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Photoshop Digital Painting
The idea for my digital painting was something that would bring the viewer a sense of calmness. The main subject is the black fox. This artwork did not admittedly have much of a meaning content wise it has a fox atop a hill staring at a busy city under a starry moon lit sky as it begins to turn night. The colors are all on the darker muted side and I used mainly blues and greens with some soft yellows and whites in small areas as stated this was meant to invoke a calm feeling. The brush marks I made were all messy in a way it was meant to look as if it was done by someone completely relaxed and just going with the flow of things as they painted. I picked the subject I did as I feel like a majority of people associate nature and night with peacefulness alongside the fact that the fox is on a hill far from the city therefore away from the chaos it is completely at peace as should be the viewer.
I had a hard time with this project for numerous reasons one of which being I had never used photoshop before nor am I a digital artist both of which made this assignment quite difficult alongside that I had the fox being extremely hard for me to draw as I mainly draw people not animals I also struggled with filling the space I felt like I had a lot of empty space throughout the painting when I was making it that I couldn’t figure out how to fill. I think I was successful in the entire sky area as it was one of the areas I felt came together quite easily for me. I also found the coloring and shading to be challenging yet successful as I am quite proud of how it turned out. All in all this was a hard project but one I felt helped me improve my skills in extreme ways.
The theme I chose for my project was Nostalgia. The clock in my image was meant to show the passage of time alongside the lilacs which in some cultures are said to represent nostalgia and memories they go from alive to wilted. The images in the backdrop are all somewhat childish showing toys and books as nostalgia is typically in the form of longing for one's childhood. The two photos are also because photos are typically used to remember things following back into the theme of memories. The animation is somewhat simple and doesn’t have a whole lot of enhancement in the meaning but the movement of the clock is used to once again show that time is moving. Alongside the images all slowly fading in as if they are slowly being remembered one by one and at times fading out to show that memories are fleeting at times.
I admittedly didn't do too much with the animation bit. All I did was very simple tweening which given there’s a button to do that with isn’t all that impressive but the few motions I did which while taking longer are definitely the things I’m most proud of particularly the clock. The motions weren’t hard by any means but very time consuming hence why I only ended up doing three. The clock was as you would expect. I duplicated the layer multiple times slowly moving it until It did a full 360 which is very simple like I said but I am mainly proud of it given it was a very last minute thing so how it turned out made me extremely proud cause of how smooth it was.
I think I did pretty well on a few things. For one I believe the images I picked for the photomontage all served their purpose pretty well and secondly I am extremely proud of how the animation turned out. If I were to do this project again I would take some time to fully plan the animations I planned to do while I believe it turned out well it was a very hard process given I had no plan and to add to that I would also take longer organize my images in the photomage while I think it still looks fine I believe there was a lot more I could’ve done.
The Logo I designed represents me in a few ways starting off with the obvious: The mark is a test tube with paint and a paintbrush inside it. This represents two of my main interests: science and art both of which I love to learn about and do on a daily basis. Next is the color which is orange shown in the paint in the tube and the dripping paint. I picked orange as my color as it typically is used to show optimism, energy, and creativity all of which are traits that I show through my personality and how I do things. The font and lines I used all are pretty shaky looking not many of them are very straight or neat which I used to show how I am a very anxious person often in art shaky lines are used to show feelings of stress or energy both of which can be applied to my logo as I am both full of energy and also full of anxiety.
I started my logo making process off with making the test tube which I did by using the rectangle tool to make the basic shape and then I went in with the white arrow and adjusted the shape length and shape till it ended up in the shape of the test tube once I finished that I added a white square on top of the test tube to show the top of it. After that I got to work on the paintbrush which was once again fairly simple I started off making the handle of the brush using the rectangle tool again to create a thin long rectangle which I then colored black afterwards I created the brush part itself which was done through me making the shape myself with the pen tool once both shapes were complete i grouped them together. Then I created the black circle using the circle tool and filling it in after that came the hardest part of the entire project in my opinion: The paint. I started making the paint on the circle by using the pencil tool to create a path in the vague shape I was going for then I went in with the white arrow and adjusted till it looked right. The paint in the test tube was a bit harder as creating a path in such a narrow area with so many other anchor points and paths was kinda confusing but using the same method I did for the dripping paint I completed the image itself. The font was surprisingly easy once I got an idea of what I was planning on doing. I made the text first off and then made it an outline which I then went in with the white arrow and adjusted as needed.
