Dr. Pfang

These were some in-class projects where we did Pop Art of people at our Campus! This was Dr. Raymond Pfang, Assistant to the President! These have both been auctioned off in an art show on campus for scholarships.

Dr. Raymond Pfang, Photos taken with Ipad, edited in Photoshop.

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Dr. Raymond Pfang, Photos taken with Ipad, edited in Photoshop.

Come out to play!

    This was a Surrealism photo manipulation I did! I really wanted to do something with the idea of Gargoyles coming to life. When starting this I did several adjustments to the initial background, including giving it a higher contrast; then sharpening the edges and turning it gray scale. For the astral wolf, I found a photo of a wolf leaping; then proceeded to gray-scale it and increase its contrast to fit the rest of the photo (I actually did that with all the pieces of this photo, so I don’t end up repeating myself). To make it appear more ghostly, I softened its edges and turned its opacity down to make it translucent. The last figure I added was the human model, which I added ram horns and bat wings too to make him appear like a gargoyle! I also went in and added claws, teeth and cracks to his figure, as well as some spotted areas to make him appear eroded. Lastly, I went in and added the trickling water down the bricks manually with the brush tool, along with extra cracks and wear in the bricks, before placing a rainy overlay texture for the foreground.

This is an asymmetrical monochromatic piece; the dark and gloomy values giving the scene an eerie, mysterious vibe. I believe the focal point is drawn to the astral wolf figure, as its foggy texture stands out from the rest of the scenery, which also gives it emphases. In fact, the humanoid gargoyle is also looking toward the astral figure as well. There is definitely perspective to this piece, as it looks as if you’re tilting your head slightly up as these gargoyles above begin to animate!

I like how it turned out overall, though I’d love to go back and improve it by making the rain look more realistic, and add details such as the rain beating off the statue.

Come out to play!, photo stock used and manipulated in Photoshop.

"Despite a gargoyles intimidating and sometimes grotesque appearance, their first duty was to protect the building of which they were perched upon. Acting as a gutter spout of sorts, they would project water clear from the wall when it rained. This would keep the buildings from eroding and make them more long lasting. This is where the term "Gargle" in Gargoyle comes from. Their second duty was to scare away evil and sinister spirits from the building or church. As you now know, they aren't a source of evil, despite how they look."

Original Photos (which I take no credit for!:

Gargoyle Background.

Horns.

Wings. 

Lanterns light your path.

These were actually some phone photos I took of some paper lanterns I had just hung up in my room. They aren't the best quality photos, but I really enjoyed the lighting and shadows! So I fiddled with them a bit in Photoshop, playing with the contrast. :]

Lanterns light your path, photo taken with phone, edited in Photoshop.

Glaze

So in class we were supposed to play with another app we haven't used yet. I played with an app called "glaze" and used some of my previous photos and art pieces. :D

Autumn, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

Needle Teeth, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

Midnight Fog, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

Bone and Leather, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

Clawed Touch, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

The Sketching Hand, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

Nurture, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

Magnetic Storm, photo edited on Ipad in Glaze app.

 

Bat out of Hell

This was a photo manipulation done in Photoshop! This piece wasn't really going for realism, but perhaps more of a graphic novel type feel. We were required to feature ourselves inside this piece, so of course I featured myself with bats! After finding a scenic photo of a volcano, I looked up several photos of bat colonies which I knew I wanted to have coming from the mouth of the volcano, billowing out similar to how smoke would. The bats in the foreground had their contrast set up higher which made them look more volcanic, perfect for creatures that live in the depths of a volcano. While my figure with my arms stretched out, appears to be “summoning” them. The title Bat out of Hell seemed perfect for this piece.

                This is an asymmetrical piece which focal point lies on the mouth of the volcano, due to the bright orange color amongst the more de-saturated colors. It has aerial sense of space and proportion as the bats grow larger and become more refined the closer they come from the background to the foreground. In turn, this created movement, as your eyes can follow the bats from where they erupt, to where they ‘fly’ toward the summoning figure. The grainy texture of the background takes away from any realism but I think added to the overall feel of the piece.

                I like this piece alright, though with more time I think I could improve on it!

Bat out of Hell, photos used and manipulated in Photoshop.

Flowers growing in my Shadow

Imprint in Nature, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad

Looming Nature, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad

Grouping Cells, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad.

Alice in Wonderland, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad.

Cemented Over, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad.

The Gardener, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad.

Flower Petals, photos taken with the app 100FX on an Ipad.

I'll be writing about the piece Flower Petals seen above, as it was my favorite out of the experiments we did! As its caption says, I made this piece using the 100FX app on the Ipad, and used one of its many filters to create the effect. While we were out and about taking photos, I really liked how prominently my shadow was casting over this garden on the TCC campus, so I proceeded to snap his shot and play with it!

While Flower Petals has no particular meaning, I think it could be seen in several ways. The color Yellow is generally associated with sunshine, warmth, cheerfulness and energy. I think this piece certainly has a warm feeling to it because of the color, but the values and shapes can bring a more ominous energy to it. The center figure certainly seems to be the focal point as it draws the most attention with its darker value amongst such brighter colors and shades. I think it could potentially symbolize the cycle of life and death, if you were to see the figure as someone who has perished, but in turn flowers have begun to grow inside the imprint they left behind. Or alternatively, it could show humans imprint on nature, as the browning edges could make the flowers appear to as if they’re becoming singed and burnt away—while the cloud on the left-hand side resembles embers and ash scattering to the wind. 

I rather liked this piece, my only issue is the watermark, which I eventually plan to edit out.