Monday, February 15, 2016

Advance Photoshop Technique

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to3EXCPfY4w

This is a link to a video that shows you how to blur a photo. In the video the man goes into great detail to blur the back ground but it only takes a few easy steps to blur the entire image. The first step is to place an image in a new file and then duplicate it. Then hovering over the file tab you press the lens blur option . You then can play around with the options for blurring that are given to you. I could use this technequie if I ever wanted a background of an image to be blurry or an entire image.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Masks and Blending

The first step to completing this assignment was finding the photo of a celebrity that I liked. I picked Daisy Ridley. I then put that photo in a new photo shop file and chose a photo to change the background too. I created a new layer and added the background to the photo shop file, I then created a mask over the picture of Daisy Ridley and using the pencil tool in the color of white started to color in the mask so the ocean back drop would show through. I continued this process until the original background was completely gone. I then played around with the blending tools but didn't use any because I didn't like the way they looked. And that is how I used masks to finish this assignment.  

Monday, February 8, 2016

Pixel Portraits

            The first step of completing the pixel portraits was finding the right photo to use, this took a couple tries because when you enlarged the photo it would become very pix-elated and hard to see but eventually I found a photo that would work. I then created multiple layers over the photo for each feature of my face and by eye, started to trace over my face using the pencil tool. I used the dropper tool to get the right colour for things like skin and eyes.
           The two images saved as a png and a gif look similar in terms of colour, quality and when they are enlarged. They both become very pix-elated when they are enlarged, they both have the same quality and they both share the same colours that don't differ in both formats. I wanted to accentuate my eyes, mouth and nose in the avatar because they are the features on my face that make it easiest to recognize that the portrait is me. I chose a skin tone with a pinky undertone because it had a nice contrast with the brown hair. I chose a light colours for my eyes and mouth because I wanted them to pop out on my face.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Chinese Brush Painting

         
Flower and Bird Chinese Brush Painting 
                           

            Chinese brush painting started around 4000 B.C and developed through the next 6000 years.  At first this style of art was closely related to other types of art like, pottery. The subjects of Chinese brush paintings have also developed over the past years and now can range from landscapes to historical figures, techniques were also changed.
            Landscaping had become its own style of expression during the 4th century, it then branched into 2 different styles, blue and green landscapes and ink and washed landscape. Blue and Green landscape used brightly colored greens and blues to create a richly decorative style, while the ink and wash landscape used types of brushwork and intensity of ink to portray what the artist was feeling. Another style of expression that became it's own genre is flower and bird painting in the 9th century. The subject of this genre were a wide range of flowers, bugs, fish and birds including plum blossoms, orchids and bamboo.
            Chinese brush painting used a variety of new materials to create the art work. The artists would use a Chinese brush, Chinese ink, Chinese paper or silk. The Chinese brush is similar to the water color brush used in the west , but it has a finer tip making it more suitable for a wider range of subjects. The next material is the ink, they ink is prepared by taking a solid block of ink and mixing it with fresh water to make it a liquid. You can change the consistency depending on how much water is used. The last material is Chinese paper or silk. Chinese paper is usually known as rice paper in English, the paper is very absorbent and the size will dictate the amount of ink used for each painting. Chinese silk is also used to paint on, it is first coated with alum and glue to make it less absorbent then paper.
            Chinese brush painting created many new techniques as it was being developed. For example artists would use color to express characteristics of different subjects. Most landscape paintings would be painted from a birds eye view while flower and bird paintings artist would make them unlike the original subject while still trying to make them alike. For example they would put plant from different seasons in one painting. When it came to space Chinese brush artist would have complete freedom over how much space was needed or how little, many times artist would leave the background of their paintings blank. Usually artist would use calligraphy in their paintings. This would help convey the message the artist is trying to say through the painting. Some of the simplest calligraphy would be the artists name or date the painting was finished.

Four Seasons Chinese Brush Painting