Up

The sky looked beautiful the other day, so I naturally took a picture of it. With a picture so simple like this, I could have done a variety of different effects on it. But I chose to first crop it, because there were a few distracting trees in the corner. I also brightened the picture, to make the colors softer.

Then I began to play around with the different filter effects, until I settled on one called Cubism. Cubism had a very interesting effect on this image, because it is very versatile. In one value, it made the clouds appear cartoon-like. I would have chosen the cartoon clouds, if there were perhaps a bird in the sky as well. But I adjusted the values and got a much more artistic, painter-like outcome on the clouds.

I'm pleased with this project because it shows how the smallest tweak of a value can drastically change an image. The filter itself even changes! This image almost looks as if someone had painted it in the Impressionism style!

The Wiz

I thought it would be fun to make a composite image using my face, and three friends, on top of classic movie character, from The Wizard of Oz.

For each of the transfers, I had to open each person's head (image, that is!) and create a duplicate layer. I then deleted the original, and erased the background of each image. For the tin man's face, I had to take it one step further and adjust the saturation, to make his skin grey.

I then selected each of the heads and pasted them as new layers on the character image. For each individual layer, I adjusted the opacity to 60%, so I could better align the images. I also scaled the images to fit, and then erased whatever was left over.

Knowing how to create a composite image is a pretty neat skill to have, since you can make it appear as if you are someone, or somewhere, that you really aren't!

Although, I hope people do not abuse this skill...

Flamenco

This piece I originally created during the "semester", but I really like how it came out. I took the image of a flamenco dress and traced it.

I first had to add a transparent layer over the original image to draw my outlines and fill in the actual dress, since I did not want to draw right on top of the original image.

I found it to be easier and more time efficient to use the free select tool and bucket fill, than to try to use the paintbrush for the entire drawing. It was also easier, and more appealing, to use the ellipse select tool to create the polka dots, instead of making uneven circles by hand.

Although my project is not 100% identical to the original image, I feel that this better captures the spirit and liveliness of flamenco, which is what this dress was created for. The color is vivid and saturated, and the polka dots and ruffles are fun, like a fiesta.

Beach at Sunset

As I initially experimented with all the different filters,I particularly enjoyed the effect of the SuperNova filter.

I selected this picture, taken during a family vacation in Florida. The colors were kind of muted to begin with, so I adjusted the saturation to make it more black-and-white.

I then applied the SuperNova filter, and moved the coordinates to take the place of the original sun in the photo. I also used a small amount of random hues of yellow, to maintain the sun quality.

I really love how the contrast came out in this project. It shows how mellow the beach was that day, as it approached sunset, while the sun maintains its strength and power.

A Word About the Weather...

It's Texas. It's the summer. And it is HOT.

I thought I'd do a play on some typography

to further show how incredibly hot is it outside.

First, I used the font Century Gothic, in all capital lettering, to write the word "heat". I then made the size 80 px. I could have made it a little larger, and it would have equated to the temperature outside! I also went with a warm color scheme of orange and yellow.

I applied a Script-Fu called Glowing Hot, which added a glowing layer and a background layer to my text layer. This effect almost gives off the appearance of livestock branding, which is how most of us feel anytime we sit down in the car, or place our hand on the smallest piece of metal.

Jacob and Gabrielle

For my first project, I chose one of my favorite pictures of all time. And of course, the photo editing skills I have learned this summer have improved its appearance even more. First, I adjusted the photo's lightness, since it was a little bit dark. I also adjusted the saturation, because I thought it would make the final "old photo" image appear more worn and authentic. I then cropped the photo, but not too much, since I still wanted a fuzzy border, and did not want it to cut off the focus of the image. I applied a filter called Old Photo, which made the image grainy and in a sepia tone. This is the final product. I thought this would be a good first image to share because it not only demonstrates my skill and creativity, but also my own aesthetic. I really appreciate juxtapositioning in art, whether it be graphic or even dance. I am pleased how this picture of two young people at a party has a worn, old appearance.