Art Depiction and Evaluation

This image is by far my most significant accomplishment that I have created in our photoshop class. This depiction was part of my final project and was a continued product of my midterm. After investigating what I thought was reality in the World around us I came to the question what is reality for me? This photograph explains the everyday feelings that arise in my life everyday. The picture represents life as a student and the components that go into a students life on an average day. After creating this piece of art I realized that during this photoshop class I have developed a clear concept of the many ways reality vs. fantasy may be viewed. By creating a collague of art that is an influence of how the battle between reality vs. fantasy relates to my thoughts and ideas has created a clear view of  what I consider reality and fantasy compared to my classmates. The piece of art above shows my improvement in photoshop because it displays a complex background and extended manipulation with in depth meaning.

This photo represents a piece of my art that took an extensive amount of time due to the collection of photos to incorporate within the image to create one meaning. The most difficult experience that was an issue in the beginning of our photoshop class was making objects blend within a background and finding images that matched the meaning of the photo appropriately. This piece demonstrates my improvement with these specific issues that were of concern in the beginning of our class. In this photo I feel that I created a sense of happiness through bright colors and created a well put together project by blending all the images together to establish a related feeling.

The picture above is a piece from my midterm project and the picture on the right is one from my final and are both representations of how I view reality. A clear improvement was made from the midterm to the final, I was able to create a more complex background that was a continuation of the midterm. I took the same concept of using a hand from the midterm and incorporated it into the final project but furthering my skills by making a cast shadow of a rainbow.  After viewing these two depictions I feel a great sense of pride in my improvement of photoshop skills.

Statement for Final Art Project

Throughout our midterm projects which disclosed the concept of reality vs. fantasy, I discovered a more in depth meaning to this comparison. Reality vs. Fantasy can take many forms of view and for this assignment I wanted to express my view more personally through showing my everyday experiences and to also display what would be a fantasy land if one could exist in my life. By viewing this art I want the observer to get to know me through my reality scene but also be able to see what I would be like if no stress, worries, work, etc. were employed in my life.

            The visual strategy that I employed in my art are self-symbols as well as a distinct pattern that represents the mood to each individual picture. Also the backgrounds are present to add to the explanation of the feelings that are trying to be explained in the pictures. By looking at the different depictions they put off a sense of how life is viewed from both stand points. My goal is that the viewer should be able to reflect the same feelings that I present in my image.

            This work could be used as a way for someone to get to know me and also I feel that many other students and adults can relate to the feelings that the art depicts. The two depictions in a way are meant to be humorous and relatable to other individuals.

The work of photoshop professional, Neil Duerden, has greatly influenced my final project. His background depictions are of great quality that set a theme for all of his art.
Some sites that I have enjoyed visiting to view his work are:
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/talented-neil-duerden/
http://www.directoryofillustration.com/ArtistPortfolioThumbs.aspx?AID=3429
http://www.clickforart.com/artist/NeilDuerden/



This Photo produced by Neil Duerden is one that influenced my art work because the background illuminates the individual in the picture and also explains her mood. The bright and vibrant colors give a sense of happiness and beauty. My big idea is explaining my personality through a self-portrait and background effects and I feel that this picture is a great representative of both.

http://neilduerden.blogspot.com/


This is another work by Neil Duerden that influences someones personality through background depictions without taking to much away from the individual in the picture. The incorporation of bright colors and patterns makes this photo a great market tool that individuals are able to gather a meaning from.
http://www.webdesignerwall.com/general/talented-neil-duerden/


Chuck Close

His art is less referred to in my depictions but still an influence in the product. His unique patterns that give a sense of someone's personality are displayed in my final artwork.

