Unit 1: Inroduction to visual language in art and design
First time using Photoshop
My first project was to use photoshop to create an image that combined many photographs together. I used an image of the stonehedges first and used the quick select tool to cut around it and paste it onto a seperate photograph of a stormy sky. Since it looked bland I decided to also include two more images I found of the moon and sun. Later on using the brighness and contrast settings to make the later images blend in better with the sky.
I have used the following images to create the final outcome:
Green Screen Practice
For our first practice of blending two images, in photoshop, one of which is on a green screen, I have used an image of a woman on green background and a simple picture taken of the sky.
I have placed the photograph of the woman ontop of the image of the sky, selected the colour range tool and selected the green background, using the mask to cover it with the sky background.
Since there were still bits in her hair and outlines that were green and were not removed by the mask I had to use the hue/saturation tool and its eyedropper tool to select the colour and use the black and white range to make it darker, making it look more natural, especially on the hair.
Images used
Image before saturation
Postcard Ideas
Past
On August 6th and 9th of 1945 by the end of WWII, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki respectively.
Under the orders of the USA president, Harry Truman and support from the UK, a day before the attack a warning was sent to Japan, informing the country to evacuate its endangered area. This warning was unfortunately ignored by the Japanese and the areas were never properly informed of the danger they were in. Due to the ignorance of the Japanese leader, 129,000 people have been killed by the bomb and its poisonous chemicals.
The first strike was on Hiroshima, on August 6th, 08:16, the nuclear explosive was being transported in an American B-29 bomber, titled “Enola Gay”, which carried and dropped the nuclear bomb named “Little Boy” on the city, the blast killing over 80,000 and injuring 35,000 of the citizens.
The explosion was so great that is has had an ever lasting impact on the nation. Even right after the attack there were barely any members of the city left to take care of the ill or injured. The number of Doctors dropped from 200 to 20 and only 150 Nurses remained alive and uninjured out of the previous 1,780. The buildings were also destroyed in the result of the bomb, the number drastically dropped from 90,000 to 28,000.
The conflict between the USA and Japan during WWII was a bitter one, marked in history by atrocities and basic human rights violations on both sides such as the executions and torture of American prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army and the defilement of dead Japanese bodies. However after the two bombs were dropped on both Nagasaki and Hiroshima the Japanese have surrendered and after the war made a peace treaty with the USA and many other countries, however there is no doubt there was still resentment between them after the incident.
In Ancient Greece many people believed in what we call now the Greek Mythology. It was the religion of the times that slowly died and became only known as mare legends or myths, barely anyone believing in the Gods of the times nowadays. The mythology said there were many gods and entities which only a couple humans were lucky enough to ever see in person. However how did such world as ours come to live? Of course, like every religion they covered such topics as well.
It is said that at the very beginning there was only a God called Chaos. An endless yet never expanding entity which after timeless hours, days, months, millenniums, has become bored of his lonely and boring life. Out of the complete void then appeared Erebus representing the place where death dwells, and a goddess also known as the ‘Night’. Her and Chaos ruled together for a long time however to endlessness was still silent, dark and empty.
Then Love was born, bringing froth order and from Love emerged Light, followed by Gaea, the Earth. These three constantly expanded the universe and shaped it into what we know today.
Of course the religion of then is the mythology of now. And it truly provokes the question of which religions of today will be the unfortunate mythologies and legends of tomorrow. From what we can read it is obvious that the Greek Mythology differs greatly from any religion we know today but there is still the small possibility that it might have been the true religion and we were all wrong to dismiss it when it all could be based off of facts.
There were many “Golden ages of Piracy” or as many prefer to call them “The outbreaks of pirates”, however I would like to concentrate on one particular era which was one of the first ‘Golden Ages’. It took place between the years of 1650 and 1680 when many seamen worked for the English and shipped their goods across the shore to other countries. During those times the English and Spanish had a very rocky and unstable relationship, thus for England paid highly the seamen to plunder their enemy ships of any goods and gold that they carried. During those times even the highest ranked captains would indulge in the ongoing sea fights across the shore.
