Digital Collage
"Magnanimous"
24"x 36"
Photoshop
September 2016
Exhibition Text:
My intention for this piece was to think and create what troubles me as a young person. While learning new skills with Photoshop, I had to think about what I could actually create. I drew inspiration from many paintings in the renaissance period, but eventually settled on Creation of Man by Michelangelo. The piece to me shows how close one can be from understanding and accepting our role in the world, and how hard happiness can be attained.
24"x 36"
Photoshop
September 2016
Exhibition Text:
My intention for this piece was to think and create what troubles me as a young person. While learning new skills with Photoshop, I had to think about what I could actually create. I drew inspiration from many paintings in the renaissance period, but eventually settled on Creation of Man by Michelangelo. The piece to me shows how close one can be from understanding and accepting our role in the world, and how hard happiness can be attained.
Process and Planning |
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Planning:
I sketched out what I imagined my piece could be based on things I remembered from my previous art class. However when I chose my final inspiration, it ended up being none of these sketches.
I sketched out what I imagined my piece could be based on things I remembered from my previous art class. However when I chose my final inspiration, it ended up being none of these sketches.
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Image 1: The idea I had for this image was when I still had Pieta as my inspiration. I was going to use it as a halo, like in religious paintings.
Image 2: There had been a large spider web here, and when it rained it looked really beautiful and my idea for this had been to use the web as some sort of chair because the figure in Pieta is seated. Image 3: The third image were my ideas for who I would be holding. One was my cat which i decided against for the piece because he did not really match with what I wanted, it was just an idea to have an idea down. |
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For these images, I had already changed my inspiration to "Creation of Man". I chose to take the picture of the flowers because they were in season. At the time when I took the picture, they were the most beautiful to me. For the cat, it was more difficult to get him to be in the position I needed him to be in for the picture. But eventually I got it. For the photo of my hand, I needed my mom to take that picture, because if I did it, it would have been crooked and not from the angle I wanted. |
Process:
To begin this piece, I opened a new file in Photoshop, and made the dimensions of the piece 24 inches by 36 inches, with a resolution of 170 pixels per inches. I then opened each of the pictures above and began to manipulate the images. The first image I worked on was of my hand. I used the quick select tool to outline my hand. I then opened refine edge, and began to clean up the edges of my hand where it looked choppy and where you could still see carpet beneath. I then copy and pasted it onto my background of flowers. To move the hand to the position I wanted it in, I selected Free Transform. To resize and move, I held down the shift key to keep the proportions in tact. The next photo I manipulated was of my cat. Which was more difficult to do because of his fur. |
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Meaning
Before you continue reading this, I want you to know that everything here, is not everything about me. And for this short moment in time i'm letting you into my life. I would really like to tell you about every happy moment in my life, like traveling with my family to the most beautiful places, and doing the most amazing things, but the truth is, is that I don't remember them that well.
I have this one paper to describe how my childhood was amazing, and I had everything I could ever want. The only thing I hated doing was going to church. I could explain how once I got to middle school, I had to grow up too fast. As a 6th grader I had classes with 8th graders, so needless to say, I learned some things I probably shouldn't have. I have this one page to tell you how I hated my friends, and how I didn't really fit in with them. They made me feel superior to them. Somehow I felt too smart, and so I stopped paying attention in class. I did that for them. I could explain how people took advantage of me. I was too naive, too innocent. I have this one page to describe the moment when I was told I was too hard to love by someone I adored, and how since then, I don't put any effort into any relationship in my life. I spent a long time being bitter about everything.
I suppose I can say that once I left middle school, everything got better. But throughout everything that occurred in three short years, I felt completely alone. Until Reagan. I made myself a whole new family. I wasn't sure how I could trust people again, and if I even wanted to. I had spent so long being bitter and upset, that I was just used to it. But I met my best friend in art. I sat next to them for a long time and never looked at their face because I was so intimidated. I met more people who made me forget ever being upset. I wanted to be bright and happy. Everything got better. I began to see the beauty in things again. My world doesn't revolve around darkness anymore. And sure, there are still days when everything seems horrible. But i'm close to reaching the answers I need, and the life I always wanted.
