Creative Typography - Layered Photoshop Final Piece

Carrying on with my creative typography work in graphics after working in Photoshop and Illustrator, the next thing I was assigned to do, was to produce a layered image in Photoshop which reflected my chosen cliche: 'Honesty is the Best Policy'.

 

First before even looking online for photos, textures or any of that I jumped straight into my sketchbook and quickly sketched out with pins & markers a few test placements for what sort of image placement and text placement i wanted to work with. As I knew straight away I wanted to use the human form in some way with the text from my previous experimentation's in Illustrator/Photoshop.  

So after a quick plan I went online and I found a free high resolution image from the internet. In this instance I didn't want to have just some generic photo for my cliche of people just talking or someone being honest. I wanted to dive deeper into the meaning of the phrase as I've been doing with all the work. So I searched for someone who was distressed or looking down, as if they had been lied to or something dishonest had happened to them as I feel thats the true meaning behind the phrase. Even though Honesty is the Best Policy people still tell white lies or small half truths which spiral out of control. So I went on a search through www.freeimages.com and after finding a male [http://www.freeimages.com/photo/653183] and female [http://www.freeimages.com/photo/1044602] which i think both would work, i went on the search for a good texture that would work. Since I was thinking of human nature and how my cliche is very much part of human nature, lying and telling the truth etc it made sense to me on some level to use some sort of naturist texture such as trees, leave etc. After searching on www.lostandtaken.com i came across just what I was looking for [http://lostandtaken.com/blog/2013/9/10/giveaway-three-joomla-templates-from-templatemonstercom.html]. After a LONG wait for the college internet to download the high res wood and tree texture pack I started to edit away on Photoshop. 

 The first layered image i created considered of the male photo I found looking down or lost in this own thoughts. I didn't touch the image at all, however I did add a tree texture next. I chose a neutral coloured texture so its mainly just stripped back bark and I add a colour burn effect to it to help bring out the colour of that layer and changed the opacity to let the original photo pop through. At this stage I really liked the photos but next i faced my biggest problem and that being adding my cliche. I wanted to use my original cutout Photoshop piece of the cliche 'Honesty...' However i faced the problem that the colours were to vibrate and stood out for this piece so to try and counteract this I add effects. The main one being I changed the hue and saturation of the whole piece to a more rounded orange to bring up the dull colours and down the strong vibrate colours. This helped a little but not completely so I brought down the the opacity and got to the final piece above.
The only thing that I feel brings this layered image down is the cliche but that is down to the colours I chose in the original edit of letter. If I were to use this method again I'd make sure to choose and stick to a colour scheme from the very beginning or go crazy and have each one different.  

The second image works alot better I feel. This one is of the female image being suffocated and with that image I left it as it was off the website again like I did with the first one. Once again I added a tree bark texture but this time with the bark not stripped and added the colour burn again which with an opacity change really let the image below pop out and in this case it almost looks like the suffocating girl is trying to emerge from a trapping force or lie.

Lastly I went into Illustrator and quickly wrote up the cliche and added a brush stroke to it giving it a very rough feel which in my mind works very well with this piece and gives a final feel of it popping off the page but also falling back with an opacity change.

Out of the two layered images I created, and looking back at them both now. It is clear to me the second piece is mainly better than the first. This comes down to the use of text and how its not so abrupt and in your face which may have worked if I used an extremely striking photo but I was aiming for the more thought out approach where the viewer would have to think about this piece and the reasoning behind it. Such as why is the girl being suffocated by something and trying to break through this bark like wall.

Overall I like both these pieces and have learnt a great many things and can't wait to keep experimenting in Photoshop and creating unique and thought provoking pieces. 

Let the messy times begin! - Day 1 Animals from Nothing

Can't but to create a mess and end up with something interesting at the end!
But to start off before my first day i was given a brief in my final college interview to do a couple insect studies in collaboration with the Liverpool Museum in celebrating British insects, which at first i was a little hesitant about as well i don't like insects. But once i got some basically research done online just looking at photos of moths and beetles etc i noticed they have ALOT of detail close up. Especially the way beetles shells overlap and the different ridges shine in natural light.

So i set out to do a couple fast1-5 minute sketches to get a quick feels for the shapes and forms of the insects and then do a 30-60 minute final drawing of the insects i planned to take further.

After finding the insects i wanted to draw over at [http://www.uksafari.com] i produced the drawings as seen above and took them with me for my first day of college. I Really enjoyed tried to get the shells of the Devil Coach Horse Beetle, it was a bit of a challenge as all i had to work with was pencil and light effects but i feel like the final piece came out rather well. Comparing that to my Stag Beetle drawing i wanted to try something a little different and went with just a pen approach after completing a fast 1 minute sketch to get the proportions down i went for a more of an illustration feel for this once mainly focusing on the outer lines and bold details over shading and forming the true shape of the insect. This left it feeling flat but i really like the way it came out for a 2d version.
My favourite sketch was the moth as i knew i wanted to just go very creative with this one so i chose a moth with very plain tones, the Dark Bordered Beauty Moth worked perfect for this as its just a 2 tone colour moth and it let me experiment with different types of design on the wings and i like what i ended up with. Very simplest line work and a little shading which i feel sticks true to the original insect but adding my own twist onto it.

Now back to my first day after filling out all the usual forms and such we got down to business. We were told to look at our drawings and pick one which we would then turn into a 3d model made of of scrap/recycled materials left over from other projects in the college. At first i wasn't sure which drawing to pick as they're all rather flat but i though the stag beetle would make a nice wire piece but wouldn't other much in the ways of expression so i decided on the moth as if i needed i could change the design if needed as it was very much my own creation from the Dark Bordered Beauty Moth design. After pondering over the materials i dove straight in head first and I'm very happy with that i ended up with.

Having decided on a 3D Model of a moth i instantly wanted a solid centre and found two different colour sticks i bound together with wire and then also created 4 wings branching off from this. At first i wasn't sure how i was going to do the wings, either i wanted wire work using sticks and twigs until i found these little steel wool balls which when stretched out and wrapped around the original wire wing work gave me a decent base to work from. Moving on from there it was very much just experimenting which different materials threading them through the steel wool to add depth. I used the likes of string, different colour plastic and coloured lollipop sticks. Finally i added tinfoil to the bottom set of wings and the top of the stick middle piece to help break up the overpowering colour of the grey wool, which i feel worked out well and overall the final piece has a nice texture throughout. 

I'm not normally one to enjoy constructing things with my hands i prefer to have my ideas come through the median of drawing or painting but i really enjoyed experimenting with different materials here trying to add onto a drawing of my own creation.

Back to Education!

It's happened after 4 years of working, caring and thinking, plus a whole array of other activities i have finally took the plunge and gone back to finish my education. But for the fine eyed of you who have had a ganders about my blog already [and read the statement above] you'll know I'm what they would call a 'Mature Student' *DUN DUN DUH* Not to fear for those of you 'older folk' [me only being 21 years of age] It is never to late to get back into education and follow your dreams!
Mine of which wanting to pursue a career in Art & Design and i am doing just that thanks to a wonderful course (Access to Higher Education - Art & Design) and this blog is where i am basically going to be expressing my feelings, ideas and overall my whole journey back to education.

At the time of writing this I've just finished my first full week at my local college and utterly loving the course and the people. The staff our lovely and I'm not the only 'Mature student' i am in fact the youngest so never feel discouraged to get back into education if its what you want to do.

Anyway in short expect near weekly updates on all my work progress and thought to accompany them, after all I'm already have a week of work to talk about and show off to you.
So look forward to more posts soon.

Harry out.