Week 4- Isolation (pattern)

 

Craft:
I used the selection tool, rectangle, magic wand, and eraser tools to completely cut out the pixels of the objects from a larger picture and their background. Each image was approached independently depending on how simple or busy the backgrounds were. The easiest to cut out was the no-smoking sign because the background was almost all the same grayish-white color. The hardest to cut out was the grill lighter because much of it is shiny and reflects the color that it was against.

Concept:

The concept this week was to show an object as individual, being separate from the rest of the photo and it's other contents. The images will be used to create collages.

Composition: 

Each image is essentially in the center of the page. There is nothing surrounding the objects nor are they perched onto anything. Each object has something to do with fire. 

 

playing around with multiplying some of the cut outs

week 3- 10 fire photos

Craft:

I used my GE A1255 12.2 mp camera. For some images, such as the first on the top left, I zoomed in. Several of these images were just point and shoot. I intermittently used flash when it was appropriate. All of these are items that I found in my home, at school, or in public locations. The photos that feature a flame (1, 2, 7, and 10 from the left) I purposefully lit for the project. The candle was lit using the BBQ lighter. I assembled the hard candies in this specific pile, with those colors chosen from a bowl.

Concept:

The concept of the project was to capture things associated with fire! Inspirations for me included color. I think of reds often, probably associated with most emergency equipment and firetrucks. There are at least 5 out of 10 items here that include the color red. Red itself can say a lot. It says anger, emergency, intensity, pay attention! This is how I came up with using the pile of hard candies to represent flame. The actual fires are literal interpretations of the project. It's interesting that different sources of fire make a different kind of fire. The gas stove has a very blue tint to it, the lines are all drawing the eye right to it's pure white center. The candle has an ethereal feel to it, there's nothing angry about it. Fire can be calm! and of course, fire can have a purpose. We can use it to be warm, to cook food, or to boil liquids. The many functionalities of fire is something I am trying to capture.

Composition:

The objects are framed in the photos to be the center of attention. The eye is supposed to be drawn to the object, not to the background. I left some lead room for the objects, choosing not to have an extremely tight frame. These ten photos were chosen of the 20ish that I actually took. They are in no specific order in regards to how much I like the photo or how effective the photo is.

Week 2- Abstract

 

 

Craft:
I made this piece, titled "Tangles", Using several layers in photoshop. In each layer I chose a different brush and a different related color from a chosen 4 row spectrum. Before applying a new layer, I made the previous layer invisible. In the layer I used brush strokes and stamps to fill the screen. When all ten layers were created, I made them visible again and rearranged them until they made a desirable image.

Concept:
I titled this piece "Tangles" because to me it looks like a mess of hair. The gray strokes on top especially gave me this impression. The thick and thin and unfocused directions of the lines gave me the impression that this isn't just hair, it is hair that is tangled, it is not tame. I think the over all feel of the piece is dark rather than light. It's fighting.

Composition:
There was no rhyme or reason to how these marks are arranged. It was done blindly and then later rearranged. It  was finally rearranged like this because this order made me feel more about it as a cohesive image. It came together as looking like tangled hair to me only after the completion of the composition. it comes down to there are many layers, they are all in a blue-violet color spectrum, line is what is defining the "shape" and because of the many layers this piece has a lot of depth.

Week 1- Introduction

Hi!

My name is Laura Raymond. I am a super senior and looking forward to graduating in May. I am a Sociology major and an undeclared Art minor. I'm currently not involved on campus at all because when I'm not at school I'm working my terrible part-time job at a tourist trap. I used to be part of Campus Ministry, Improv Club, Service club, and for one year I was on SAB.

My future plans include working in the social services field with people who have disabilities. I would also love to direct and create retreats (the non-religious type), maybe I could even create a program for high functioning adults and teens with intellectual disabilities. That would be fantastic. I have done more retreats than I can count on my fingers and toes since High School, and I had the opportunity to create and direct the Senior Retreat last Spring. In the nearer future, I am applying to a volunteer Abroad program and hope to be in the UK this Fall! 

I'm in this class because I enjoy digital art, and art in general. Communicating with art is an interesting concept and it makes sense to me. I hope to learn new skills and to create images that are MCA worthy. This is my third class with Professor Peck, I hope it's as exciting as the other two!