Computer Art and Design 1

Computer Art and Design 1 focused on Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.  These are some of my better works done in Fall 2010.

This was an in-class assignment but I liked learning how to put different backgrounds on images.

This assignment was using an image (the hazard mask) to make a brush setting.  We then used that brush as a stamp to apply to an urban setting photo (the grungy door).  We were taught how to make the mask faded in certain areas and put scratches on it to make the stamp look more like it was really a stencil someone sprayed all over the door.

I really liked this assignment.  We were told to do something with an Andy Worhol vibe.  (If you don't know who he is, shame on you!)  We could also channel other Pop Art artists.  I used the threshold tool in Photoshop for the background, which was originally a really cloudy photo.  I applied a starburst effect on the orb.  This piece was inspired by a scene in Lara Croft: The Cradle of Life.

My idea for this project was just to float away (also the title of the piece) from all your problems.  The aerial image was after a flood (probably after Katrina).  You can see the muddy water surrounding all the buildings and trees.

The metamorphosis project was inspired by Greek mythology.  There's a story about the god Dionysus turning a bunch of sailors into dolphins.  I decided to sorta recreate this scene using Photoshop. 

This assignment I actually did wrong.  The artist we were supposed to be inspired by was Aubrey Beardsley. If you are thinking about googling him, don't just yet if you are on a computer that is monitored.  Some of his stuff gets pretty explicit in a sexual way.  Most of it is humorous, but your boss might not appreciate the graphic nature of some of his works.

Anyways, Beardsley doesn't incorporate midtone values in his works.  So that's why mine isn't "correct."  But I did like using the Bamboo tablet for this assignment!

Lastly, the M.C. Esher inspired assignment.  When presented with the criteria for this assignment, I about had a panic attack trying to think of how to do something as elaborate as Esher's works in only a week.  But I found this assignment to be really fast and easy using a little trick.  I created a design (black box, one large star and two small stars) to rotate.  Once I had a completed rotation, what we graphic designers like to call a "design unit," I copied this unit a bunch of times and lined them up in the correct places.  Colors were added using the paint tool.

More soon! :-)