Introduction to Photoshop, Illustrator and Maya

Ok, well I have to admit, im not overly familiar with these programmes- i have used Photoshop briefly with Leo last year creating our Flash animation but thats about it! However, after the first lesson, i can see how easy it can be to use and Im here to learn!

Maya was the most strenuous to learn. During the tutorial, i began to think that this was a very complicated programme to use but after seeing the end result, it encouraged me to keep practicing and familiarising myself with the programme, cos hey, we've only had one lesson! but i am looking forward to getting to know the programme more and i will upload my attempt at producing the CG dice and feedback soon!

Very Quick Beginning Sketches for Idea 1

Ok, well im not the strongest of drawers- i know that with practise i can be but for the first project i though of using different techniques to improve the visuality of my images. I started off by producing a simple sketch of my using pen and wash to add tone and shading.

Next, i started thinking about my influences from the lectures we have had so far and I am partcularly interested in Gillian Wearing and also the use of typeography, which i studied basically last year. I began to visualise how words could be arranged over the image and their compositions. I previously started a pen and wash drawing which went totally wrong from the off so I used it as a rough starting point to develop my ideas so far and produce a basic interpretation of my ideas.



I used bold letraset for the darker shades in the portrait and small letraset for basic lines and tones. As of yet, the letters do not spell out anything in particular, but i am hoping to use typeography to express my feelings through words as well as a basic visual image. i would like to introduce colour and use photoshop to create the typeography. It may be that i create a survey to ask people/ other students what their first impressions of me to incorporate into the portrait. (feel free to be honest :) )

Other Random Ideas based on this piece

• Photograph myself holding up words like Gillian Wearing, though i feel this is too simple.

Photograph myself in front of a city scape where i live in Gravesend or in Rochester.

Scan photo in to Photoshop- make it less dominant and photoshop the words/phrases onto the image- hold up a Phot of myself- the opposite of Gillian Wearing as she asks passers by to hold up words.

Gillian Wearing

Giilian Wearing began to interest me in out first lecture especially her work entitled 'Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say,' in which random passers by were asked to write their thoughts on a piece of paper and hold them up. The pieces are to show the complexity of the human character, for example, just looking at someones physical identity doesn't tell you their exact identity and personality because as the cliche suggests, 'people are rarely what they seem.'

However, these photogrpahs are still intersting because we then ask ourselves how truthful the passers by are being- are they describing exactly what's on their mind at that moment? Are they covering up their true identity and hidden feelings and emotions?

Because i specialised in graphics in in my foundation course last year, i began to become familiar with typeograpgy and became very intersted in it and i particularly like they way that Gillian Wearing has attempted to show people's true identities with words and phrases felt by the passers by themselves because by looking at a photograph alone, we cannot truly identify someones character and personality, whereas on the other hand, there are still hidden depths of each person still not portrayed by those phrases.

I think that my piece will be influenced by Wearing for these reasons and because her work shows that there is more to people than meets the eye.

Influences so far....

Well, when i was first given the brief, my mind went blank but thanks to the lectures so far im beginning to understand the whole concept. They have left me with a few ideas floating around somewhere in my brain though I don't know where they're leading and whether they'r stong enough, but hey, ill get there!
I especially learned a lot from Tuesdays Seminar and began to think about myself and my identity- how i wanted people to percive me and who I really am and also wondered how others percieved me.
From Monday's lecture, Chuck Close stood out for me with his pixelated images and so i researched him further today to figure out his ideas behind his work.
i liked the way that the pixelation could be seen as a way to express the complexity of the human character and it is almost as if the image is being viewed through glass or water which creates different effects when viewed from different distances.
Photo-realists often used a grid technique in which each grid was its own small work of art.
What i found inspirational about Chuck after researching him was that he had to change the style of his work after a tragedy which left him a quadriplegic, meaning that he had to adapt to painting using his mouth. This enabled him to use different techniques including Pointillism. I picked this particular technique out because i am very familiar with it and have practised it during my Art A-Level. The result of Chuck Close using this style was a canvas of mini paintings, which if viewed from a distance, are seen as a single image.

In The beginning....

I'm kind of new to this whole blogging thing so i thought my 1st post should be a little about myself and why I'm interested in the CG Arts and Animation Course.

I have always been the creative type growing up and as a child, I used to enjoy writing short stories all the time. As the majority of young people and some adults are, I admired the works of Disney, Nick Park's Wallace and Gromit etc.

I studied Foundation at UCA last year and it enabled me to develop my skills in life-drawing, different media and techniques. I then specialised in Graphics and for one project, I was asked to work with Leo on a short animation which i thoroughly enjoyed. During the course, I wrote an essay on the developments in technology from 2D through to digital 3D, Claymation etc and how they were used to express social and personal anxiety. Whilst researching this topic, I was able to understand and appreciate the hard work and determination that is put into animation and realised that this is something that I wanted to be a part of.

I particularly enjoy the works of Tim Burton for his warped imagery, such as in Coraline in particular. I find the process of making scenery and props for his animations very interesting and has been a main influence on me.

I am hoping to collate my existing knowledge and fuse it together with new and exciting ideas and skills that this course will provide me with and am eager to achieve all my goals and prove to myself that you can acieve anything that you set your mind to...