After years the English and Spanish made a peace treaty and many of the men previously used to getting highly paid would end up jobless and broke without a penny spare. Many men had to step down from their positions and go back to their previous lives. This however sparked a revolution in many others, who thought they were wrong done by the English government and went off the coasts to plunder any ship they could find of its goods this time not having to care about the government taking its fair share.
The life of a Pirate was popular. It did not matter whether you were young or old, skinny or tough, as long as you had strength or agility to fight with the storms and enemy ships you were good to go! Many young boys who had just finished school went on to become pirates at the time since becoming anything else meant a lot of education and skill, whereas on the ship you could make a fortune in a short time spam.
After a couple of years the English have become agitated with the pirates and how not only did they take over their goods but also ships. They became much more aggressive and many of the barbarians of the time either died or turned to legal jobs and much more peaceful lives.
Greek Mythologies Begging Of The World
Nuclear Bombing Of Hiroshima
Golden Age Of Piracy
Present
Leaked North Korean Internet
USA Presidencial Debate Through The Eyes Of The Internet
Oldest Fossil
The entire internet of North Korea has been leaked out by an unknown source on 19th September. It gave people outside the country a small peak into the 28 websites that Korea allowed its citizens access to and shocked many due to the minimal amount of information. In Korea internet and computers aren't as common as in the UK and USA, they are a privilege that only a couple thousand of the people are allowed to access out of millions living in the entire country of North Korea. Computers alone in the country cost months worth of someone's salary and to add to the difficulty the person needs to be approved by the government to get one.
The shock factor was of course, achieved by the limited amount of websites, previous reports from hackers all over the world have suggested the country has at the very least 5,500 websites fully functioning. Finding out the entirety of North Korea only had access to 28 websites, all carefully monitored by the government came was a surprise no one expected. Nonetheless many of the websites were impossible to access, 10 to be exact, however among the open sites were airline ticket website, a cooking site, a film website and a few educational sites. One of the off-limits sites was said to be a badly made clone of FaceBook called StarCon.
The situation gave people a better insight on the situation in North Korea and how different life is there compared to other countries. Of course it also turned out to be a huge problem for the Korean security to get the websites back to their previous 'private' state. In the end the internet is once again inaccessible to anyone outside of the mysterious country.
It is possible that some of the blocked sites ad military purposes, giving other countries a huge advantage if they were to be leaked out as well, thankfully for Korea it did not happen.
For the past year presidential debates were circulating around the USA and rest of the world. President Obama has bee elected the president three times in a row and it is time for a new leader to step in his shoes, but how exactly does the internet and people perceive the new candidates?
The main two campaigns right now are being led my Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, both infamous for many of their outrageous acts.
Donald Trump is often in public eyes seen as the 'man with the plan' however in the eyes of people outside his country he is degraded to a status of a 'meme', a joke. He is a man who thinks money equal to power and is often criticised by his often racist and sexist outlooks on the wold. People often say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and thinks he can control others with money, however he still gains popularity with his so called "honesty".
Hillary Clinton on the other hand is often seen having weak arguments and overall not fit the be a leader of a powerful country as the USA. Her most often used argument to win the role is "We've never had a woman president before!" her lack of professionalism in the debate is seen as almost dirty play, making people consider her as the leader only because she is a female when what should truly matter is her abilities and experience. She is however voted on because of her achievements in life and often bringing up good causes.
From the internets perspective it almost seems as if the USA is stuck between a rock and a hard place. It is people's opinion on who they vote, it usually comes down to people's personal values but no one can deny that their best bet for president, Bernie Sanders has been unfortunately forgotten.
Recently in Greenland, the oldest fossil has been discovered. According to researchers the fossil is at the very least 3.7bn years old and is older by 220 million years than any previously discovered fossil. A scientist working on the fossil states that “Up until now the oldest stromatolites have been from Western Australia and they are roughly 3,500 million (3.5bn) years old.”
Many consider the fossil raises the question of life on other planets. The same scientist states that “If we have got life at 3,700 million (3.7 bn) years on Earth, did it exist on other planets - because Mars, for example, 3,700 million years ago was wet,” It sparked the possibility for many theorists and is now used to prove that even the smallest life on other planets had the chance to survive during that time and might have evolved from bacteria to something much, much bigger after billions of years. Of course many can also say that the life became extinct on Mars due to poor conditions and later lack of water, this does not stop speculations that the creatures we call 'aliens' might have adapted just like we and evolved to what they might be now. Even if they are only bacteria they will still be considered alive.