I made a lot of changes throughout the course of this project. I say the most prevalent one was the dripping paint which went through a lot. First off I originally was going down a much harder path of creating the shape itself with the pen tool or using the rectangle method again both of which obviously did not work very well at all. This went on for a day before I was thankfully given a reminder that the pencil tool exists. The font, while being the easiest part of the project, also went through a lot of changes. First it was an unedited font, then I warped it, then I finally landed on the edited version I finished with. The length and size of almost everything in my logo changed at least once or twice before I was happy.
If I were to do anything differently I would most likely plan a bit better alongside getting a better grasp of all the tools and their capabilities. I felt like a decent amount of my struggle came simply from a lack of planning.
I say from the process itself and the final product the test tube was the most successful part of my project it was the one object I had to make the least amount of changes to alongside being the easiest to make plus the add on of it simply being very visually appealing.
The content of my illustration is a cliff side overlooking a mountain beside an ocean. I chose this for my illustration as a result of believing the scene would not only look visually appealing but also have enough challenge to it that I would have to adjust my previously learned skills while also learning new skills and ways to use Adobe Illustrator. The design decisions I made mainly centered around keeping my work lacking outlines which is something I had never done before in art so once again that was an attempt to challenge myself.
I started my project off with the sky since it would be in the background so I intended to begin from there and then work my way to the very front. All I really did was create a square the size of my canvas and put a gradient inside it. As stated before I intended to work my way to the front but I decided midway through that I had very little ideas for how to make the mountain which led me to making the cliff side. I used the pencil tool to make the outline for the very top of the cliff. The reason for this was the fact that this cliff had a very sharp point on it alongside very uneven edges which I believed I would either immensely struggle with or downright be unable to do so via other means. The cliff top is of course supported by the base which I was able to make by simply making a square and placing it below the top. As I did this I also additionally added the smaller cliff point plus its base which I made both using the pencil tool. The ocean was simple due to how the light made one end notably much brighter than the other which naturally led me to use a gradient again using the same method as the sky. The mountain was a bit more difficult in the sense that it had so many layers to it that I was unsure how exactly to start but eventually settled again on the pencil tool creating the base shape then adding more different colored layers atop that base to create a layered look. The next thing I did was create a pile of rocks behind the cliff side. This I did by creating multiple tiny sharp shapes and organizing them next to each other making them look jagged. Finally I created the brown and green moss alongside the extra rocks using the pen tool again.
I made lots of improvements and changes throughout the process of my project mainly in the cliff side which took lots of focus to get to a state in which it looked similar to my reference image. The main change I did was in adding shadows which wasn’t a part of how I intentionally planned to translate the reference to digital due to the shadows being less noticeable in the original but I realized that without the shadows the image looked incredibly flat. I also did not plan to add the additional details such as the brown and green moss but I realized the cliff top looked very plain and didn’t draw the attention I wanted it to. The rock pile beside the cliff also took a decent amount of trial and error. The reference image I used made the rocky texture quite clear which I wasn’t sure how to properly translate to digital with the tools I had. I went from just making it a plain jagged block with some additional details added with the pen tool to making it a bunch of little jagged shapes grouped together giving it a more rocky texture. In regards to new skills I feel as though I mostly spent this project really in depth learning the tools I already knew so I’m not sure I can say with confidence that I truly learned anything new.
