Summary:
In my design technology class we spent several weeks following demos and completing small assignments to learn basic Photoshop skills. These weeks lead up to a final Photoshop project that combined these skills. The final project, Compelling Composites, was to tell a story using pictures edited in Photoshop.
Goals:
The main objective of this project was to communicate a compelling narrative through visual elements. We had to prove that we had a basic understanding of the skills we learned in class. My personal goal for this project was to use my art to express feelings I struggle to express using words.
Ideation:
The first stage of this project was generating and developing an idea. This process started with selecting a theme for the story. After selecting a theme, we answered eight questions designed to help develop that theme into a complete idea.
1. What themes would you like to explore in this work?
I want to explore themes of anxiety, ADHD, and mental health. Specifically the experience of having a panic attack.
2. What feeling(s) do you want to convey in this work? What imagery or visual cues will you use to communicate this feeling?
The work will express the feeling of being overwhelmed and anxious. It will use imagery of sources of anxiety. I want it to appear very busy and overwhelming to look at in the center, but towards the edges gradually get calmer.
3. Who is your protagonist (and/or antagonist)? Is the protagonist a human? An animal? An object? Or something else?
The protagonist is a human. A lot of who they are will be based on my personal experience.
4. Is it necessary for us to see the protagonist in order to understand the story?
It isn’t necessary to see the protagonist, but it is necessary to see what’s going on in their head.
5. What events led the protagonist to this point?
The combination of family, school, and financial stressors led to the events.
6. What might happen next?
The story will show the experience of a panic attack and the resolution of it.
7. How can symbolism be used in this work?
The center of the work will be busy and messy, representing the character’s panic and stress, and it will gradually get calmer towards the edges, representing the end of the panic and eventual calm.
8. What might your composition look like?
I want to include elements of things that commonly cause anxiety: school, money, family, etc. The color scheme should be bold, dramatic, and clash in the center, but fade to more calming colors at the edges.
I want to explore themes of anxiety, ADHD, and mental health. Specifically the experience of having a panic attack.
2. What feeling(s) do you want to convey in this work? What imagery or visual cues will you use to communicate this feeling?
The work will express the feeling of being overwhelmed and anxious. It will use imagery of sources of anxiety. I want it to appear very busy and overwhelming to look at in the center, but towards the edges gradually get calmer.
3. Who is your protagonist (and/or antagonist)? Is the protagonist a human? An animal? An object? Or something else?
The protagonist is a human. A lot of who they are will be based on my personal experience.
4. Is it necessary for us to see the protagonist in order to understand the story?
It isn’t necessary to see the protagonist, but it is necessary to see what’s going on in their head.
5. What events led the protagonist to this point?
The combination of family, school, and financial stressors led to the events.
6. What might happen next?
The story will show the experience of a panic attack and the resolution of it.
7. How can symbolism be used in this work?
The center of the work will be busy and messy, representing the character’s panic and stress, and it will gradually get calmer towards the edges, representing the end of the panic and eventual calm.
8. What might your composition look like?
I want to include elements of things that commonly cause anxiety: school, money, family, etc. The color scheme should be bold, dramatic, and clash in the center, but fade to more calming colors at the edges.
After generating an idea, the next step was to generate a design. This process started by creating a bunch of quick thumbnail sketches. The goal of the sketches was to generate a lot of potential compositions in a small amount of time.
Finally, we had to create a final sketch. In groups we discussed the good and bad elements of our thumbnail sketches. Using the feedback from the professor and my peers, I created the final sketch for the project.
Work in Progress:
With a final sketch and plan for the project, I needed to execute my plan. I started by finding a picture of a person that I liked the shape of. I deleted the photo's background and then adjusted the exposure to give me an outline of the person. After that I deleted the photo, and was left with the silhouette of the person. Using the brush tool, I drew tangled lines in red, green, and yellow. Using the blur tool, I gave the lines a slightly muddied appearance. I repeated that process until I reached a result I was happy with. Next, I found a picture I liked for the background, and copied it several times to give the background a messy, chaotic vibe. I added the background objects, representing the causes of anxiety, and I adjusted the opacity and color of them, so that they fit with the abstract vibe of the rest of the image. I played around a lot with the face of the person. At first I felt it was too abstract, so I tried adding in some facial features as well as shading and highlights, but that took away too much of the abstractness. Eventually I settled on only having eyes with teardrops, so that I could convey more of the character's emotions without adding too much realism.
What I learned:
In this project I progressed my skills with Photoshop. I became more familiar with the different tools Photoshop has available, and how to use them. I also became more skilled working on an Mac. I've had access to technology most of my life, and I love working on PCs, but I've always disliked Macs. I still don't like Macs, but I am more comfortable using them. On a more personal note, I successfully expressed feeling I struggle with through art.
