INSPIRATION + BRAINSTORM
FIGURE PHOTOS
I listed out keywords, concepts and emotions I wanted to convey, and gathered inspirational photos. With the themes in mind, I asked a friend to take pictures of me with dramatic, dance poses. Then narrowed the photos down, ending up with 3 final figures.
SILHOUETTE OF FIGURES
Using illustrator, I traced the figures with pen tool in order to make a silhouette. With that, I was able to cut out the background on photoshop, leaving only the figure on the page. And then converted the figures from colored to grayscale.
LANDSCAPE + NYC SPACES PHOTOS
(Close up image)
(2nd Image)
(3rd Image)
Before all of this, I took photos of NYC spaces of areas near Central Park, Midtown, East Village and SoHo to incorporate into the figure. I then categorized each image so that it would help convey the emotion I had in mind for each figure more clearly.
From there, I experimented different unlimited combinations of photos altering and making use of the opacity, effects, gradient and eraser tool.
REFLECTION
Despite the outcome, I have to say I didn’t learn new techniques on Photoshop and Illustrator other than the shape builder tool. The making of this piece wasn’t too difficult, however, choosing which figure and landscape photos to use for each image were the toughest part of the process. However, I would say that I have learned to think about every little detail in the photos: color, composition, value, pairing… in which all have great impact on the emotion and state I want to convey. Overall, I like how all three turned out, especially the close up figure. I am most proud of the smooth, unnoticeable blending of the images. However, I feel like I could’ve done better in terms where it fades, especially on the third image with the flowers and leaves. And somehow, I feel like the more I look at it, the more chaotic the inner landscapes are. Maybe I could’ve simplified it a little or make some of the photos more opaque.