I believe in people now. Something that used to be very hard for me to do. I am no longer naive, and certainly not innocent, but this one page has made me realize that I have everything relatively figured out right now. And while I might not stay like that forever, I can at least say that life is 16% better now.
I have this one paper to describe how my childhood was amazing, and I had everything I could ever want. The only thing I hated doing was going to church. I could explain how once I got to middle school, I had to grow up too fast. As a 6th grader I had classes with 8th graders, so needless to say, I learned some things I probably shouldn't have. I have this one page to tell you how I hated my friends, and how I didn't really fit in with them. They made me feel superior to them. Somehow I felt too smart, and so I stopped paying attention in class. I did that for them. I could explain how people took advantage of me. I was too naive, too innocent. I have this one page to describe the moment when I was told I was too hard to love by someone I adored, and how since then, I don't put any effort into any relationship in my life. I spent a long time being bitter about everything.
I suppose I can say that once I left middle school, everything got better. But throughout everything that occurred in three short years, I felt completely alone. Until Reagan. I made myself a whole new family. I wasn't sure how I could trust people again, and if I even wanted to. I had spent so long being bitter and upset, that I was just used to it. But I met my best friend in art. I sat next to them for a long time and never looked at their face because I was so intimidated. I met more people who made me forget ever being upset. I wanted to be bright and happy. Everything got better. I began to see the beauty in things again. My world doesn't revolve around darkness anymore. And sure, there are still days when everything seems horrible. But i'm close to reaching the answers I need, and the life I always wanted.
I believe in people now. Something that used to be very hard for me to do. I am no longer naive, and certainly not innocent, but this one page has made me realize that I have everything relatively figured out right now. And while I might not stay like that forever, I can at least say that life is 16% better now.
Reflection
I feel mediocre about how this piece turned out. I thought I would enjoy Photoshop a lot more than I actually did. There was a lot to remember, and had I had any previous knowledge of Photoshop, I feel as if this project could have been a lot better and complex. Be that as it may, I don't hate this piece. It was a new experience so I'm okay with it, and I will definitely revisit Photoshop, and this piece to see how I can improve. If I were to do this project again, I would experiment more with the different tools on Photoshop. I only used a few, and my piece could have been more intricate if I had used more tools. I would also take more photos so I could have more options with the piece. Looking back on the piece, I would replace my cats paw with another persons hand, because the cat is out of place and is more of a personal aspect of my life and doesn't relate to what I'm trying to portray with this piece.
ACT Questions
Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause effect relationship between your inspiration and its effect on your artwork.
My inspiration effected the simplicity of my work, meaning that I was only focusing on one small part of an extremely large ceiling. My piece was a very straightforward emulation of the original piece by Michelangelo.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author has taken a religious view point as well as informational view point from the inspiration. The piece is part of a ceiling in a chapel, and is called the "Creation of Man". The entire piece is centered around religion. The author also goes on to say that it is one of Michelangelo's most famous pieces.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
My research was focused on the time period Michelangelo lived in, the art movement he was in. My research was also focused around which art movements had strong ties or references to religion, however when I finished the project it was less focused on religion.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my research would be art movements and periods in time when religion was a strong influence, so I focused on the Gothic and Renaissance periods for the most part.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research I inferred that religion was a enormous part of life, and while it still is for people in this time period, it has significantly died down since then.
My inspiration effected the simplicity of my work, meaning that I was only focusing on one small part of an extremely large ceiling. My piece was a very straightforward emulation of the original piece by Michelangelo.
What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author has taken a religious view point as well as informational view point from the inspiration. The piece is part of a ceiling in a chapel, and is called the "Creation of Man". The entire piece is centered around religion. The author also goes on to say that it is one of Michelangelo's most famous pieces.
What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, culture, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
My research was focused on the time period Michelangelo lived in, the art movement he was in. My research was also focused around which art movements had strong ties or references to religion, however when I finished the project it was less focused on religion.
What is the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
The central idea of my research would be art movements and periods in time when religion was a strong influence, so I focused on the Gothic and Renaissance periods for the most part.
What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
During my research I inferred that religion was a enormous part of life, and while it still is for people in this time period, it has significantly died down since then.