The scientist state that they never expect to discover a fossil from the same era or one that is older since the rocks are metamorphic, formed under extreme heat and pressure, it is unusually rare to find any traces of them much less a full wall created of fossils, it was fortunate for the finders to discover the rock and it's remaining image of what they presume is water or other substance, however it is impossible to fully understand life from such a long time ago, for all we know it might have beed a small trace left of an enormous life form.
Virtual Reality
Future
Post Apocalyptic Future
Virtual reality has been one of the most popular topics that come up when talking about the future. It is not only very plausible since many companies such as Sony have been working on googles which allow you to play the games and see them just as you walk around your house and Pokemon Go has been trying to blend the line between reality and the game, making you walk around your world to catch Pokemon which stay in your phone.
It has been a dream of many individuals to experience the world of gaming on a new level , to indulge in the world of gaming like never before and often times escape from the boring reality that they have to live in since the premise of becoming the saviour of the universe is a much more interesting live to live through.
Many people still oppose the idea, thinking many will forget themselves and live only in their small fantasy world...But is it truly such a bad idea if it will mean they are fulfilled and happy with their lives? The debates can go on forever and yet no conclusive answer will be achieved by either side of the argument. There is no right or wrong answer, there are only people's opinions and points of view.
It could be an escape from the true hurt of the world, however in many cases the developers wish to go one step further (not that many complain about this) and wish to create true life in the gaming industry. They wish the players to invest themselves and their lives in the game and when it's game over for them in the game it correlates to their live in the real world as well. This premise has been often shown in many cartoons and films and never ended well. There are also the games where if you die in the game you can never open it up again. This of course could prove a problem for someone who bought the game for millions and lost in the first minutes of the game to a basic enemy.
Nonetheless all those things don't take away from the 'hype' players feel when talking about the possibility.
Our planet, Earth, and our solar system will unfortunately not last forever. The human race will either have to die out before then due to a virus or lack of adaptation. However, what if we were to adapt and move to a newer, entirely similar solar system that also supplied us with food, oxygen and water? The possibilities are as endless as the universe, it might of course take millions of years to get to the point where our technology allows us to move to a different planet, or solar system, however this doesn't stop the scientists from already discussing all the possibilities.
In a couple thousand years it is possible that our race moved to a younger solar system thats' Sun wasn't on the verge of death. Yes, our son is far from that point too, yet what does this mean for newer generations? With each generation that passes the years for the Sun's existence to come to an end are getting fewer it won't be long before the possibility of moving turns everyone's heads.
By the time this happens the human race could evolve, however in technology and not biology. Even right now the humans have not evolved for the longest time, this is because the world is forced to adapt to us and not the other way around. We take so much from nature and unfortunately give little to nothing back. The animals and plant life have to adapt to our need for cutting trees and ruining their climates with our waste. This makes it close to impossible for human to be the ones to evolve. However! This does not mean our technology and knowledge won't expand throughout the years and our biological make-up will evolve once moving to a different planet or solar system, of course it will take millions if not thrilling of years but I don't believe we could possibly die out completely just because of the climate change or the end of our solar system.
Many people think the future is in crumbles. Either because of pollution or often virus outbreaks. The pot apocalyptic future is often talked about as a disastrous event that will soon take place or as a dangerous adventure for those strong enough to survive it.
The most talked about topic and cause for an apocalypse is either the zombie outbreak or world war three, which would be fought with nuclear weapons which will backfire.
Many find the idea of surviving an apocalypse fascinating and love to speculate what it would be like. In my honest opinion I like to think that not many members of the human race would survive and those who would, would either go completely insane or become empty shells of what they used to be. A life changing experience changes a person in many ways psychologically, Often after deaths of many loved ones people either turn to something to distract themselves and give themselves comfort, for example religion, or turn cold towards others and antisocial. I imagine in an apocalypse people would go cold or go for the possible third option; go insane. The insanity isn't always portrayed in books or films as a negative trait in our villain or hero, it gives them a different perspective on life and might just give them ideas that no one else would ever think of.
