Careful!
SUMMARY
This is my visual representation of the struggle of being a woman in a male-dominated society.
The idea I want to share is that while women may proudly carry the weight of femininity, it is inevitably a setback in a world that favors masculinity; however, women will always prevail nonetheless.
I chose to execute this idea with gender-stereotypical symbolism in the form of color, line, shape, and texture.
GOALS
Before beginning this project, I had only ever used Photoshop once before, to retouch photos taken with a film camera. I was excited to get into the program and learn more. For this particular project, I really wanted to learn to manipulate fabric and play with the different textures and lighting within the dress.
Another thing I wanted to spend time with was image adjustments, making something like a vibrant and colorful dress and soft skin tones stand out, but still be harmonious with darker, sleeker textures and tones to create an image that makes sense visually.
IDEATION
1.) What themes would you like to explore in this work?
There are themes of femininity and masculinity, gender stereotypes, as well as symbolism in the form of weather, clothing styles, and setting.
There are themes of femininity and masculinity, gender stereotypes, as well as symbolism in the form of weather, clothing styles, and setting.
There are also underlying themes of anger, determination, perseverance as seen in the facial expression, body language, and body position.
2.) Who is your protagonist (and/or antagonist)? Is the protagonist a human? An animal? An object? Or something else?
My protagonist is an unnamed woman, meant to represent all women. There is no actual antagonist, but she is challenged by the pressure of her environment.
3.) What feeling(s) do you want to convey in this work? What imagery or visual cues will you use to communicate this feeling?
I want the viewer to see this image and feel a sense of determination and pride. I want you to be able to feel her struggle and understand why she is there and in the situation. The look on her face is not fearful, it is determined.
By showing her still remaining poised and maintaining balance on the wall in this large, heavy dress, I hope to create an inspirational image for other women. By including dark storm clouds, I want to add to the challenge she faces and give a sense of unease. Will the wind blow her too far one way, or catch her dress and cause her to falter?
4.) Is it necessary for us to see the protagonist in order to understand the story?
Yes, as she is the main visual focal point. Without her, there is no story.
5.) What events led the protagonist to this point?
While this particular situation is fictional, you could apply it to several real-life scenarios. Maybe she has just been offered a job in a field where the majority of employees are men. She may find it challenging for her work to be recognized and be taken seriously as that of the men in her position has been.
Where a man may have already been given a rope and harness to walk across the wall easily, she’s expected to wear a dress, and that creates quite an issue.
6.) What might happen next?
The addition of the storm clouds gives a sense of uneasiness and brings her balance into question. It could rain, causing her to slip, or the wind could pick up her dress and cause her to be blown too far one way and fall.
However, as suggested by the wall extending behind her out of frame, she has already come so far even with the harsh environment around her making it difficult for her to walk. Because she is maintaining her balance and still appears elegant and graceful, we can assume she certainly has the strength to make it the rest of the way.
7.) How can symbolism be used in this work?
One thing I want to focus on is gender stereotypes. I chose a vibrant pink dress, a color we associate with femininity, against a cool, gray sky and stone wall. We tend to associate blues and cool colors with masculinity, so the color choice is symbolic of these two ideas working against each other to create tension.
The same idea applies to the shapes and lines on the elements of the image. The woman, her body, the folds in the fabric of her dress, all have organic, soft, round, lines. In art, we sometimes consider these kinds of lines “female lines.” In contrast, the wall has straight, geometric, harsh lines, which we could consider “male.”
8.) What might your composition look like?
The image is of a woman, balancing on a thin, slick, stone wall in the middle of a storm, while wearing a large, heavy pink gown. The gown hangs down to one side, well over the edge, and makes it difficult for her to balance.
However, she maintains her balance with her arms gracefully outstretched, and makes progress across the wall. The wall extends out of frame, both in front of her and behind her, suggesting that she has made progress, but still has a while to go.
SKETCHES
My original sketches were random ideas I brainstormed quickly. Most of these first sketches were not related to the end result idea I had, except the very first one that I ended up coming back to, which I have starred.
