Social Injustice Project: Power of One Movie Poster

For this project I created a movie poster based on the movie and book The Power of One. I took several images from the movie and arranged and placed them underneath a stencil created from the image of the number one. Using the real movie's cover as a reference, I added the major actors' names, the quote, and the title using the text tool. I'm not a huge fan of the novel or the movie, but I found this project to be rather enjoyable. Next year I hope other students will choose to do this project, or create a movie poster for a film of their own choosing. 

Images found from: 

http://www.moviedir.com/images/cache/screen_image_233353.jpg

http://content.internetvideoarchive.com/content/photos/085/003591_22.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbuupriuEeSayNQnprCrWZrrH1wfwtKX3OPtBolvX-rWqFS9b__0wqaSsdGOYpnX9N0eMXDTWwzwaPB9y1vmwwqEyTlysxA38rVxx3hv-2UcWqHNG1-A1093UvwuNKTolBLv2pFcd2Pr2Q/s1600/Guy+Witcher.jpg

http://cineplex.media.baselineresearch.com/images/285801/285801_large.jpg

http://www.moviegoods.com/Assets/product_images/1020/273507.1020.A.jpg

http://stagevu.com/img/thumbnail/yxbfejhkuvpubig.jpg

http://usabilitynews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/legibility_07.jpg

http://www.theworldofbrycecourtenay.com/images/bg.jpg

http://oyster.ignimgs.com/mediawiki/apis.ign.com/ratings/9/98/Rated_pg13.gif

Color Wheel Projects

For this first project I designed it based on the covers of the Professor Layton game series, using key objects from each game as the stencil and the cover of each game (with the exception of The Eternal Diva, which is a movie).  After creating the stencils and applying them to the image I colored them by using a photofilter, but the color still felt too weak so I used to color replacement tool as well and gave each stenciled image an outer glow for even more impact against the stark black background. To complete this project, I decided to put the iconic Professor Layton logo in the center and arrange the images around it.

The second project was created using the same method except this time using my own silhouettes and bits of the background from the stencil as the actual image. I created this background using the gradient tool and an inner glow effect on the individual images as well as an outer glow effect.  Layout was especially difficult with this project because I loved all my image but they all looked best in the same section of the project, which would be too crowded. So I tried to still maintain balance while keeping all my images as close to where I originally wanted them as possible.

Digital Photography at the MET: Reflection

Source: http://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/view?exhibitionId=%7b2E988323-B8DF-496F-B72A-E999E567FABA%7d&oid=190056911&pg=2&rpp=20&pos=36&ft=*

This is an Untitled work done by Anderson and Low in 2009, but with a print date of 2012. I really love this image because it looks like something straight out of a hyper-realistic anime or manga. I've really loved reading Japanese comics and watching the animations since middle school. Manga and Anime are actually a big part of what inspired me to start drawing in the first place, so similar projects always have a soft spot in my heart.

The photographer's most recent  project Manga Dreams actually involved working with teens and young adults to create similar portraits based on the stylized characteristics of manga and anime.

Authentic Project

For this project we were assigned to create an image using nothing but our own original photos and drawings.

This project was inspired by one of my friends who got me into the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, which features the evil Count Olaf as it's main villan who happens to have a  tattoo of an eye on his ankle. The friend that introduced me to the series often wears the outrageous and awesome high heels, which inspired me to draw her with the VFD eye tattoo.

First I sketched out the basic outline, then went back to add the color and color effects, and then finally I made the background using some of the more unusual brushes in very large sizes and added in the caption.

My other project was inspired by this photo I've often used before, but I decided to doodle a menagerie of things that were important or relevant to me and my imagination, using the same process as before. 

Batesville Day T-Shirt Design

My submission for the Batesville Day T-shirt contest was inspired by the apple butter the area is known for. I picked an image of a jar and adjusted the threshold to give the splotchy black and white look. Then I went back in with the text tool and added in the label and other text. 

Typeface Project

For this project I went out and took pictures of my hands making different letters (this required a little practice with the self timer on the digital camera). Then, I brought all the images into photoshop and desaturated them. Then I went back with the history brush to color back in the areas that made up the letter so the letter would stand out more from the background and the rest of the hands. Then I went into each image and selected the area around the letter formed and put that in its own layer. This way the letter was the center of the image and much bigger and more noticeable. Finally, I arranged them all as 2x2 in squares with the help of the ruler tool and voila.

Chair Project

For the first image I took samples of past projects of my own and dragged them onto the same canvas as the chair. I turned down the opacity of all layers, except the chair layer. so I could see the contours of the chair which I would have to warp the other images to fit. Using the warp tool I adjusted each image to fit the body of the chair, then went back using the dodge and burn tools to create highlights and shadows. Then I created a shadow for the chair by using the drop shadow effect and played around with the settings until I found I shadow I liked. Finally, I re adjusted the opacity of all the layers and voila. 

I think this chair turned out okay overall, I felt obligated to use multiple projects in the chair for some reason, but I would have much rather just used one. I think the multiple images made it look too much like a patchwork quilt.

I followed the same process for this chair, only I left the opacity a little on the light side, because it made the Peanuts comic strips feel more vintage and faded. Unlike the first chair, the images here seem to flow together more nicely so it doesn't feel as "patchwork-y". This time I added in a floor and wall also using the warp tool to adjust these. It was really difficult to even get it to look vaguely realistic. The shadow also ended up being a bit of a mess, but overall I'm pretty proud of it.

Comic Project

So this project was inspired by my friends who taught me how to play this weird card game called Mao. The rule seems pretty simple at first: "The only rule I can tell you is this one." but it quickly gets pretty complicated. The game basically functions like Uno, but with some other odd rules thrown in. For example, there can be verbal cues you have to say, or actions you have to perform when you put down a certain type of card. Every round the winner gets to add in a new rule, but doesn't tell anyone what it is. Weird and frustrating as this game can be, I always have a good time. 

Unfortunately,  the idea of having a good time did not apply to the process of making this project. I had the (what I thought was a) brillant idea to draw my comic out by hand from scratch, since that's a hobby of mine anyway. I felt like I was wrestling with this project tooth and nail the whole way. Nothing seemed to want to go right, and granted that it's hard to color on a tablet you're not used to, by the end I was so frustrated with myself I had considered throwing something across the room a couple of times. 

But that's just how some things are sometimes, luckily, I did manage to finish and now I can move onto to something new. 

Midterm Project

Rather than use several images, I chose to take one huge image and break it down into little 1in x 1in boxes, each on their own layer. To keep myself from getting confused (because that's over 35 layers already) I labeled each row with a letter and each column with a number so I knew exactly what each square was of and where it was located. I tried to keep most of the big changes on the inside of the flower and outside surrounding it, because I wanted to keep the petals looking like, well petals.

Overall, I was going for something that would comprised of 35 completely unique squares but formed something unified and recognizable; much like how people are. They're made of all these interesting different sides and little quirks that form together to make one personality. I'm very pleased with the end result and enjoyed this project.