computers in art final evaluation

Before I started this project my skills concerning Photoshop wear limited. At the start of the project I experimented with colours and basic touching up of photographs which is something that I have become reasonably good at. Once I picked out the theme for the whole project I set about developing and experimenting with various images. Some of the images turned out better than others which I analysed in detail under the images.  As well as using photographs of Anthony that I took on my phone and digital camera , I also casted his hand and used studio photography which allowed me to use a high quality camera with different lenses to achieve different effects. Using the studio photography allowed me to expand my skills within the digital field. I then went onto editing these images on Photoshop with successful outcomes.  Once I had a substantial amount of edited images to work from I started to select and develop these into possible magazine covers. When developing the magazine covers I learned about the various terms and rules that applied in the professional environment. Once I had learned and mastered these terms and rules I then made the decisions to twist and bend them to create my own unique covers with exquisite results. There were things that I had to consider such as font types and the positioning of images ect. I ensured that the fonts I used were suitable for the type of magazine cover and that it appealed to the target audience and potential buyer. Throughout the whole project I posted my completed images and magazine covers onto Facebook which generated both positive and negative feedback which I took into consideration when selecting ideas and images to develop further.  Alongside this project I had a number of other projects that I decided to incorporate the skills that I have learnt in Photoshop into the other projects. For example I created prints and drawings and developed them in Photoshop to create different effects and to take the drawings a step further.  I found that using Photoshop and other more traditional methods of creating art has broadened my artistic ability and allowed me to reach my potential.  After finishing the magazine cover I then started to develop images of Anthony into a magazine spread. When developing the spread I created the image in Photoshop then finished editing the text by using illustrator. the reason for using two programs to create the spread is simply because text in Photoshop would just pixel-ate making the text hard to read. By using illustrator the text doesn’t pixel-ate making the text readable. during this project I regularly searched on deviant art to find other artists and designers that use computers within their work. When I commented on their work, the majority of them commented back with the various tools and methods which they used to create their work. I then went on to develop the same methods with my own images. I also tweeted the web designer of kerrang! Radio and asked him some questions about what programs he used ect. I was luckily enough to get a reply which has given me some insight into what professional designers use on a daily basis. Having completed such a vast amount of digital work I have seen a vast improvement in the quality of my work since using Photoshop. Not only have I learned how to create a wide range of types of images within Photoshop but I have improved on the time it takes me to produce high quality work. By using traditional methods of art work which can be time consuming I have been able to achieve a similar effect digitally with more precise results. When looking at the development of my work Photoshop and illustrator has opened up my artistic potential dramatically. The work I produced before focusing on digital art work took more time to produce high quality work which often impacted on the time I had left within the project. Photoshop has allowed me to produce work more effectively and efficiently. As well as using traditional methods of recording my work I uploaded my work onto a blog. This allows me to produce endless amounts of digital work without having to worry about the costs of printing all my work out to put into a sketch book. Another positive reason for uploading my work onto a blog is my work then becomes viewable by a global audience therefore not restricting my work to a limited audience. Now that I have completed the project, I have found that I am more suited to the digital form of working. I can tell this by looking back at other projects where I didn’t touch digital art. In these projects the productivity of my work was slow and produced a lower standard of work. Since discovering Photoshop I have found that the standard of my work has improved dramatically. I think that this is clear to see as the project developed. As for my future work I will incorporate Photoshop where ever it is suitable.

alternative magazine designs.

I chose this image of Anthony for this magazine idea because it reflects one of my final magazine covers. I basically touched up the image by altering the levels and removing the original background. I then moved Anthony's face to the edge of the page before creating a new layer for the background. I decided to keep the background simple by using his favourite colour. To create the background I used the paint push tool and with my graphics tablet started to paint in the background using various shades of green. I also altered the opacity and size do the brush to give the image a traditional painted look. I think the overall image works well as a background for a magazine spread. However I don’t think it is strong enough for a final magazine spread.

For this magazine spread I took an image of Anthony and scanned it in and developed it in illustrator. I added boxed for columns of text and changed the opacity so that the text can still be read. I also added a border at the bottom and added page numbers. This design is simple and rather bland in the way of colour. So I decided not to choose this for my final design.

For this magazine spread design I scanned in an image of Anthony showing off his plumbing work and developed it by adding in a page of his handwriting onto the image. I then faded the writing out by adding a layer mask and selecting a gradient this faded the text closer to his face and body allowing the text to be read on one side.

The above image lacked in colour to assist this I went back to Photoshop and painted blue into the image I chose blue to represent water which is in fitting with Anthony's profession.

Once I was happy with the image I then added text to this image using illustrator. 

i created two collums of text and changed the font and coulour so that the text can be read.


When I printed this final design off, I noticed the text wasn't easy to read. I then went back to Illistratour and worked on various versions of colour combinations. However, I was unable to come to a satisfactory result by chaning the text colour alone. I then explored the options on having a background to the text. For this I simply created two rectangled boxes selected white and filled them in. All i needed to do from there was alter the ocpacity to allow the background image to be seen. I then re added the text. because I added the background to the collums this enabled me to use black as the font colour.

The rest of the colour alterations have been printed off and handed seperatly.