Narrative Visual Perspective in Digital Media

Photoshop Painting

Photoshop Watercolor Painting

We learned how to quickly create watercolor paintings in Photoshop using a real photo and a little bit of computer magic.

Photoshop Painting and Artist Statement

My “pastel painting” that I made in Photoshop.

Since the beginning of Digital Media, I’ve struggled with two things–the pen tool and, of course, the brush tool. I’ve never even been that great at drawing on paper, let alone on a computer. That’s why completing this project felt like a personal win–with completing it, I’ve come closer to conquering the brush tool!

I wasn’t comfortable enough in my own skills to paint a standalone painting. That’s why I decided to extend our first assignment in the Photoshop painting section–“tracing” an image. I chose this striking image of a knife sharpener because of his brooding expression, the colorful knives and towel, and the bright sparks coming off of the sharpening wheel. I snapped this picture in an open-air market in India that I went to when I visited my sophomore summer.

This assignment made me appreciate digital artists much more. I never realized the amount of work that went into creating such pieces. I will definitely be exploring digital pastel painting more in the future!

Photoshop VR 360 Gallery

We learned how to use Photoshop to create 3D spaces. In this digital museum, I’ve displayed four of the digital Photoshop paintings I made during this unit.

Before and After Slider

This before and after slider is called the TwentyTwenty feature; it isn’t baked into WordPress, so we had to use custom code to build it. To implement it, we used HTML, CSS, Javascript, and jQuery. Above is my landscape watercolor painting with a horizontal slider. I used Photoshop to make this; I applied filters and texture to this image, and touched it up afterwards, to create a watercolor effect. Below is my portrait pastel painting with a vertical slider. I also used Photoshop for this painting, but instead of applying a filter, we painted over it by hand to create a pastel painting.

Sunset Photo Sunset Watercolor

Knife Sharpener Photo Knife Sharpener Pastel

Multi-Layered Art Project

During this project, we used our Adobe Illustrator skills to make laser-cut artwork, and we used Adobe After Effects to show off our work in a cool, 3D environment. I chose to make 3D wooden ring art.

Here are the individual layers of my project, as taken from Illustrator.

As an Indian-American, my parents and grandparents always taught me about Indian culture and religion. My experiences have left a lasting impression on who I am as a person. So, for the Multi-Layered Art Project, I was inspired to make laser-cut wood rings that, when put together, create the “Om” symbol, one of the holiest in Hinduism.

I’m not very good with the pen tool, so I was proud of myself for being able to make the art. I am also proud of myself for working so much in After Effects. I learned how to work with 3D elements in After Effects, and it was a lot easier for me to pick up than I thought it would be. I want to get better at the program, and this project was the perfect way to do so.

My final project
In this video, I showcase my art project in a digital, 3D environment.
This video shows the process of putting my piece together.