BW to Color

For the black and white to color photoshop assignment, I was initially excited about it since I like choosing the fun and appealing color themes. I choose a base color of coral pink. I thought it would “pop” every well. The pink was inspired by my nail color in the original picture. I liked all of the pinky tones and the colors that looked very visually appealing. I chose to do the themes, square, complementary, and triad. I colored objects that were completely random, there was no deeper meaning behind them. My favorite item to color would have to be my pants. I thought it was cool adding colors to different lines/pockets. I would definitely buy jeans that looked like that, so that was cool being able to design and utilize photoshop in that way. I wish I had an iPad and a pen to be able to achieve the details that I use I could’ve. The hardest challenge was trying to color small objects since it was difficult and time-consuming trying to maneuver around on a laptop. I added a heart in the sunglasses shades just to add something fun and different. 

Total Hours to complete: 4.5 hr

Tag Print

Artist Statement:
I created this tag print using my logo from the previous project. Following the tutorial on how to add different layers and effects like adding and editing the paths was the hardest part. I am not sure if I fully understand the meaning or the explanation on why I did half of the things, such has to have the path in "make-work path". Through all of the confusion, I came up with this tag print as my final project. It was required to add scratches and spray, however, if given more freedom I would've like to add more of an abstract feel by adding different variations of shapes, lines, and even possible some flowers to feminize it. I adding brush strokes in an octagon -sorta pattern to give the tag more dimension. I choose to add a variation of bright and dark colors to showcase both the dark sky and the bright stars that the libra constellations are found in. In addition, I choose colors based upon Easter time since that is coming soon. Overall, this was a very complicated process but I think that is mainly to not having in-person classes and only having an instruction page to follow. I think it would be beneficial to have followed along with a screen recording and a sound over. This project, in combination with all the three components,
took me about 3.5 hours to complete.

Self Portrait Project

"Different Is Okay"

Artist Statment:

I am titled this self-portrait, “Different Is Okay”. I was inspired by cubism art. In a lot of cubism portraits, there are lots of different shapes and distorted body parts. I wanted to send the message that being different is okay because I am very passionate about advocating for people with disabilities. I’ve worked with people from ages 3-22 years old all having some sort of disability, either being cerebral palsy, autism, down-syndrome, etc. Sometimes when people have a disability it can affect their physical appearance, so that is where my inspiration came from.  I wanted to show myself in two ways.

 The hardest challenge I faced was trying to manipulate hair-like texture and color. I wanted to keep the color scheme simple and not too overwhelming to create a piece that was tranquil, appealing to the eyes, all while sending a powerful message. I choose to do the side of my face because it contributes to the notation that people “have two sides to them” and are “two-faced”. I liked creating the abstract version of my face. I was really fun, I choose a variety of shapes and overlapped them. I thought that enlarge the facial features would stand out and be more recognizable. 

I added “glows” to the faces to represent that everyone has a special glow to them. That one’s personality can shine/radiate through and that beauty can come from within. The “rays of light” represent the attention that needs to be brought to individuality in regards to differentiation. The rays cast a light onto the faces, as society needs to “wake up” and accept and embrace differences within people, especially our disabled community.

Drafting: 1 hour

Execution: 4 hours

Logo Project

 Artist Statment:

My logo represents me by including symbols that represent the Libra zodiac sign. I am a Libra and I feel like that characterizes my personality and perspective in a “nutshell”. I recreated the constellation that is associated with Libras as well as the libra cryptocurrency symbol which represents how I am driven and passionate in my work. I choose to add colors that I thought were my favorite to represent myself but also appealing to the eye. I wanted the colors to compliment each other and not have too many harsh contrasts. Libras are known for balance, so I also wanted to replicate that into my color choices as well. The logo planning process in regards to creating the design took about thirty-five minutes to draw a variety of different designs, fifteen minutes to stretch three samples of the initial design, and a little over one hour to add color to the final logo. Overall the project took about two hours.

Gradient Project

Artist Statement:

I was inspired by my cat, Fury, so I choose to recreate a picture of him. I didn’t realize how hard it would be to try and recreate his fur pattern. I originally thought it would be a good “object” to recreate because of the natural gradients his fur has. This project took me about 3 hours to complete. It was very frustrating to try and recreate the lines to certain colors and even trying to find similar colors to his fur. I found that even using the eyedropper tool, the color wasn’t as vibrant or true as I would’ve liked it. I originally choose my cat with one eye since I thought he would be an easier choice. Although it turned out that the eye was the easiest part. I enjoyed making the ears, the gradient mesh seemed to work better in my favor for that part as well. I liked how using the gradient mesh tool looked on the ears, mouth, and nose. However, I would’ve liked to use a different tool may be the “traditional” gradient tool to better emulate the fur patterns and for a less stressful process. I believe it would’ve made the picture look smoother and more cohesive as well.

Calligram Project

It Get's Wild

Concept Statment:

It Gets Wild is inspired by the words of “Wild  Nights - Wild Nights!” by Emily Dickinson and by the famous painting The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt van Rijn and also The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh.

Inspiration:

Artist Statment:

The inspiration for It Gets Wild came originally from the words of “Wild Nights - Wild Nights!” by Dickinson which is viewed as a “romantic and permissions” poem, I did not want to take the obvious appearance of doing a heart. When I read the poem I imagine that two lovers are on a boat from the content of words and phrases like, “port”, “compass”, “rowing”, and “Ah- the- sea!” The poem is titled “Wild Nights”, and a wild night at sea immediately makes me think of The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by van Rijn. It was from there that I decided to use the words of Dickinson in collaboration with attempting to recreate van Rijn’s painting but I wanted to involve an aspect that made it seem that the picture was "alive”. I attempted to recreate the technique Vincent van Gogh used in The Starry Night to have peace become vibrant and to life. It Gets Wild took about five hours to create. In my original design, I  wanted the background and certain aspects to resemble the style of van Gogh’s Starry Night. I wanted to emulate the brush stroke through words to create the appearance of multiple layered strokes. However, I was only able to achieve that in the section that represents light. When I attempted to manipulate that technique when building the ship, the overall product wasn’t as sharp, crisp, and precise looking as I would’ve liked it. For the ship, I decided to use a variety of large and small font sizes depending on the amount of detail I wanted in that specific area. It was important for me to involve and encourage some type of movement within the piece which I was able to do through the same of the sails and the wave. I want the piece to feel as lively as the original.

Illustrator CC Tutorials

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKBRTRPT25c
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7O-dp0L_Qo
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqjZR_v37K8