Letterform Project

To create my letterform studies I first created a grid with each box measuring 3 by 3 inches. I then decided to use the letters that reflect my family: David, myself (Karen) and our son Elijah. For each letter I chose a different font and exaggerated it's width and height. I then made all the letters outlines so I could rotate and skew them even more. I also changed the coloring of each of the letters and assigned it a primary or secondary color. My inspiration was that it might be something you would see in a young child's room hence my 18-month old son's name being written out in the last six quadrants. I also chose to make the D&K part a little different from Elijah's name because I wanted that to represent that we were the adults. To do that I underlined our letters and made them a version of blue. I also chose a letterform that was more "grown-up". For Eli's letters I chose letterforms that were more fun and childlike. In addition, to make Elijah's name have something that connected each of the letters in his name I used the twirl tool to put a swirl in the top left part of each of his letter. (Top right in the case of the "i")

I also made a tinted black and white version of the original because that is what the assignment originally called for; however the second composition loses all the important parts of the design if the color is absent.

Contrast Studies Project- Monumental/Diminutive

For my contrast studies I chose to do monumental/diminutive compositions. I created these compositions by using the star shape tool to create a lot of stars. For the first composition I made one very large star compared to the small ones. I then gave the larger star a wider stroke then the smaller stars. I used the paint brush to give the stroke a brush stroked looked. I then filled in the stars with a gray tint and then used the Gaussian blur effect to give the stars a smooth look. For the bottom one I made one little star amongst many big ones. I also made the little star's stroke a little thicker then the larger stars.

Midterm Symbol Post

Collage Assignment

To create my collage I used a picture of some flowers that was taken about six years ago in California. I selected the flowers out of the picture using the quick selection tool. I then dragged them into my collage document. I then used the free transform tool to enlarge their size drastically. Next I used the filter gallery to apply the smudge stick effect to the flowers. I also used the blur tool to soften one of the edges of the flower. Next I used the brush tool to write out the word summer using my pen tablet. I then enlarged the word and rotated it to fit into the empty space between the flowers. Next I applied a drop shadow and an inner shadow the text. After that I used the liquefy gallery under the filter menu to give it a watery effect to the lettering.

Nothing makes me think of summer like bright flowers and happy, bright times!

Symmetrical Photo Assignment

To create my symmetrical image I used the bottom image as my base. My first step was to crop the image, next I used the quick selection tool to select the background. I then darkened the background by reducing the light level using the hue/saturation option under image adjustments. Next I inversed my selection and upped the saturation level of the pot. Finally I used the burn tool to burn the middle of the pot area that had lost color due to my camera flash.

The symmetrical photo was my hardest one because the items that I was using for my photos did not have any real symmetry except for the pots. That is why I did a close up of the top of the pot. If I had included the cactus then it would have lost it's symmetry.

Color Balance Photo Assigment

To create this color balance picture I cropped it in close to the cactus and them used the quick selection tool to select the areas not including the cactus or the pot. I then darkened the back my lowering the lighting with the hue/saturation option under photo adjusments. I then inversed my selection so I could lighten the pot and cactus. I again used the hue and saturation option to increase the saturation to make the colors jump out more. I then used the smudge tool to smudge the background and a little bit of the vase so it would create a slight frame around the cactus. I did not record the original number of the photo and that is why I did not post the original photo because it is hard to tell which one I used.

Asymmetrical Photo Assignment

To create my asymmetrical picture I cropped my original photo (which I did not post because I can't tell which one it was!) and used the quick selection tool to select the background. I then lowered the light level under the hue/saturation option under the image adjustments menu. I then inversed my selection and increased the saturation on the ornament. Next I used the smudge tool to smudge around the background and edge of the ornament.

Dominance Photo Assignment

To create my dominance image I used the bottom picture as my base. My first step in created this was straightening the picture a little bit. To do this I used the ruler tool which is found in the sub menu under the eyedropper tool. I drew a line to from one side to the other so that the vase would be straight. Next I selected the rotate canvas arbitrarily. This option is found under the image menu. I then cropped the image and used the quick selection tool to select the background. I then darkened the background using the light tool under hue/saturation option under photo adjustments. I then used the spot healing brush to get rid of the white dot on the vase that was as a result of my camera flash. I then used the burn tool to darken the cactus and the ornament. Finally I applied the cutout filter to the picture.

Repetition Photo Assignment

To create my repetition photos I used the bottom image as my base. Since I did not have multiples of anything to use in a repetition photo I had to create them. My first step in this process was to open my image and rename it and save it again. I then opened the image again and used the quick selection tool to select the cactus. I then dragged that selection over to my saved document twice. This gave me three cactus to line up in a straight line. I then merged my layers so that it would be a single image. Next I used the quick selection tool to select all three cacti. I then inversed my selection and lowered the lighting by using the hue/saturation option under photo adjustments. I then inversed the selection and increased the saturation a bit. Next I used the smudge tool to smudge the background. Next I used the burn tool to burn the cacti to a darker green. I then cropped the image to final cropping. Next I saved my final picture then applied a watercolor filter to create another final image. That is the first one you see.

Scale Change Photo Assigment

To create my scale photo I used the bottom image as my base. First I used the quick selection tool to select the background behind the rocks and ornament. I then inversed it and refined my edges so that there was a little space between the background and the ornament and rocks. I then inversed again and darkened the background using the light level in the hue/saturation option under photo adjustments. I then inversed once more and lighted up my rocks by upping the saturation level. I then used the smudge tool to smudge around the rocks and ornament to give it a whimsical effect.

Orientation Photo Assigment

To create my orientation photos I used the originals on the bottom as my base. I then cropped both pictures and used the quick selection tool to select the area around the edge. I then darkened the background by lowering the light levels using the hue and saturation option in the photo adjustments. I then inversed my selection and increased the saturation on my cactii. I then smudged the background of both pictures and then applied the watercolor filter effect. The reason that I did that was to hide my imperfect selection of the cactii.

Rythem/Movement Photo Assigment

To create my rhythm and movement picture I used the bottom image as my base. I then cropped that image to be a close up of just the ornament. I then used the hue/saturation option under photo adjustments to up my saturation levels so the colors would pop more. I then used the burn tool to try to get the orange-red color to be even more striking. I then used the sponge tool around the white parts of the ornament so as to give it more definition and the white area would be more distinct. I think the close up creates an effect of something moving in a downward slope.

Pattern Photo Assignment

To create my pattern picture I used the picture on the bottom as my original. I rotated it 90 degrees so the rocks would lay horizontal. I then cropped the picture to just the rocks. I then used the quick selection tool to select the background behind the rocks. I then used the hue/saturation option in photo adjustments to reduce the lightness on the background. I then inversed my selection and increased the saturation on my rocks. I then applied the sponge filter to give my rocks a more painted look. I then created a new document with a black background and moved my finalized rock picture three times over to the new document. I then reduced the size of one of them and arranged it so it would be on top of the other two. I then cut my new document again to suit my artistic needs.