Symmetry Essay

The purpose of this assignment was to create a building-looking image that was also symmetrical. To do that, we first took pictures of various things on campus. From those images, I selected the big red tent-like thing and duplicated the layer. I applied Flip Horizontal to give it the symmetric look and applied a certain filter. Then I took of a picture of a blue flame and kept copying and resizing to give it the symmetric, large flame look. I then made a layer mask of a "Wet Floor" sign and duplicated it to make it symmetrical. I then made copies of it and rotated them to give them the curved shape seen in the picture. A layer mask of a staircase completed the structure as it connected the two "arches" of the signs. The image was finalized with a background of the rocky pavement around Richland which was blurred.

Rotoscopy Essay

Rotoscopy, a technique used to add various effects and animations to movie clips, sounded difficult at first but turned to be not only easy, but one of the most interesting projects as well. I first filmed a 10 second clip of myself walking up to a mirror and then walking away from it. In Photoshop, I opened the Animation Window after diving the clip into 110 frames. Each frame was a layer of its own. The point of rotoscoping is to add a small effect to each frame. So I started with a Gaussian blur that thickened as I went through the first 10 or so frames.Then I added a small red brush stroke that moved around and turned different colors with each frame. When I was close to the mirror, I started adding filters like Photocopy, Dark Strokes, Glass, Diffuse Glow, etc. To make it more professional and interesting, I would contrast light colors after dark ones and add dark filters after brighter ones. I also used the Liquefy tool a few times when I was really close to the mirror to make it seem like I was morphing into some unknown creature. The climax came when I was nose-to-nose with the mirror. To those frames, I added a wide array of psychedelic, flashing colors, faded and strikingly clear filters, and glowing, expanding and contracting brush strokes. After that, it was more mellow with less colors and more blur effects toward the end.

Rotoscopy Assignment

Symmetry Assignment

Vehicle Essay

This assignment required me to take a photographed vehicle and transform it using symmetry, brushes, and my creativity. After putting a picture of Staples Center as my background and blurring it, I duplicated the layer that had my original car (the blue Nissan 350Z) on it. I used Flip Horizontal and integrated the two parts together to make a symmetrical vehicle. I then took the doors of a white SUV and integrated it into my image, placing them at near the tires. My third change involved creating a layer mask of the two doors of a hippie van and placing them in the center of my car. To embellish the image somewhat, I created a layer mask of the tires of a Ford F-150 and replacing the 350Z's tires with those.

With the gist of it done, the only thing left was to add effects. I took a picture of an antenna and a Dallas Cowboys banner, and combined the two to make it look like a flag. I downloaded a classic rock brush off Brusheezy.com and painted some classic rock images on the doors. Then I grass-brushed the entire top of the car to give it a fur-like effect. I then added Dark Strokes and Fresco texture effects to the doors, as well as Plaster effect on the tires, to give it a more flashy, unique, and surreal look.

Vehicle Assignment

Value Range Essay

My value range images were taken near the Richland canal. A classmate took pictures of me in various poses, all while keeping the camera focused on the same spot. So I had to make sure to stay within its range, as well be aware of the lighting.

The main challenge for this assignment was to integrate all three images into a single one and change the lighting for each image to give the final image a uniform blend of consistent lighting; that way, it would look more believable. The main tools I used were the Dodge and Burn tools. The dodge tool was used on the left and right images (on my face and arms), since they were partially darkened by shadows. The burn tool was used on the shadows. As well, I went to Lighting Effects and used different spotlights (such as Normal and 2'o clock) to focus more light on the left and right images. The finished product looks, in my opinion, pretty believable.

Comic Book Essay

This comic book is basically a montage of all my images from Unit 2, all compiled into a comic book. I have my Past and Future images on the left, my Value picture spanning the third of the page, and my Space image on the bottom left corner.

To make the starbursts, I used the polygonal lasso tool the best I could. I then added text to the starbursts using a nice comic-book style font. The background was made using a Photoshop grass brush and giving it a red-orange color. For the title colors, however, I used a gradient.

Comic Book Assignment

Shape Essay

For this assignment, we made two self-portraits from the same original picture. One image was to be an "ancient" version and the other was to be a "futuristic" version of ourselves. My first image is of myself in a 1960s setting, complete with hippie outfit and hair. Standing next to a hippie van decorated with psychedelic colors and designs, I sport a thick mustache along with a Led Zeppelin-type hairstyle. Instead of keeping the blue sweater I had on, I created a layer mask of a Sergeant Pepper's uniform and fitted it over my body, rotating it at the proper angle to fit my body perfectly. For the hair, I used a grasslike brush and increased the thickness to make it more frizzy and volumized. The mustache and beard were created the same way, except with lower brush thickness and with a grayish tinge to it rather than a full black hue. For further effect, I made a layer mask of a flower necklace and applied that to the main image.

The futuristic version is basically a mutated alien version of myself; I used several random techniques to achieve this effect. I first got a techno background that I made duplicates of and flipped horizontally and vertically to make it more interesting. I then used the Liquefy tool to mutate the eyes, nose, and mouth. After adding some features with brushes here and there, I added a Charcoal effect from the Filter tab, which made the image more grainy and of a black-and-white texture. I finished up by creating a layer mask of an antennae and applying it to the main image. Looking back at the finished image, I don't like the Charcoal effect much, but can't figure out a way to remove it.

Value Range

Past and Future Assignment

Past Self-Portrait

 Future Self-Portrait

What I Learned - ARTS 1311

To say that I learned a lot more about the fundamentals and principals of computer design than I expected in these four weeks would be a major understatement. We started off with some drawing and line techniques, then moved on to creating virtual space and experimenting with brushes. I found the virtual space very interesting, as  I could bring in objects from various images and combine them into one. It created different illusions in terms of depth and space. Using the dodge and burn tools effectively was key to creating a realistic image. Practicing with shadows was also important. I learned that artists can distort the lines in an image to place emphasis on certain areas of the image. By changing the foreground and background, one can focus the viewer’s attention to certain parts of the image. Brushes are another useful tool; they add fill, texture, and color. Brusheezy.com is an excellent website for downloading different brushes and stamps; they really add a unique aspect to the image. I found one that stamped faces of classic rock stars. The only limit is one's creativity.

This painting is composed only of single lines.

 This is a great example of using lines in an image to create texture. The painting is by Picasso.

An example of a virtual space image.

Arts 1311 - Line and Brushes

A variation of the previous image.

Arts 1311 - Line and Brushes

Arts 1311 - Virtual Space

Arts 1311 - Rico Cluster