Billie-Rose Beevors s3604499 - Project 1: Photobashing
• Advanced Illustration Techniques •
Introduction
The aim of this project is to composite photographs together in adobe photoshop to resemble a figurative painting found the the National Gallery of Victoria. From here we are to bring about techniques in photoshop to convert the composited image into a painting. Once this is completed, we have the opportunity to go out and get as creative as we like in the printing process keeping it to a maximum of a4 in size.
Figurative Painting from the National Gallery of Victoria
(Courbet, 1872)
Assets
(source: wikimedia commons, image by: Don Ramey Logan), (source: wikimedia commons, image by: Robbert Sterrit)
Rough sketch of my idea
My aim is to place the dark clouds in behind this big beautiful wave and create a dark and stormy feel throughout the whole image relating back to
'The wave' by Gustave Courbet.
.
With this project there are a few challenges in the process that I have already faced. One of these is trying to apply photoshop techniques that I have found on youtube tutorials, into my own image. The tutorials I have been looking at involve trying to turn an image into an oil painting. So far I have followed two tutorials and none have worked with my image. I now have to look into other ways around making my image look like a painting which may have to involve speaking to other people and seeing how they have managed to make it work.
Another issue was matching up my print idea with a price. What I was after was way out of my budget. After informing dinkums of my budget issue in the printing, they gave me a better solution that would fit in my price range. They recommended that instead of getting a print onto plywood, they can make a print for me at low cost and I can get an adhesive to put the image onto a piece of plywood, which can be purchased at bunnings. My boyfriend also has leftover plywood on his job site which he’s willing to bring home and shape for me at no cost. I have researched some really cool ideas for my print which I can’t wait to test out.
Insights
Before this project, I found myself stuck in situations where i didn’t know what i could do to move forward and fix my work. One thing i have learnt is that there are so many resources out there to help with almost anything! When it came to compositing my images, I had to convert one of my images from a clear sunny day to a dark stormy image to match up with my sky photograph, and replicate the painting I found in the NGV. To do this I decided to look up a tutorial on how to turn an image from day to night. This was a really helpful shortcut that worked really well with my image and made my process alot faster. Rather than me playing around with the different adjustment layers, it took me straight to them with the exact settings. Once I got the basic changes I was able to change it around to suit my image. It has made my overall skill of compositing work a lot faster. Here is the link to the tutorial for anyone who might also be planning on turning and image from light to dark/day to night:
REFLECTION
After speaking to students and sharing feedback with one another, It was suggested for me to try out some filters and textures and play around with the smudge tool to create a painted look over my image. These techniques worked really well once I found the right settings within them. I also experimented with the paintbrush and the dodge and burn tool throughout my image which concluded to have a really nice effect on the overall outcome.
Overall I am really happy with how this turned out and am really looking forward to applying these techniques in the future. I have learnt a lot in the use of photoshop which will be really helpful for all kinds of jobs. It could also be really useful in the path of photography. I look forward to using many of the problem solving skills I developed in this project throughout many others in the near future.
PRODUCTION VIDEO
PRINTING
I contacted Dinkums after finishing my image, and came to the realisation that I really needed to feel the paper stock that my artwork was going to be printed on and Dinkums was too far out of my way. For my final print, I decided to go checkout Impact Digital located very close to Brunswick RMIT. The man that I dealt with said they charge a minimum of $40 for any print but said he could give me a couple of A3 sheets for $5. They were very generous and printed of nine A3 2-up colour copies, in ‘Ecostar 100% Recycled 200GSM Paper’.
On top of this I was able to get my hands on two big sheets of good quality plywood to play around with at no cost. The biggest cost of this project was the 'craft bonding and mounting' adhesive.
REFERENCE LIST
• Don Ramey Logan, 27 August 2014,Wedge Newport Hurricane Marie, JPEG, 8th of August 2017,
<https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ commons/b/bc/Wedge_Newport_Hurricane_Ma- rie_photo_D_Ramey_Logan.jpg >
• Gustave, C 1872, oil on canvas, Exhibited at NGV, Melbourne
• Gustave, C 1872, oil on canvas, Exhibited at NGV, Melbourne
• Robbert Sterrit, 1st of June 1983, ree shermen under dark storm clouds at Bo-Put, ailand, JPEG, 8th of August 2017,
< https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dark_storm_clouds.jpg >