It is possible that even in a future like this the technology would be very advanced since we don't know when this future would happen, some speculate it might take place in a couple of years while others think it might take thousands of years for it to begin.
The human race is very dependent on each other, however during drastic situations they often don't trust each other and during apocalypse split into small groups or loose trust towards everyone and decide to travel alone, for most this seem to work yet the more dependent people will settle in old towns or create their own small shelters.
Moving Away From Earth
Artist Research
John Stezaker
John Stezaker is known for creating surreal works of art that reuse old postcards, film stills and publicity photographs and puts at least two images together to create an entirely new one. The art does not need to make complete sense or use two people, actually it often uses one person and a picture of a landscape where the most important parts of the face are supposed to be placed. Despite this the images always keep their natural flow and the face underneath the new postcard keeps its appeal and is still recognizable.
When using photographs of two people, John, often tried to find actors or models who attempted a similar pose of expression so that the image keeps its meaning.
In often cases the first picture is left completely uncut and in its original state however the second picture that goes on top is cut in half horizontally, despite the lines being very cleanly cut they are never cut in the center of the image or the center of its corners.
In some pictures created by Stezaker, he uses both photographs in their entirety, not leaving a singly detail out of the original and only sticking on of them on top of the other. This he often uses when working with landscapes and faces together, while using the horizontal cuts when using both head shots.
I attempted to make an image with similar surrealism to his using only two old photographs. I have used photoshop to import them and cut the top image of the man in half using a simple 'eraser' tool while putting it on top of a photograph of Einstein.
Both of the images were black and white and had the men in very similar poses and a nearly identical angle. Looking at previous art done by John I noticed he tries to line up at least one factor of each image with each other, that factor either being the top of the head, position of the eyes or even eyebrow! Because of this I lined up the top of their heads, noses and eyes to give the image a more natural looking flow,
David Hockney
David Hockney is a famous artist of the 20s. His most famous works include oil and acrylic paintings and photo collages which he called "joiners". His work is often referring to and tried to portray 'cubism' which the artist was inspired by. In the collages each photograph is taken from a slightly different angle and often at different time periods during the day. It almost gives a 3D feeling to the image. Cubism refers to how human vision works and how everything changes angle as we look at it from different perspectives even if we just slightly move our eyes, in a similar way Hockney moved his camera and just as out eyes adjust to the different times of day as we slowly look around us, the photographs were showing just the same gradual change however more sporadically.
The idea of 'joiners' came accidentally after Hockney took multiple Polaroid photographs of a room he was planning on paining on a canvas and needed reference to. The creator was shocked to find out that they all are able to make a composition of their own even if they did not always fit perfectly with one another.
Unfortunately David has soon after given up on his photography work and came back to painting, considering the camera didn't have enough potential for further development in his work and was limiting him.
His photographs often challenged it's viewers, one of the more famous collages being "Pearlsbloom highway" which demonstrates a presumably simple road. On it's right side we see everything that a typical American driver might see, or rather care enough to notice, the road signs and maybe a tree or two that stand out to him. On the left side however we get to see what the passenger in the nearby seat might spot first, the rubbish and all the trees that somehow seem to survive in the polluted area.
Past
For my final postcard representing the past I have used the event of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Nuclear bombing during the World War II (I have mostly dedicated this project to the city of Hiroshima). Because it is the most recent event it was very effective to find accurate information on it, whereas the other two topics either covered an event that is portrayed differently from book to book or didn't have enough information to make a proper statement and deductions from.
Past Postcard Development
One of my biggest inspirations for my final product was the Torri, a traditional Japanese gate typically used in front of shines. It is often depicted in the photographs and paintings of the post-nuclear attack as the only thing still standing, almost as if giving hope for a better future and declaring the end of the World War.
I'm planning on making the Torii stand out in the picture with it's bright red colour as it's being surrounded by smoke, which not only symbolizes the attack but also is a form of communication, which was unfortunately unsuccessful between the countries during those times, however considering how it will be almost rising up from the smoke the gate will be the symbol of how things changed after the bombing.
For the background I want to use the map of Hiroshima showing off it's most affected area where the bomb was thrown. I want for it and the smoke to the back and white (except for the most affected area) so that the main point and the gate stand out. The black and white can also symbolize the past which will highlight the importance of the Torii, which as I previously stated symbolizes the greater future.
