Digital Collage
"The Art in Me"
60.96cm x 91.44cm Digital Collage September, 2016 For my first use of Photoshop ever; I decided to use a lot of experimenting with the tools, and just overall create something I found resembled the work of Peter Max (the artist who inspired my piece), while still adding my own elements and not doing exactly what he did in his pieces. In my work, inspired by the beautiful use of color in Peter's paintings, I decide to try and use that same idea of “using color for emphasis on the subject of the piece”, but in a slightly different style. I wanted to express the feelings of the artistic side of me that you don’t really see on the outside.
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Inspirational Artist/Work
My digital collage has been inspired mostly by a highly famous artist named Peter Max, with his role in one of my favorite movements (Pop Art), and his major use of many vibrant colors in all his pieces. For example, I especially enjoy how his use of color to emphasize his subjects in a few of his portraits, to the right. After seeing many of his works and seeing how much color is really put into it and his technique for not just having a solid color but instead a smooth flow with looks to be made with large brushes, I decided I wanted to interpret that similar use of color into my work. Peter Max also tends to use more than just one or two colors which I really like as well. You can see how in all his pieces there are about 7 different colors, and throughout most of his work he chooses to only you these colors. As you can see to the right; he really only uses yellow, orange, red, dark red, light blue, and blue. This really influenced my work and made me decide to try and interpret more colors and in a slightly different style as well, this is so I can hopefully be a little more original than if I just did the same as Peter.
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Brainstorming
My first initial idea when being told about this project was just to simply have my body suspended from the ground, and coming out of my chest would be a collage of many of my friends faces surrounding me.
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I started to really like this idea and even started to make different "poses" for my body to be in. I also started thinking of another way the faces could be coming out of my body. For example; there would be two more identical copies of me ripping the third me apart from the chest.
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I even took pictures for those extra poses with the help of a friend. I was really into this idea of being ripped apart for some reason.
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Process
- Taking the Picture- When taking the picture, I had no idea that it would be used the way it was. The idea I had behind this picture was for a completely different turn out, but that changed as I got more into depth with the Photoshop tools. Although it seems like such a simple pose; it was difficult to get the right lighting for a slightly darker effect.
- Cutting / Moving my Body Parts- Part of my experimentation was just playing around with selecting different portions and seeing what happens if I click random effects or other tools. While doing this; I accidentally separated my left shoulder and arm from the rest of my body and I instantly thought "Wow, that looks kind of cool". I then decided that I was going to use repeat his step but with another part of my body. After repeating this; I decided I can use interpret the use of 'color for emphasis' idea from my inspirational artist (Peter Max) in these blanks that have been left. Next step was finding pictures to use to fill in these blanks.
- Finding High Resolution Color Images- One of the hardest steps in the whole process of the completing my piece was finding color backgrounds with a high enough resolution. After a lot of searching online, I finally found a background I could use: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6c/40/f7/6c40f78084666f16e6276436abfd59c4.jpg, this image I only really used for a small portion of the white blanks to fill up. After doing some more researching, I found two more pictures that I used to individually fill up the rest of the white blanks. Image 1: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4b/8c/a1/4b8ca144834f521a7e65f553543ce85d.jpg Image 2: http://wallpaperlayer.com/img/2015/10/colorful-paint-wallpaper-3726-3945-hd-wallpapers.jpg.
- Selecting an Area- Now the step in which I simply had to select the white blanks and make sure that they are fully selected and ready to be cut.
- Moving the Selected Portions onto the Color Images- After finding the high resolution images and selecting the white blanks; it was time to cut and move the white blanks onto the color background. After the white blanks were set, i had to select them again which was no problem. Once they were selected I deleted the layer on which the white blanks were on. Doing this left the selected portion on the color background.
- Using the Cut out Color Parts to Fill in the Blanks- Now that I have the selected portion on the color background, I just easily cut and move the portion onto the original image covering the white blanks.