Animation_Shayla_2.mp4I am going to break this down similar to how I did earlier as there is quite a bit of information here. The beginning part of this was a difficult thing to decide on given I wasn’t entirely sure what to do for such a bare start till I realized that it sounded almost like an opening introduction for a cast which given this song's origin made sense so that’s what I made the section: an opening. Admittedly not a lot happens here as stated before due to how low energy and bare the section is. The first section or the Yellow section is one I had trouble deciding on as well so to start off the color I chose: Yellow. Yellow is typically used as a very upbeat color people naturally associate it with high energy and positivity which is something I felt this section needed because underneath all the calm exterior are the loud bumps in the song showing more energy and passion which I feel become more relevant as the song continues and grows more fast paced. The shape is a very simple one: a circle which I did on purpose as I feel being the beginning half of the song this beat is much more simple compared to the others. Another reason I picked a circle is due to the sounds throughout the section which sounds very tropical in an odd way. I took inspiration from that in the sense that the circle is meant to resemble the sun.
The second section, the orange section, was a lot easier for me to come up with but starting off with the color: Orange is a dark color. It's rough and creative which played into a big part of why I chose it after all. Is there anything more creative than forging? The sounds at the beginning of the section is one of forging which is the reason for the hammer as hammers are typically associated with forging playing into that alongside the yellow sparks before the hammer drops to show sparks that come off metal being heated and hit. The third section which is the pink section is another section I had an idea on going into. Pink is a very playful color; it's comforting and decently calming. The beat of this section is slow and calming but also has the feeling of it almost being teasing playing into both of those alongside the fact that pink is rather attention grabbing. While the main color may be pink there is also purple now I wish to say there was some big grand meaning behind this truth be told it was simply to darken the background making the shape stand out in yellow light serving as a spotlight to it. As for the shape itself and the tween with it it's meant to be fluid as the song is without any major beats to it in between the major trumpets in which those moments will have the shape spotlighted as if it's the only thing that matters in the scene.
The fourth section which is gray was a considerably simpler scene to come up with as there is very little going on other than the clock ticking so the idea was simple. The point of the gray is its a very neutral color, it's cold and doesn’t stand out which I thought fit such a calm and otherwise bland section. The clock was obvious since the clock was ticking in the background and the movement was simple, making the hands tick as the clock ticked slowly. The fifth section which in a way interrupts the fourth section was meant to be such. Red is a loud color which demands attention due to its vibrancy alone so having the sudden switch in color was to signify a change in the song and also the emotion that you should be feeling. The tween that happened was having a dark red shape slowly drip down the screen overtaking it as if it's overtaking the gray section and as the section continues on the background slowly switches shade till it blends with the shape making the entire scene red. Regarding the red shapes that appear they really only serve the point of giving some visually for the viewer to look at as a transition point.
The sixth section which introduces the gray again making it seem like it interrupted the red section or well at least took back the stage after being interrupted the first time. The circle in the middle was meant to represent the clock but since the main focus was of the shapes appearing on the screen I didn’t add the hands. The shapes were admittedly a last minute decision but the longer I thought about what I wanted this scene to show in regards to the song I realized I wanted it to show off how intelligent and well collected the pace of the song is at this point. The shapes all come together similar to a puzzle to create the shape at the end on pace with the beat as if the section is putting something together slowly to show the viewer it.
The green part or the final part is what I hoped to be the finale for the animation so it naturally had to be much bigger and brighter than the previous. Green was not originally the color I planned to pick for this section in fact up until this point I kept switching on and off on what color I wanted to use as I wasn’t sure what exactly this scene was meant to represent in terms of my project. The color green is typically associated with life and energy. I think this song section shows it has a lot of upbeat energy but green is also associated with being judgmental, something as I said before the song in this part seems almost mocking with how it's presented alongside the other sections. As for shapes this section repeats all that the previous sections did (The circle, hammer, shape tween, and squares) this was meant to simply show that this is the finale of the animation you get a summary with this new beat of all you witnessed beforehand alongside the new addition of the arrow to show a clean transition to the end.