First of all I used the quick select tool to take out the Torii out of it's original image and copy and pasted it onto the background of the Hiroshima map and plan that USA used at the time of 1945. I then added a smoke image which I pasted in and then duplicated since the image wasn't long enough horizontally to fit with the rest of the image.
I then added a comic book version of the USA's president Harry S Truman who was responsible for sending the bombs to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 during the second world war in an attempt to end it. I have chosen to use a comib book image of him to repreasent what most Japanese citizens must have thought about him after the attack; that he lived in his own perfect made up word where everyhting he did only let to positive oucomes.
I have used the "vivid light' tool to highlight the left side of the Torii to a deep red which was to symbolize the blood shed and the "darken" tool to put shadows behind Truman, the Torii and to add darkness to the coulds of smoke.
I have found an image of two children affected by the Hiroshima bombing. I used the quick select tool to cut them out of the original picture and copy and pasted it onto my project. I put the layer they were on behind the layer of smoke and used the darken tool on the background layer which contained the Torii to add black smoke. The desired effect was to have the smoke in front but also behind the children to make it look more natural. I used the vivid light tool once again on the Torii gate and this time also the clouds, giving the gate a much more red glow on the left and yellow on the right. Yellow often symbolizes good or joyfulness, which is what I presume the leader of the United States would feel after not only the attack was successful but also mane Japan surrender.
The cloud on Truman's side after the effect almost looked like lightning, Giving it a very characteristic 'God-Power' like look whereas the smoke on the left looks completely like the smoke caused by the explosion and could potentially show what the poisonous gas would look like.
Final Image
Since the child on the front looked very unnatural and did not bland in well with the smoke I have decided to take him out of the final postcard idea. I have also used the vivid light tool and changed it's colour to red to use on the left cloud of smoke,the colour red if highly emphasized in my postcard, especially on the left, since it creates a sense of danger and urgency. On the other hand I didn't like the idea of the could on the right having such a bring contrast and changed it back to a darker tone using the darken tool and selecting a wide range of greys and blues to make it look more natural.
Overall I am very pleased wit the outcome of this postcard. If I could change anything about it I would have probably tried to go with my original idea of putting the Emperor of Japan in the place of the terrified child. In my opinion it would be a much more empowering sight to see if the two leaders stood up against one another in a debate on opposite sides of the Torii.
Images used
Present
For my project of the 'Present Postcard" I have used the USA elections as my main inspiration. I thought that this is the most relevant topic at the time I was creating the postcard and seeing how the internet mocked it and its members made me realise just how differently everyone sees this topic; for some it's a funny meme that will pass with time while for others the future of their country depends on making the right choice between the candidates.
Images used
For my post card from the present I have decided to present something that has been happening and has been talked about for the past year; the USA elections. For the general public most of the news are nowadays seen and read on the internet which is known for exaggerating it's points and opinions, and such is the case with the topic of the elections.
I wanted to show case the two main candidates as how the internet sees them, in other words, as jokes. It is a play on the political satire and humor.
I have used a post apocalyptic background for the main piece. It shows just how much people see the election as a messy subject to touch upon. It also represents the future of the country if either of those candidates win.
I used the "Vivid Light" tool to transform the markets bland "M" into a vibrant, red "V". The letter stands for "Vote" or "Voting" and is a deep crimson red since the colour is associated often with danger. I also used the same tool to add shadows around it, not only to get rid of the rest of the "M" but also because shadows usually hide the biggest fears people have. Clinton or Trump winning would be the haunting nightmares of more than one person.
I have used a post apocaliptic background for the main piece. It shows just how much people see the election as a messy subject to touch upon. It also represents the future of the country if either of those candidates win.
I used the "Vivid Light" tool to transform the markets bland "M" into a vibrant, red "V". The letter stands for "Vote" or "Voting" and is a deep crimson red since the colour is associated often with danger. I aslo used the same tool to add shadows around it, not only to get rid of the rest of the "M" but also because shadows usually hide the biggest fears people have. Clinton or Trump winning would be the haunting nightmares of more than one person.
Secondly I added a photograph I found of Donald Trump and copy and pasted it onto the background, later using the "Mask" tool to hide the unneccessary parts of his image.