- Using the Posterize Effect- All the white blanks are now finally covered, but I still don't like how it looks, I still don't like how each of the color segments look, they don't have a sense of unity. So I decide it's time to experiment some more and use an effect over the whole piece to make these color segments have that unity I want. I scroll through all the effects i can see until I finally come across the "Posterize" effect which I really like. I mainly like it because I think it's the closest one to resembling the work of Peter Max.
- Adjusting the Saturation- Even after I add the effect the job is still not done, it's still to dull for my liking and still not completely reflecting Max's work enough for me. I try adjusting the hue as that's the first thought that comes to mind, but the result is not pleasing at all. Instead; I try to adjust the saturation levels, which makes a small but very effective change to the piece which I am finally pleased with. I am now finished.
Reflection
The end results of my piece were not as pleasing as I had hoped they would be when I started, but to some extent i still do appreciate it and have some level of "proudness". I’m not too fond of the end result of the interpretation of the colors, but I do have some happiness from the result of the background and it’s “pop” of color. If I were to change anything about the final piece, I’d like to make the separated body parts have a smoother transition from each other instead of how sharp they are on the piece. Although, I am overall pleased with the end result of my digital collage. I am happy with the results because I feel like people or viewers might be able to see the intended message when they look at the piece and won't require any words or any person to tell them anything, by this I just mean that maybe people can see the message just by looking at it and they'll be able to understand what's being interpreted. Also, I feel that my work does actually resemble Peter Max's work quite well and on a decent level along with my accomplished goal of trying to not copy the style in max's work %100, and that a spectator would be able to easily see the resemblance and where the inspiration originated from.
ACT Connections
- Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork. With Peter Max's amazing use of color around his subjects in a sort of "emphasis" way really was what got him and his work to be my inspiration for my Digital Collage.i think that the use of and variety of color in a means of emphasis on my own body strongly shows his effect on my piece.
- What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration? Considering that the topic for my inspiration was just simply something that's visually appealing and uses color to emphasize the subject; I think that Peter Max was very fond of this concept and genuinely enjoyed creating pieces with this aspect.
- What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
- What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research? Having something that really makes the piece pop and makes it hard for you to just pull your eyes away was one goal for my Digital Collage, and Peter Max was the first I found that did this, which I enjoy.
- What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Digital Collage Essay
About sixteen (16) to seventeen (17) years ago I was given the name of Gabriell Luis Suarez Del Real. My name is one of the few things that has stuck with me since I was little, along with the amazing friends I have been gifted with. As I grew and continue to grow my beliefs change from time to time, my friends come and go from time to time, even my values and some personal qualities change from time to time.
Although there's been a lot that has changed since I was a little boy, there really hasn't been any massive changes. I’ve always believed that my friends and being happy are the most important things in life. I have, I currently, and I will always believe that and I can't express how much I value them and most likely never will be able to.
I am who I am because of my friends. Almost every molding moment that has made me me has been influenced or caused by my friends. Although there has been a couple of bad ones, the majority of them have been unforgettably amazing moments. I’ve had a few big molding moments in my life that didn’t involve my friends, but those times were not that defining and I honestly could live without those times, but I can’t live without my friends. It may sound extreme but I live for my friends, they are my life, they make me me, they are my happy place, they even help me achieve the qualities I wish to have.
Obviously I am not perfect, no one is, I have a lot to change about me and at the same time there’s a lot of me that I am proud of. I may be super impatient a lot of the time, and at other times really short tempered. Once I get short tempered I get pretty rude, which then sometimes leads me to saying hurtful things that I do not mean. Along with these flaws, I’m still working on, I’m also a huge procrastinator and a really lazy person in general. As I strive to fix these blemishes I am accompanied by my friends who are also striving to help me, this is another one of the many reasons I so strongly treasure them. They still, even with all these faults in me, appreciate all the good qualities I have to offer.
I am proud to say that I am pretty funny and good at making people laugh, which is my most cherished quality because I love seeing someone else laughing and happy because of me. I am extremely loving, and caring, helpful, polite/well mannered when necessary. I am also thoughtful, loyal, and really talented in terms of art and athletics, especially soccer. All these qualities, that I am honored to have, I share with such a large amount of my friends, which is something that I think gives me and my friends such great connections. Even with good qualities that I appreciate so much, I a still not yet the man I dream to be.
