Utopia- Final Piece

  

This is my utopia final piece. I created a wind chime using sticks which were collected from my garden, blue string and shells which were found on the beach. The process of making this was quite difficult as I had to be delicate with the string and careful just in case it got tangled. I used blue string particularly because the colour symbolises tranquility, and this is what I wanted to evoke in my piece. The design of the sticks were inspired by the image I created on photoshop of the repeated image. I created one larger square, and a smaller one hanging beneath.

Here is a close up of my piece; I took it from a low perspective to capture the detail of the shell and the way they are attached to the string.

utopia- photoshop work

I took both these images in my garden, and manipulated them on photoshop. For the first image I was inspired by Victoria Siemer. I layered the same image on top of eachother to create a repeated pattern. The main things I focused on were the colours, as I wanted to create a calm atmosphere, by doing this I have included mostly blue, and also the composition; I wanted to create my own surreal world.

utopia inspiration- Victoria Siemer

I was inspired by Victoria Siemer's surreal landscape photography. I like the subtle tones used as they create a tranquil atmosphere. The way she rotates part of the image to create 'a mirror effect' stands out to me as it's very unusual and it's like she has created her own universe. In the first image there are vivid colours used; this creates a joyous atmosphere. The image inside the circle seems as if it has been taken during the daytime or evening, whereas the photo outside the circle looks as if it has been taken at night because of the different shades of blues and purples. 

demonstration

My demonstration was about peace. I chose this as a protest against conflict. I drew many ideas in my sketchbook to help me decide which design to create on my placard. I used various coloured paper on my placard to make it look joyous and colourful. I included an olive tree design across the earth as it symbolises tranquility.
On the back of my placard I created a thought bubble with all my hobbies and interests inside it.

photoshop

The outcome of this task was to produce a poster using Photoshop, illustrator and InDesign. We had to select an image of ourselves and open it on Photoshop. I then added various background such as a floral one, pink clouds along the top and a blue moon.
I added text that related to my theme. My intention was to create a dream like atmosphere, and I showed this by adding a moon, clouds and text.
I found all 3 software's simple to use especially Photoshop as I'm more familiar with it. I enjoyed layering the different backgrounds together, and experimenting with the composition.

Graphics day 2

On the second day of the Graphics course, we developed our drawing skills. We carried out many different drawing activities including line drawing, drawing with our opposite hand, and even with our eyes closed(which I found most challenging). We also made portraits of people on our table. The drawings I created were very unusual and quite interesting, especially the ones with my eyes closed as they created movement, and were quite abstract.

Looking at other people's work gave me an insight on how to use different drawing techniques, and how they developed their own individual style. I was inspired by the different mediums they used to create unusual drawings.

For my own work I tried to use a range of different materials including pen, pencil, and felt tips. But I felt the strongest material for me was pencil. This is because I was able to create various tones and a 3 dimensional look. I also enjoyed experimenting with felt tips as It helped me to be more expressive in my drawing, and I would describe one of my pieces as pop art, even though it was unintentional.

Our drawings had to be created on a large scale, and I think this helped me focus more on the shape of the drawing, and focus less on the detail. But some of my work was more detailed than others because of the time that was spent.

The most interesting task we did was drawing a portrait of ourselves from memory. I found this quite challenging as I had no image to look from. I used pencil to create my portrait, so I focused on the shading and creating a 3 dimensional look. I think if I had longer time to complete the portrait I could have created a more realistic image. To improve it I should have added darker tones, and maybe used other materials.

 

Graphics

We were put into groups to come up with a protest slogan. We began by creating a spider diagram to help us come up with a name, based on our chosen topic which was ecology. I thought this topic was quite interesting as it was to do with the environment, so there was a wide range of ideas to come up with. After jotting down various names and ideas, we came up with the name NoZone. This was based on the ozone layer which is a shield around the earth.

Furthermore, we were then given a sheet with small boxes. These had to be filled with a range of designs and ideas for our slogan. Another sheet with bigger boxes were given to us to complete; I preferred this as I could include more ideas inside each box.

After drawing a range of ideas, we began to create our slogan. For this we used A2 paper for each letter. We all helped each other to cut out each letter; this made the task easier and quicker. After completing this, we had to place our slogan in two locations. The first location we presented it was hung from the ceiling. We took various images of it but the writing blended in with the background, so we decided to place a purple board behind it, which made the writing stand out. The second location was in front of the window. I quite liked the composition of how the slogan was placed inside the circular window; But unfortunately the writing didn't stand out very much, as the background was too light.

Out of the two locations we chose the one which hung from the ceiling to present. We printed our image on A4 paper.

Overall I felt that my team worked well together to produce an eye catching slogan, and the location we placed it in was unique.