Surreal Composition
This unit in Digital Media, we learned how to use photoshop better by using masks and other techniques to blend images together. As a final project, we were tasked to make a Surreal Composition about our Worldbuilding Project (see Narrative Perspectives->English for more details). Because this project was given in the first semester, way before we actually started Worldbuilding, I decided to make my surreal composition about my research essay.
While brainstorming ideas, I was interested in playing with “racial colorblindness”. Would the opposite be “racial colorfulness”? What would a society like this look like: if we confronted racism despite our fear and discomfort? If we honored our painful differences? If we could come together in solidarity, would women of color take their futures into their own hands? Could women of color even take hold of the Sun?
Technical Process: My driving aesthetic idea was an image of multicolored hands. I collected several photos of walls with peeling paint because I saw that they had good color patterns. I also prepared the hand pictures (special thanks to my mom for being the hand model) by manipulating the colors, brightness, and darkness, as well as using tricks to extend the arm so it reached the bottom of the frame. I discovered the Color blending mode, which focused only on the Hue and Saturation information of the wall photos (taking away the black and whites/shading information), which left simple splotches of color that looked like paint. I then spent a lot of time using black-and-white masks to blend together the several different splotches of color.
Then, because the original photo of the sky (which I took) didn’t actually have the sun in the picture, I edited in a sun ring and a sun flare effect to create a focal point for the image. I also edited out some background foliage that was in the sky picture because it distracted from the hands and looked out of place. Finally, I added a wall texture on top of the whole image and a random photograph of flowers I’d taken to tie the images together and make them look more dream-like.
Final Product
Click the thumbnail to view the Surreal Composition below in full screen:
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Multi-Layered Art Project
When I was a sophomore, before I entered Freestyle but was investigating it, I went to my first Exhibition. And this project was the one that captivated me the most. I remember seeing all the 3D pieces and thinking “how did they do that?? They planned all the layers so carefully and it looks incredible!” Needless to say, when this project finally came around, I was pretty excited.
Because this project also had to be related to our Worldbuilding, I centered my piece around the idea of magic: how in this world you can manipulate reality with your own strengths and will.
After a rough sketch, I moved to Illustrator to draw out each individual layer. The hardest part was figuring out how I would construct the hand: it had to be sturdy enough to not fall apart, so I had to make sure that the finger and hand joints overlapped enough to stick together. I often asked my peers for help because it was hard to envision what the finished product would look like and then translate that into Illustrator. Once that was done, Mr. Flo taught me a bit how the laser cutter worked, and I got to watch as it cut each layer with super-precision. I then took the layers and either stained the wood or spray-painted it, depending on how bright I wanted the colors to be. I made sure to stain the bottom layers in a darker color to create an illusion of depth. Finally, I glued them all together, and took some photos and progress videos along the way. I then took the digital version of my piece, colored it, and learned how to use After Effects in 3D Space. I would like to keep learning more about this function, it seems really useful for creating more advanced effects.
I am really proud of my piece, especially the hands and the stars. Creating it gave me a bigger appreciation and interest for 3D art, which I hadn’t dabbled in much before. I hope to use the skills I developed here for future art projects!
Process Video
Initial Sketch+Colored Version+Final Version (click on any image for fullscreen)
After Effects 3D animation