The inspiration for this image came from the works of Roy Lichtenstein. Lichtenstein created halftone images, which are images that are essentially formed from a collection of small dots. He also would use bright, solid colors, which would cause his images to appear as though they belonged in a comic book. Finally, he had a tendency to create his art from icons in pop culture. In an attempt to mimic Lichtenstein, I created a halftone image of an Xbox One controller, a popular video game console controller that is supposed to represent video games as a whole. I chose this object specifically since playing video games has been one of my favorite hobbies throughout my life. In order to create the image, I first took a picture of the controller using my phone and uploaded it to my computer. I then opened the photograph in Photoshop, removed the background using the magnetic lasso, applied a halftone filtering, and finally added a layer of color behind the layer housing the controller.

In crafting my image, I applied several elements of art and principles of design. I used bright colors, such as the green background and colors on the controller, in order to create a joyful mood for the viewer. I used excess negative space in order to portray the feeling that when you do something you enjoy, such as playing video games, the rest of the world tends to disappear. I also ignored lines to a degree, when adding color to the controller, in order to represent the carefree nature of playing video games. Finally, I added color to the controller in order to emphasize the most important features of the controller, the buttons and analog sticks.

Furthermore, this image underwent no critique, but if it does in the future, then I will happily take into consideration the suggestions.

El Capitan

Monolith

Moon and Half Dome

Ansel Adams was born February 20, 1902 in San Francisco, California. Adams was the only child of his mother, Olive Bray, and father, Charles Adams. Due to his shyness, Adams struggled to fit in at school; however, he ultimately found solace in nature. As a child, he spent almost every day adventuring around the San Francisco community, including such places as Lobos Creek and Baker Beach. At the age of 12, Adams began to take piano lessons, which inspired a passion similar to that of his love for the outdoors. Adams dedicated himself to the piano, and eventually chose it as his profession in the year 1920. His love for photography began to develop when he was young, as well. His parent presented him with his first camera, a Kodak Brown, on a family trip that they took to Yosemite in the year 1916. He continued to foster his connection with wildlife when he joined the Sierra Club in 1919. In the Sierra Club’s 1922 Bulletin, Adams published some of his writings and photographs. Adams ultimately realized that he could become a far more successful photographer than pianist and changed his profession accordingly (all facts from this paragraph are according to W. Turnage).

In 1927, Adams photographed arguably his most famous image Monolith at Yosemite. He traveled 3,500 ft. up to the Diving Board, carrying his camera along the way, in order to capture an image of Half Dome, a peek rising 5,000 ft. from the base of the park. He took multiple pictures here, but while his pictures were accurately capturing what he saw, he did not feel as though his pictures were capturing what he felt until he used a red filter in order to darken the sky and emphasize the whiteness of the snow (all facts from this paragraph are according to A. Cain).

Monolith was one of the first times in which he used the system that he would ultimately name the Zone System. The zone system divides value into 9-11 separate zones, with the higher zones corresponding to darker colors and the lower zones corresponding to lighter colors. Zones differ from adjacent zones by one stop, which is a factor of light. By acknowledging what parts of an artist’s images will fall into which zones, it helps the artist to get the correct exposure and evaluate the tone of the photograph, among other things (information on the Zone System was gathered from D. Eftaiha).

Adams returned to Yosemite throughout his life including a time in which he met Virginia Best, whom he married in 1928. The two had two children together. While successful as a photographer, Adams still struggled financially throughout his career. Adams eventually died on April 22, 1984 (all facts from this paragraph are according to W. Turnage).

Adams employed various elements of art and principles of design throughout his work. Unity is key in almost all of his pictures as he is known for capturing idealized nature. Additionally, he uses value using the Zone System in order to contrast dark blacks with bright whites. Furthermore, Adams used a lack of color in his photographs, which both emphasizes the contrast in values and allows the viewer to focus on the details of the picture without being overwhelmed.

Works Cited

Turnage, W. (n.d.). Ansel Adams, Photographer. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://anseladams.com/ansel-adams-bio/

Cain, A. (2017, February 17). The Story Behind the Photograph That Made Ansel Adams Famous. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-photograph-made-ansel-adams-famous

Eftaiha, D. (2013, March 20). Understanding & Using Ansel Adam’s Zone System. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from       https://photography.tutsplus.com/tutorials/understanding-using-ansel-adams-zone-system–photo-5607

The inspiration for this project came from Arcimboldo, who created portraits of people using objects of a certain theme. In creating a self-portrait, I decided to use objects that are representative of myself in order to develop an image that emphasizes my individuality. I took a picture of each object against a solid colored background, so when I brought the pictures into Photoshop, I could use the magic eraser to easily remove the background. I could then move the objects around as I pleased to create my self-portrait.

Additionally, I used several Elements of Art and Principles of Design. I used negative space in the background in order to draw the eye to the portrait, which is the emphasis of the piece. I used the shapes of the objects in order to draw parallels to similarly shaped facial features, such as the shoe representing an ear. Finally, I tried to connect lines in order to make different objects look as though they are connected. For example, I aligned the lip balm with the basketball since they both represent my hair.

Furthermore, we had no critique, but if we do in the future, I will be sure to take into consideration the criticisms and suggestions I receive.

In creating this image, I wanted to convey the sense of relaxation that can be felt within my campus home during school nights. In order to illustrate this message, I thought it best to take a routine task and turn it into a piece of art; in this case, the act of my roommate Ryan drinking a glass of sweet tea. To capture the images seen within the picture, I used my Galaxy S6 and then proceeded to upload them to the Cloud using Google Drive, where I used Adobe Photoshop to layer bits and pieces of each of the images on top of each other.

As previously mentioned, I wanted to express a sense of relaxation. I used dark colors, mainly browns, in order to give a level of coziness to the image. Furthermore, it was a goal of mine to use connecting lines in order to merge the different pictures into a cohesive whole. Finally, I placed Ryan’s arm holding the cup in multiple positions in order to give a sense of movement to the otherwise motionless picture.

So far, this picture has yet to receive any feedback during critiques, but as soon as I receive them, I will be sure to update both the image and artist statement.