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.