Chuck Close is well known for his patterns and self portraits that all have entitled meanings. The patterns that are represented in my final art reflect the mood of the picture and the viewer is able to get a meaning out of the attitude displayed. By adding patterns such as Chuck Close it will add to my explanation of who I am and what I want people to know.

http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/images/Ken-Close2.jpg

The new photoshop techniques that I am attempting to try are framing, artistic patterns, word stamp, and colorful backgrounds. This website is a great tutorial for the ideas I have:

http://www.desktoppublishing.com/photoshoptips.html

Chuck Close and Neil Duerden

CHUCK CLOSE

http://daddytypes.com/archive/chuck_close_emma.jpg


http://www.tfaoi.com/cm/2cm/2cm646.jpg

http://www.platesandpalettes.com/platesandpalettes/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/bottle-caps-portrait-chuck-close.jpg

Chuck Close appealed to me because I liked the way he displays his art through one image and can make a meaning of a person without to much elaboration. His big ideas that are presented throughout his work are taking a portrait of a family member, friend, or even himself and incorporating a pattern throughout the image to display a mysterious story of that person. His work has inspired me to take a self-portrait of myself and display my identity through my thoughts and to add a simple pattern to my art. A question that came about after reviewing Chuck's art was, why did he generally use such dark colors in his artwork? Was it beacuse these people brought about dark thoughts? Did he not like them or was depression involved? This artist will inspire my final project because I want to incorporate his idea of taking a self- portrait and display more meaning to it with the addition of a pattern that fits my personality. Styles I may choose that are different than Chuck's are brighter colors and focus the image more on what fits my personality in stead of just black and white photos. Also I would like to incorporate some images into the background that are representative of my thoughts and life. Chuck Close's artwork will greatly inspire my final project because I would like to add a pattern to my image and focus mainly on my self- portrait and not so much the background like alot of his artwork.

NEIL DUERDEN

http://io-noi-aldo.sonance.net/blogpix/duerden.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3144/2743711582_a21f10c8b2.jpg?v=0

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/9334/72779425ty0.jpg

Neil Duerden is a well known photoshop artist that has alot of creative images throughout the media. His art appeals to me because the brightness and background images that are placed within the art all combine to describe the person in the picture. Neil's big ideas are to create photos that have multiple meanings and that are eyecatching to a viewer such as very innovative backgrounds that add more elaborate meanings to his work. His work has inspired me to add a descriptive background to my final project while incorporating the ideas of Chuck Close. After viewing Neil Duerden's work a question that arises is how does he create such  complex backgrounds while still keeping the original meaning of the picture alive? My final project will refelect Neil Duerden's due to his inspiration of such creative backgrounds. I would like to make a background in my final depiction that describes me but at the same time does not take away from the ideas of Chuck Close. My artwork will be stronger than Neil's because I want the main focus to be on me and not so much on the background so by using the background to display my identity to a minor extent will help to eliminate the distraction of a complex background.

Ohio State Practice Session

The inspiring link: http://www.worth1000.com/contests/26507/exaggeration-city-11

The Ohio State Universities, Terrell Pryor

The First Step that I used was to take the selection tool and crop Terrell Pryor out of a picture. The reason I chose him as the giant is that he is a player that Ohio State relys on to get the job done and in this picture he is the main attraction which demonstrates his importance. From the tutorial that was on http://http://www.worth1000.com// I took the idea on exagerration and applied it to the picture, only I feel that I chose a background that had less distraction and emphasized a direct meaning about the giant. The Picture above is a product of the selection tool technique which was then pasted into the picture.

Adding the michigan players was accomplished by using the magic wand and the freetransform selection. I made them small to show how unintiminating they are. They are placed at Terrell's feet to seem like it takes multiple Michigan players to take him down and it also shows a sense of defeat for the Michigan players. 

 I feel that Jim Tressel is a big factor to the success of our football team so I included him as a giant also to show his importance. This picture was meant to depict a practice session on Michigans Turf and also the domination of our football team. Jim Tressel was added with the selection tool and the contrast was changed to make him seem brighter than in the original. I also used the cropping tool to eliminate his hand motion of the right arm.

The text that is present in the sky was placed to make this picture seem like a poster. Posters made by nike and other athletic companies always seem to have a short saying that is blended in. I choose a color that I thought matched nicely but at the same time was noticeable. Overall I think that this picture represents the dominance that it was intended to display and also shows the rivalry between the schools. I applied many steps from the tutorial to this piece along with my ideas on a theme. The picture was meant to focus on the giant and the field only not neccessarily the background which sets my art aside from the others on the http://www.worth1000.com/ website.

The Blimp was added to involve the background more and show more support for the main theme. I used the magnetic lasso to outline the blimp so it could be pasted to the photo.