five playing cards: Four aces and one joker.  The connotation of  the story being told in this fantasy world can be understood on a number of levels. For one, it recounts a scientific narrative of origins: the history of the universe from the Big Bang to the present. Ritchie also describes this history as a metaphor for the construction of art. He has, further, characterized his work as pictures of thinking.  The paintings most directly seem to depict consciousness itself. In the landscape of "Proposition Player,"contradictory ideas about the world appear and overlap on the same plane just as they often do in our minds. Scientific symbols are graphed alongside phrases from gambling and pictures from the tarot; human figures stand immersed in a murky atmosphere that could denote weather systems, technology or religious beliefs. The result depicts contemporary society less so than our condition of living in it. It represents the mental nude.

Ritchie's installations fuse unique narrative forms with our constantly changing factual understanding of our universe.

http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/ritchie/
http://www.artnet.com/artist/14305/matthew-ritchie.html
http://current.com/groups/culture/89742966_the-art-of-matt-ritchie.htm