In addition to everything that I currently am, I want people to remember me as someone who was always there for them. I’m not saying that I’m not there for people, I just don’t think I’m there enough, this is something that I get better at each day as I spend more and more time with my friends. I also would like if people looked back at me as someone who was always a light in the dark, a go to happy place, a man who stands out from the rest and lights up as many people’s days as possible. I think that so far I am on a good path to being that man, almost every day I find myself becoming closer and closer. Over the years I have found that i have became more and more “affable”, “companionable”, “gregarious”, and “approachable”. Becoming that man is something I find myself really close to achieving and has been a big lifelong goal, and most of the progress I have made so far on this journey has been greatly cause by my such amazing, wonderful, unforgettable friends. I live for these friends, they make me the person I am so proud of being today and still have room to improve, my friends are me, my friends are my life.
Although there's been a lot that has changed since I was a little boy, there really hasn't been any massive changes. I’ve always believed that my friends and being happy are the most important things in life. I have, I currently, and I will always believe that and I can't express how much I value them and most likely never will be able to.
I am who I am because of my friends. Almost every molding moment that has made me me has been influenced or caused by my friends. Although there has been a couple of bad ones, the majority of them have been unforgettably amazing moments. I’ve had a few big molding moments in my life that didn’t involve my friends, but those times were not that defining and I honestly could live without those times, but I can’t live without my friends. It may sound extreme but I live for my friends, they are my life, they make me me, they are my happy place, they even help me achieve the qualities I wish to have.
Obviously I am not perfect, no one is, I have a lot to change about me and at the same time there’s a lot of me that I am proud of. I may be super impatient a lot of the time, and at other times really short tempered. Once I get short tempered I get pretty rude, which then sometimes leads me to saying hurtful things that I do not mean. Along with these flaws, I’m still working on, I’m also a huge procrastinator and a really lazy person in general. As I strive to fix these blemishes I am accompanied by my friends who are also striving to help me, this is another one of the many reasons I so strongly treasure them. They still, even with all these faults in me, appreciate all the good qualities I have to offer.
I am proud to say that I am pretty funny and good at making people laugh, which is my most cherished quality because I love seeing someone else laughing and happy because of me. I am extremely loving, and caring, helpful, polite/well mannered when necessary. I am also thoughtful, loyal, and really talented in terms of art and athletics, especially soccer. All these qualities, that I am honored to have, I share with such a large amount of my friends, which is something that I think gives me and my friends such great connections. Even with good qualities that I appreciate so much, I a still not yet the man I dream to be.
In addition to everything that I currently am, I want people to remember me as someone who was always there for them. I’m not saying that I’m not there for people, I just don’t think I’m there enough, this is something that I get better at each day as I spend more and more time with my friends. I also would like if people looked back at me as someone who was always a light in the dark, a go to happy place, a man who stands out from the rest and lights up as many people’s days as possible. I think that so far I am on a good path to being that man, almost every day I find myself becoming closer and closer. Over the years I have found that i have became more and more “affable”, “companionable”, “gregarious”, and “approachable”. Becoming that man is something I find myself really close to achieving and has been a big lifelong goal, and most of the progress I have made so far on this journey has been greatly cause by my such amazing, wonderful, unforgettable friends. I live for these friends, they make me the person I am so proud of being today and still have room to improve, my friends are me, my friends are my life.
Other Sources Used
- http://www.popinternational.com/whats-on/peter-max-at-pop-international-midtown-october-22nd-2013-7pm-to-9pm-rsvp-required
- http://www.dariennewsonline.com/news/article/Peter-Max-exhibiting-new-images-of-Marilyn-5433155.php#photo-6204269
- http://www.themaxcollector.com/2016/01/frank-sinatra-by-peter-max.html
- https://www.parkwestgallery.com/pop-artist-peter-max-paints-taylor-swift-2/9217