Photo Realism

For my post-modern art research project I chose Photo Realism. In the following presentation I list a few artist that used this style, with provided paintings.
Link: http://goo.gl/BLCY7C

Waveform Spectrum

For this weekly post, I decided to create a waveform spectrum. With given inspiration from another classmate, and a TrapCity song stuck in my head (Hustle by Antiserum & Mayhem) I decided to give my After Effects skills a challenge. I have never done anything like this before, but it was an exciting project, and a interesting learning experience as I loved at many tutorials on the wire-frame/waveform spectrum plugin in After Effects CS6. Watch in HD; hope you like it!

Illustrator Light Bulb

Before

After

The first image you see is the original photograph of the light bulb. The second image is the edited one, which I created using Adobe Illustrator. My main technique was to use paths with either a solid color, or a gradient. Opacity was also used very frequently. I also used a feather feature that I learned about during this project for some paths to fade them with other objects. One difficulty I faced was with the bottom part of the light bulb, where the spiral was quite tricky to recreate. I had to feather a large portion of the paths in that area, to match the image. Spot the differences maybe? There are a few hundred of them.

Pixel Portrait

This is my result after attempting to make a pixel portrait of myself. I would list the steps in making this, but the procedure was far more complex then I though it would be, therefore it took many many steps to make.
However, in the process I learned a lot of new techniques and guidelines in making good pixel portraits / characters. One of those is the reflection technique. Another is the simplicity of shapes and colors.
A great strategy in tracing your face to make a pixel portrait like this one, is to enhance the contrast of the sample image so you can clearly see all edges and lines, and don't forget to make all borders a dark color!

Type Mask / BG Filter


In this design I created, I used the layer clipping mask option to give the text a gold texture, along with some other visual effects. I used a mask on the text layer to budge-in areas with "nails" to give it an even more 3D effect. My steps in creating this:

  • Created document
  • Added text layer
    • Chose font
    • Made the text bold
  • Made background black (temp)
  • Found gold texture image

Creative Recording - Sunset on Water

I found this photograph over a year ago while browsing a blog on Tumblr, and I kept it ever since. Back then I loved to collect beautiful landscape photographs for no particular reason, and Tumblr was the best source for them, as Google Images either contained a copyright watermark or had a small resolution. With over 200 photographs collected, this particular one still stands out to me.
Although the photograph did not directly make me want to create similar artwork, it inspired me to take nature/landscape photographs of everything I found unique and beautiful in nature, wherever and whenever.

Inspiration - Geometric Art

Flat design has been getting more and more popular over the years, mainly for the web but also for some digital artwork, and many people can't imagine how flat design can not produce 3D artwork. This geometric art demonstrates the simplicity of flat art and its ability to create the illusion of 3D.

This art inspires me, as I am a big fan of flat design, and it demonstrates a new concept of 3D. The simplicity of the shapes and the saturation of the colors makes the art piece look like a virtual world full of energy. The attention to detail makes me look through the entire image over and over to see if I can spot something new.

Overall, this type of artwork is new and unique, therefore it inspires me.

Mercer Challenge

This is my result after attempting the monthly Mercer Challenge on Stephen Harper. I used a mask to cut out the original image, whereafter I used levels to adjust the color, saturation and lightness to make the Stephen Harper's face more tanned. Afterwards I re-colored the hair, and faded out the sides of the face to make it blend with the model's body. Lastly I used Puppet Warp to edit the model's body and Stephan Harper's smile.