This next set of sketches has more ideas related to the topic. I thought about different perspectives, different subject matter, should I add an audience? A crowd above, looking down as if from a balcony viewing an opera? Should I put her in a different environment? (rock climbing in a dress)
My final sketch. In the sketch, I wanted to have her in heels with a leg peeking through the dress, but I liked the look of the full dress better in execution. Same with the bow on her head. In my original sketch, I made her more comically feminine, which I didn’t really intend to do. When I actually got to work, I liked the clean, elegant look I had going for her a lot better.
I felt that it changed the narrative from, “This woman is struggling because she chose this silly dress and goofy bow, she’s trying too hard!” to “This woman is strong and feminine, and she maintains that gracefully all while working harder to get across this wall than someone who is not bearing the weight of this dress.”
WORK IN PROGRESS
I began with my background. I knew I wanted a dark, stormy sky with ominous storm clouds. I found this photo and knew the grass would be covered later anyway, so I chose it.
Next, I worked on the wall. I made it using two duplicate images of a concrete wall I found. Using the perspective warp tool, I adjusted the angles and size of the two images to form the two visible surfaces of the wall. Then, using the dodge and burn tool, I added shadows and highlights to create a distinct edge and a light source, as well as a few spots and blemishes for texture.
I searched for a long while to find the dress I was looking for, but never found one with everything I wanted that I felt I could work with. I wanted lots of ruffles, lots of heavy fabric, but also a corset top and the lighting had to look right. I ended up building the woman and the dress piece by piece, starting with the skirt. I created a mask from an image of a dress I liked, and cut the skirt out.
From there, I found a corset top that matched the color of the skirt and created another mask. I left the original chest and shoulders, because I had already been searching for the right “model” and just couldn’t find a woman in the pose I envisioned. I knew I was going to attempt to piece her together using different images like the dress so I could have the look I wanted.
To create my main character, I found an image of a woman with her arms out doing yoga, and then… I chopped her arms off! I made a mask of the right arm, then added a duplicate of the image and created a separate mask for the left arm, so that each arm was a separate layer that I could move independently. Then I played with the angles and fixed them in a position I liked, lining them up as best I could with the shoulders.
Here’s a better look.
To get rid of the white t-shirt from the yoga lady’s arms, I used the clone stamp tool to cover the white areas with skin tones from the other parts of the arm. Same with the shadows on the right arm. I then used the spot healing and blur tool to smooth out any imperfections.
Here, I also adjusted the color balance of the dress to create a nice pink color. I felt the light pink/beige did not stand out enough or give the right idea. I wanted more femininity.
To create a longer “train” for the gown that hangs over the edge of the wall, I had help from Professor Arnell with creating a duplicate layer and dragging it down to create extra fabric. Then I played around with the puppet warp tool to give the skirt some movement, and to sort of mold it to the wall.
I used the clone stamp tool to blend the original skirt and the extension together a bit more seamlessly.
What happened to my Frankenstein woman? I scrapped her.
I was just not happy with the way her arms were looking. I also really had a hard time putting a head on her that didn’t look insane.
So I thought about other options, and had the idea to look for a photo of a gymnast or a ballerina. The woman you see here is a ballerina!
In the original photo, her arms were more straight, so I basically did the same thing as before, masking each arm, only I adjusted the angle of her arms to give more of a “balancing” effect.
It was easy to smooth out because they were actually her arms, and I was happy with this result!
After using the dodge tool to create some shadows under and around the dress, upping the contrast, and turning the brightness down a bit for a more dramatic effect, here is my finished project!
I’m so happy with how it came out!
Considering that this was my first time ever using Photoshop for a big project, I feel like I was able to get my idea across really well!
KNOWLEDGE GAINED
Before this project, I had never used Photoshop before, except for our assignments in class. I feel much more confident navigating my way around the toolbar, and knowing how to use many different tools as well.
I learned how to create masks, which I found was so helpful when working with lots of small pieces for one big creation.
I was able to adjust the lighting where I needed using the dodge and burn tools.
I discovered the warping tools on my own while trying to figure out how to create the wall and adjust the movement of the woman's dress, and that was super helpful in creating more realistic angles.
Overall, my main takeaway is that… I know how to use Photoshop now! That’s something I definitely couldn’t have said confidently before this project.
