Monday, July 26, 2010

Text Clipping



I took this photo on a trip to Chicago and added the clouds in the background. I used the word "Chicago" to clip parts of the buildings and colorized it to a striking lime green color on the greyscaled background.

Pop Dots



I took a picture of this strange looking statue at the Art Institute in Chicago. I applied a pop dot effect to the background using the Halftone Pattern filter and the gradient tool.

Masks - Continued

Plugins




I downloaded the AFX Dreamy Photo plugin from the Adobe website. It claimed it would create a dreamy effect to my flower photo, which I took at the San Francisco Zoo. I found the tools of the plugin to be insufficient and quite useless. It didn't have a good outcome whatsoever because it merely made the photo look like a blurry mess.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

HW10 - Vector Surrealism



I found this homework assignment interesting because it allowed me to create a piece that can have many meanings to different people. It might not even make sense to some! I used the pen tool to outline the face silhouette and used the gradient tool to create the fill color. The teardrops were also made from the pen tool. At first, it was difficult to figure out how to create the straight lines with the curved edges, but with a little practice, I got the hang of it.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Midterm



I selected the fashion designer, Coco Chanel, as my topic. She is the most influential female fashion designer of the 20th century. She wasn’t exactly a feminist but her boyish ensemble, known as the Chanel suit, made history. It consists of a knee length skirt and a boxy jacket both worn with a large pearl necklace. Also, she introduced the legendary little black dress, which can be worn day or night. Coco Chanel died at the age of 88 in her room at the Ritz Hotel, but not without a lasting legacy. One of her famous quotes is as follows, “Fashion passes, style remains.” She revolutionized the fashion industry by freeing women from wearing uncomfortable corsets and frills that were popular during the Edwardian era. At that time, women were expected to dress up on every occasion and presently themselves elegantly. In response, Coco reshaped the perception of elegance and achieved liberation for all women. Her designs were marked by simplicity and elegance.

The message I want to convey in my collage is about how Coco Chanel transformed and revolutionized not only the fashion industry but also the freedoms of women. By having the Victorian dressed woman in the background it conveys the past and a dying fad. It is greyscaled to represent a duller period for women in which their clothes constricted them in more ways than one. The uncomfortable outfits they were expected to wear limited their daily activities as well as their freedom to decide for themselves. The foreground exhibits a colorized image of Coco Chanel and her legendary creations. Through these contrasting images I want to convey the message that her new style liberated women from the restricting attire and also paved the way toward a new era in fashion.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

HW8 - Retouching






For this homework assignment, I completed two of the three textbook tutorials on retouching an image. I learned how to use some of the editing tools such as: dodge, burn, sponge, and history. I used the dodge tool to brighten the dark shadows and the burn tool to darken overly highlighted areas. Also, I removed red eye with the red eye removal tool and corrected the greenish tint in her hair with the brush tool. In the third picture, I used the healing and patch tools to remove the white scratch marks and moles on his face.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

HW6 - Typography


(Click to enlarge)



In this weeks assignment, we had to create a thematic composition which included relevant type such as a poem, quote, lyrics etc. My typography includes an excerpt from the song "Wild Horses" by the Rolling Stones because I thought it captured the mood of the scene perfectly.

Friday, July 9, 2010

HW5 - Masks


(Click to enlarge)


In this homework assignment, I created a mask for the giraffe image using 'Calculations' and 'Levels'. I composited the selection onto a sunset background to compliment the giraffe's colors. Masking was difficult for me to understand at first but as I practiced more, it became more manageable.

Monday, July 5, 2010

HW3 - Duotones




In this homework assignment, I composited the walking man onto the lonely road image. I found that the levels of the two images were pretty close to each other and required minimal adjusting. However, one issue I had was whether or not to copy the shadow on the ground onto the road image. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't sure if the lighting would make the shadow look realistic. But in the end, I think it turned out pretty well.







Other Duotones: