Redieat Abebe (FMZ-210-1 Cohort A)

       I created this image mainly using masking and adjustment layers on Photoshop. The main idea of the project was to take a photo of yourself and transform it into something you never knew of yourselves. The waterfall, sunflowers, brick wall, and water jug images came from unsplash.com. The two space images came from the NASA website. My composition communicates growth despite a bad environment, which is something I learned about myself this year.      I first started by creating a mask of sunflowers and putting them on my head as if they were growing out of it. I then used the displace filter and "multiply" blending style to mask the brick texture onto my face. Most of the images have an adjustment layer on them so that the colors are more vibrant and brighter. The two space images were taken near my birth date from the Hubble Telescope. I added them to my composition as symbols of myself and to give a  fantasy  feel to the image.  ...

Square Analogous Complementary                      I created these images using the polygonal lasso tool and masking on Photoshop. The basic idea of the project was to turn a black and white image of yourself into a colorized version. The three color themes I chose are Analogous, Complementary, and Square. The technique that made these images possible was selecting different parts of the b&w image using the lasso tool and creating a new layer with a layer mask. After creating the layer mask you can create a new layer and color the area using the colors from your color palette.      I chose the warm-toned analogous color palette because my original photo was mostly warm-toned. Therefore, I wanted to see if I could incorporate that into the image but make it more stylistic. I then decided I wanted more contrast for my next one so I chose a complementary color palette. The pink and green really stood out from each o...

       My tag brush contains the logo I made in Illustrator. The logo symbolizes me as a person so when people see my tag it will communicate to them that the picture was made by me. I first started by creating a boundary around my logo. I did this to imitate the space seen when a person sprays paints a tag in real life. I then added a spray effect, a scratch effect, and a negative light effect.       These effects added dimension and roughness to the tag, making it seem realistic. I experimented with different colors of the tag (see above). I would say white or red are my favorite. However, I will change the color of the tag according to how well it fits into the picture I make. My tag not only shows that something is my work but that I am proud of it enough to claim it. 

  Tutorial #1      I found this tutorial to be extremely helpful and easy to follow. I think the mask tool will be somewhat easy to use but it will be hard to master it. The masking tool seems very useful and the video shows a number of ways to use it. I think I will use the mask tool to insert people in different locations. I liked how the video explained this tool in a very brief and concise way so that I understood the basics.  Tutorial #2      This tutorial helped explain tools such as the magnetic lasso and selection tool. He also went further and explained the different options within those tools. For example, He showed how to have a sharp or soft edge went cutting things out. I think these tools will be easy and quick to use and I will probably use them to cut objects out like the video explained. Something I found interesting about the video is how there are so many options to cut things out and how the precision differs between each tool....

     The social issue I chose for my propaganda poster is rhino poaching. I chose this issue because rhinos are a critically endangered species with less than 30,000 rhinos living in the wild today. At the start of the 20th century, there were over 500,000. Rhino horns are used in traditional Asian (Vietnam and China) medicine and used as a status symbol among the middle and upper classes of Vietnam. So, why should we save the rhinos?       Rhinos play a crucial role in their ecosystem. They are grazers and consume large amounts of vegetation, which helps shape the African landscape. This benefits other animals and keeps a healthy balance within the ecosystem. Furthermore, local people depend on the natural resources within the rhino habitat for food, fuel, and income (tourism). Therefore, if we save the rhinos we’re not only benefiting other wildlife but also supporting local communities and their future generations.    The rhino horn i...

 Final Logo:  The 5 words I used to describe myself were loyal, artistic, empathetic, ambivert, and hodophile. I made a mood board and a sketch for each word (see below). I made the sketches by combining the aspects I liked from the images in my mood boards. My favorite sketches were for artistic and hodophile. I decided to go with the artistic logo because I felt like it was more representative of my character. My main inspiration for my final logo came from the bottom right and top left image on my artistic mood board.  I started by drawing my body hunched down so that you can only see the top of my head and the top half of my body. I then added my hair curly because that is a distinguishable feature I have. I then added dripping paint to the bottom half of my body. I made the paint drips different lengths so that it added variety and interest to my logo. I then drew my right hand holding a paintbrush and painting on top of the dripping paint. This communicates to the v...

  My calligram project depicts a pair of koi fish circling around each other. The koi fish symbolizes  good luck, abundance, and perseverance. The  letter I wrote to my future self, which I used to construct the image, was written to wish my future self good luck and happiness and encouraging myself to make it through the adversities of life. I didn't use a specific image to base my drawing off, rather I incorporated different pictures I saw on Google. I also had the fish positioned to mimic the Yin Yang symbol. I did this because my letter talked about the good and bad feelings I was experiencing during this new chapter of my life.  The font I used for the calligram is called Rage Italics. I chose this font because I felt like the font imitated the flow and movement of the koi fish in the water. I also felt like the cursive style of the font looked like a handwritten letter and I wanted to incorporate the letter aspect of the project into the image.  The only c...