Since he is associated with 'money=power' due to his infamous quotes "My father gave me a small load of a million dollars" and "I mean, part of the beauty of my is that I'm very rich", I have decided to make the saying come to life and gave him a green glow and dollar notes coming from under his sleeves, like a magicians ace since he uses them to get people on his side and vote for him....Or so it said by the internet! Green is aslo often viewed as a villanous colour and is associated with money.
Final Image
For Hillary Clinton I have found an image of her waving to the audience. The image was on a simple white back ground, making it very easy to use the select took and then the mask tool. I have put Hillary on the opposite side to Trump since she is his rival to power. Using the vivid light tool I have added a yellow glow on the back ground layer to the building, wasteland and the path that she walks. The golden glow represents how many see her as the 'golden person' or 'golden opportunity'. She is known to partake in many charity events and has achieved many great things during her university and later life. The yellow glow is supposed to only emphasise this. And yet from the internet's perspective she is very full of herself and very uninspiring. Her achievements are seen however the things she says are often deemed unprofessional.
At last since I wanted the final image to represent the political debate from the internet's perspective; how it is practically a joke for everyone that unfortunately will have grave consequences if not taken seriously sooner or later. To represent this I have used an image of people voting on the election day and copy and pasted my already created image onto one of a hand holding a phone. I had to edit the scale with the scale tool to fit the imagine inside the call phone's screen. I then used the mask tool to hide the background of the original picture of the hand holding the phone and selected what was left, pasting it onto the election photograph.
I am quite pleased with the final outcome of this postcard. I was not going for a very realistic approach for the image inside the phone screen since I wanted it to be an exaggerated version of what the person was seeing in real life.
If I was able to change anything about this final image I would have also included the upcoming candidate, Bernie and given more shadows on the hand.
Future
For my project depicting the future I have decided to use the post-apocalyptic setting. It can be interpreted in many ways and represented in a different fashion each time. I wanted to present the many factors that go into such a setting and tell a small story inside it. Some may say it's a mit of a miss match but what wouldn't be during such a time?
While starting off with a simple background of a city in the middle of the desert I have selected a number of images that I thought would fit into the setting.
The first one was an image of a robot planting a tree. Most post apocalyptic settings take place not many years from now., however I wanted to show a setting like this that goes far into the future where robots like this have already been developed. The tree it planted and the one it's carrying symbolize the new begging. I had to cut both of the images out using the quick select tool and used the vivid light tool under different tones to give the plants a natural looking glow that would come from the setting sun.
I have set the singular plant in a crack to make it seem as if the life on the planet was growing back to it's old ways on its own. I then added shadows for both the plant and the robot using the darken tool.
Up in the sky I have added a rocket. I wanted it to show that either people have left this planet to live somewhere else, creating an almost Wall-E scenario where the robots have to take care of their planet or that there was a nuclear war that took place that resulted in the lonely desert that we see now.
In the later picture, as shown, I have created another layer and copied the original background on top of everything. I have used the eraser tool on low strength setting to get rid of the top later, leaving behind some on the rocket. I wanted it to look as if it was emerging from the clouds instead of being simply placed on top of them.
Final image
In the end I am not as pleased with this image as with my other two projects. It is rather hard to understand and analyse even when the viewer knows what they should be looking at. If I could make it again I would definitely not add the robot into the image. The way it stands looks very unnatural and the futuristic factor would have easily been showcased by the rocket alone.
Wanting to experiment more with the eraser tool I have added two planets into the background, giving the image more of a futuristic look than it previously had. I used the same technique I used with the rocket to make them look as if they were emerging from behind the clouds.
I have added a single man in the low middle of the image. Although I was considering creating the image without any human life it seemed fit to represent the human spirit and the slow degrading of mind when put under extreme pressure. I then used the vivid light tool instead of the darken tool to create the shadow underneath him since it gave a more natural look than the dark/black that the darken too created.
Although not as visible as the rest of the image I have also added a fire to the background town in the right corner behind the robot.
In the end most of the project could have been seen as the point of view of the deteriorating man who's worlds have gone to crumbles after a third world war. The image is all over the place and just like his mind can' exactly make sense of what happened or what is going on,
Images used
