Project 1: Photobashing - Figurative Painting
GRAP2530 Advanced Illustration Techniques
Lauren Smith s3578237
Sketch
Concept
My design is using Melchior d’Hondecoeter’s theme of anthropromorphic farm animals. Specifically ‘The Poultry Yard’ (d’Hondecoeter, 1636) d’Hondecoeter is a dutch painter and is often called the Renoir of the bird world. His paintings more often than not have a scene being played out with various birds in a human like internaction.
The style of painting is with strong strokes of oil paint and bright highlights, often in low light levels - either at dawn or dusk.
My painting will be on a similar theme with similar animals. I am using four photos composited together, using a main image with a setting sun and an interaction happening between a chicken and a gaggle of geese. There is the opportunity to make a similar kind of sky to the original painting and also style the foreground in an equally similar way.
I have found two tutorials that will help me achieve the similar effects to the original. Firstly one on ‘digital painting fundamentals (lynda.com, 2017) to get the oil paint effects. For lighting and other visual alterations I found a renaissance painting tutorial (youtube.com, 2017).
The style has strong brush strokes, lots of texture, mostly dark tones and strong highlights. There are many elements of these already in the photos I have selected - I will try and use and enhance these in this project.
Reference Image
(Melchior d'Hondecoeter, 1636)
Rough Compilation
L to R: (Elena Frolova 2016) (Helen Hutson 2014) (Helen Hutson 2012) (Patrick Jennings 2012)
Timelapse Video
Finished Result
Reflection
The key issues with this project were making it look like one seamless composition, then making it look like it has been painted and aged. Mine is an integration of four different photos that all had different colourways and lighting, so making these all appear to be the same is a challenge. The reference image is quite dark and brown, but dulling down the colours in each photo is difficult. Adding in shadows, lighting and highlights are important in this composition because of the bright sunset. Using brushes to create a more paint-like effect is quite time consuming, so needs to be time managed effectively.
My solution is a composite oil painting of four photographs, all dulled in colour and brightness to create a farmyard scene. Colour lookup tables also helped the evenness of tone across the images. Then using brushes, blending and highlights to make it look like an oil painting and as a final step placing a canvas like filter over the top.
Insight
I learnt how to use lookup tables more effectively to create a more complete composition.
It not only helped make it look like it is one photograph, rather than four compiled together, it also helped to place it more successful in the correct era - the 17th Century. This was a skill that I didn’t know before. What I want to do in the future is download some more lookup tables so that I have a larger range. I think it really helps with compiling different images together. I also want to do a bit more research and thoughts on what effects contribute to a different feeling and mood in the images.
This was something that was covered in class but it needed a bit more background research and understanding in how different effects are achieved. So I read a few blogs and articles to understand the concept better. https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-use-color-look-up-tables--cms-25866
I will use it in the future to help create different feelings with the imagery I use and help make them more relevant for the project that I am undertaking.
Conclusion
Blending modes, blur tool, brushes, cloning, colour matching and lookup tables have all helped me create more effective composite image. In particular my focus on making sure the colours and tones work together to create the right feeling for the era the image is meant to be set in.
Learning these more comprehensively have made my processes in photoshop more efficient and effective. With this better understanding I will be able to grasp the limitations or lack of limitations of what work I can produce. This will have direct implications to my level and skills as a graphic designer and my time management of projects.
References
d’Hondecoeter, M., 1636, The Poultry Yard, Oil on Canvas, The NGV, Melbourne.
Lynda.com 2017, Learning Digital Painting. Lynda.com, viewed 7 August 2017 < https://www.lynda.com/Painter-tutorials/Digital-Painting-Fundamentals/167070-2.html>
YouTube 2015, Michael Fassbender photoshop oil painting with cracked paint effect, Simon Stratford, viewed 7 August 2017 <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v17P0w_TmVY>
Shutterstock.com 2017 Morning Sunrise with Cows, Patrick Jennings, view 7 August 2017 <https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/403205077?src=xv-jlhXlnaDsLSVogTv74g-1-2&size=huge_jpg>
Shutterstock.com 2017, A group of white geese grazing on the meadow in the village, Elena Frolova, viewed 7 August 2017, <https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/487427788?src=4i-5OblFO30mo4_Mz5tRQg-1-80&size=huge_jpg>
Shutterstock.com 2017, An old abandoned farm cottage on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall - vintage effect, Helen Hutson viewed 7 August 2017 <https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/212184037?src=mZg6MHdTWQyqJ93Dgpf7_Q-1-15&size=huge_jpg>.
Shutterstock.com 2017, A flock of chickens grazing on the grass, Shutterstock, viewed 7 August 2017, <https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flock-chickens-grazing-on-grass-157999892>.
Tutsplus.com 2017, How to use color look up tables, tutsplus, viewed 10 August 2017, <https://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-use-color-look-up-tables--cms-25866>.