The goal of this project is to sync up an expressive animation with a song. I first picked a song I knew well and had a consistent beat to follow. This made my project a lot easier as I could think ahead of my current work to figure out my next steps accordingly. I then cut down the song into its most basic form as to not cause any additional issues with pacing or syncing. I began the actual animation part next which I did as a step by step working pace as I thought skipping ahead into later parts would cause issues with syncing and the animation in itself. I then took about five minutes to decide on the tween, shapes, and colors I planned to use in that section and why I planned to use those once I did. I then started applying those to the frames until I was satisfied.
This is a bit of a hard question to answer given my song has multiple different sections as it's from a musical. I think it differs a lot from section to section. The first section (Yellow) is a very fast paced calming sound with major bumps signifying some energy. The second section (Orange) is very rough; it has major thumps and in general comes off as much more aggressive than the last section. The third section (Pink) is low energy, airy, with a more bold trumpet sound at random moments; it's very relaxed and laidback and compared to the others which are louder it draws attention due to how different it is. Then the fourth section (Gray) is very low energy and slow with the sound of a clock in the background. It's much more calming but the clock ticking gives it some sense of urgency. The fifth section (Red) is very low yet intense. It doesn't draw attention, it commands it more due to how compared to the other sections it doesn’t force that energy into your face nor is it slow for the purpose of standing out. The sixth section (Gray again) does a somewhat opposite to its first part; it has higher bumps while maintaining the calm beat it had alongside being more fast paced. It gives the impression that the section has more energy or motivation while keeping the urgency yet intelligent sense the first section had. Now the final section (Green) is very upbeat and attention grabbing in a way I think the first two sections lack. It gives an almost mocking impression with how very obviously cheerful and high energy it is compared to every other section.
I utilized quite a lot of skills and tools in Animate mostly concerning the tweens. I used all of the available tweens (Shape, Classic, and Motion) at least once alongside the shape tools themselves (Rectangle and Ellipsis mainly) to create all of the major animations and shapes. I changed a lot of the shapes at some points which I mainly did using the Transformation anchors and Transform tool. Regarding obstacles I found I had quite a lot throughout the project mostly due to my own inexperience using the program. The majority of my issues came from the tweens I struggled to get them to work right most of the time they would glitch out or simply not tween properly. I solved this issue on my own through brute forcing. As odd as that sounds, I couldn't give a proper answer on what eventually worked because I tried about five or ten different solutions over and over until they worked. I also struggled to get my layers to work. They kept getting messed up which definitely gave me issues. I actually couldn’t figure out what was causing the problem and it eventually stopped so I unfortunately don’t have a proper solution towards that either. As stated before most of my issues simply came from my own lack of knowledge about how to work with Animate independently which I solved simply through working through it. If I had an issue I messed around with the tools available until I figured it out. Finally I think I didn’t truly learn anything that I wasn’t already taught regarding Animate as unfortunate as that is. I was worried about not finishing the project in time so I stuck to what I firmly knew I could do successfully.
I think a lot went really well with this project and I am extremely proud of the result despite the time constraints and my inexperience. I think all the animations (Tweens) came out very smoothly and synced up really well. In fact I think I can say the entire animation with the exception of the red section came out very smooth which is something I am very proud of given my lack of experience in animating. I also think I did a fine job finding good meaning in the colors and shapes I used throughout my animation. I didn't feel like I was just adding stuff for the sake of it. Alongside the fact that the animation synced up exactly as I wanted it to. On the other hand my project has plenty of flaws for one I feel like towards the end I definitely started getting in a bit of a rush to finish which caused my sections there to end up somewhat choppy. There’s also the fact that while yes I had a good meaning for all my design choices there was most certainly room for improvement in making the shapes more complicated. I think all my main issues were a lack of ideas for each section going into the project, a lack of complicated shapes and animations, and my own tendency to put stress on myself when working which led to me rushing myself. Overall I am proud of my project nonetheless.
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