Land art

Type-Mask - My inspiration in life is to be Happy - Weekly blog post 2

original picture provided by http://www.hdwallpapersinn.com/asian-girl-hd-wallpapers.html

"My inspiration in life is to be happy"- (Beyoncé) is a quote from her music video "Pretty Hurts"(written by Sia).
The song explores the emotions of being a beauty pageant, and implies that being a pageant may not be the golden dream. However the title of the song "Pretty Hurts"  refers to that of beauty being, not an essence of life, but a poison of life. However if one is happy about themselves, than they would be immune to that poison, as being seen as a "beauty" may not lead to the healthiest of lifestyles. If you are happy with yourself, then perfection, often associated with beauty, will translate to "imperfection is our perfection".

My poster, which I designed with filters and type-mask in Photoshop, tries to illustrate that message in digital art. The poster may contain an Asian beauty, but with the tools I choose to make the poster may convince you of another message. I assume the majority of you are not associated with Photoshop, and even I am just trying to explore the surface of it. Astonished by the tools of Photoshop, the artist, I, will tell you their story in creating this illustration.

I first started with a background image provided for me by "Hdwallpapersinn". Then I went to the Curves to altered the red, blue , and green to my liking. After, I went to the gradient map to play further experiment to a color effect for the theme. I choose I bright blue to orange, with the opacity at 11%. Then I duplicated that gradient, and blended it with "screen"to make to image brighter. I wanted to convey a bright image, to illustrate a mood of joy, and happiness. I felt that when I was changing the opacity, that I was able to change something so aggressive, to something so passive. It was almost like the true emotions of the image is hidden.

Finally I created I new layer, and filled it with pitch black. It was almost like  million gallons of tar were poured on this beautiful women. Then I went to the filters gallery and selected the sponge. I also went the pencil folder to play with more filters. Eventually, I had the perfect amounts of dots on that layer. That layer literally look like a smokers lung. All it took was one blending option "screen" to make it look like beautiful dirt particles. I even fiddle with the hue/saturation to make it even more pleasing. If I was just to take away these few steps then the true face of the image would be revealed.

The type-layer mask is also fixed, like something that is sketchy; never to be changed; unlike a clipping mask. It implies that someone can  cheat on the phrase for another their own gain. Is the emotion happiness contained? In fact, type layer mask is practically never used in the Photoshop world, simply because it cannot be edited. In brief, even if the Asian model is a beauty, illusions can be put in place to enhance her look.

Light bulb (illustrator)

"Adobe illustrator" vector Image 

Adobe illustrator is renowned for creating images with shape. The light-bulb may not look photo-realistic, as I was just grasping the concepts of illustrator, such as the gradient tool, and pen tool. In the end, I would say I am content with the process, but the result is not the greatest compared to the original image. Many people more skilled with the process, can make photographic copies of the original copy.

In this copy, I used to pen tool, and the gradient tool to get a basic value effect. During my experimentation, I got a better understanding of the pen tool as how it works. In the end, when I able to illustrate the highlights in a finer detail then when i first started with the contour of the lightbulb. I was able to utilize tricks, such as only using outlining half of the matter, and using Edit-Transform-reflect to do the other half. After, I played with the gradient fill to try to illustrate some basic value to the light bulb.

Original Image 

Stephen Harper Jest

In this Project I explored Photoshop's "selective" process which targets a certain mass of a image and allows me to work with it. In this project, the mass would be Stephen Harper; the prime minister of Canada, and I am to use the selective option to make a jest about him. First I must find a image of Stephen Harper,which is provided for me by Rick Mercer photo challenge. Then I used to selective tools (quick select) to create a mask for that image. The mask allows me to cover up to rest of the image with black, while I still remain in possession of the unmasked portion; in this case it would be Stephen Harper. Then I can define the unmasked portion better and fix any small outlining problems using the refine edge tool. This would allow me to shape the mask to better fit the mass I would like to work on. There may be some transparency with the image but I would fix that by duplicating that layer, and them merging it together. Then I would use the magic wand to fine tune the mass, by adding those unwanted pixels to the mask. When I am finally finished, the product would be an outlined Stephen Harper, and I can creatively put him on another image. 

In my image, I wanted to make a reference to valentine's Day, and took advantage of Stephen Harper's Facial expression. Thus the jest about him boosting to the audience; behind Victoria's secret model showcase event. If you are smart, the quote " I get more girls by accident than Obama does on purpose" is an allusion to another topic. An American president, Richard Nixon said this quote; not to Obama, but J.F Kennedy. Apparently during that time, there was rumors going on about how J.F Kennedy "got" more girls than Nixon. Nixon got envious, and thus it was the creation of this quote. I used white color to paint the font to fit in with the brightness of the background image. Photoshop's typing tools allows me to execute those styles of font. Overall, this project was a great learning experience of using the selective process, as well as exploring with font.