Graphic Design

• My concentration is creating relief tiles in clay. My concentration is based largely around the work of Raymond Mason. I have been experimenting with new textures and styles to create more interesting pictures.

• The purpose of these pictures is to create images that will be used to produce tiles. The idea of using Van Gogh’s style of swirls was started in one of the tiles I created. I liked the idea so much that I wanted to continue working in the same style.

• Most of the original pictures came from my camera phone and show different places in Mundelein and Chicago.

Street Signs

Reflection

• The original picture was taken in the Mundelein neighborhood of Cambridge. I cropped the image because I did not want the house and cars to get in the way. I used the smudge tool to create the swirls. I had to add in more colors to create more contrast in the picture. I chose colors similar to Van Gogh’s Starry Night. I experimented with the filters such as accented edges, paint daubs, fresco, dark strokes and poster edges. I used different layers and opacities to get the look I was trying to reproduce. I created a border that would show unity in the piece.

• I had to test a lot of things out for this first project. I experimented with tools, filters, and layers. I tried out many different possibilities and eventually came to this point which I felt looked the best. I developed the same basic formula I would use on the next image and all of the following “Starry Night” images

• This first project helped me learn to use the tools again and gave me the basic strategy for the rest of the images.

• If I were to do this assignment over again I would have liked to make the tree differently, I would have made it look more like the actual tree rather than the tree in Starry Night.

Park

Reflection

• This image was based on the cubism movement. I tried to apply some of the same ideas to from that style to this image. I used the line tool to create different geometric shapes in the picture on a separate layer. I used a bright green color in a separate layer and then merged the green and lined layer. I then used the burn, dodge, and sponge tool to give different shades of the same green and to give added texture. I added a border with geometric shapes.

• It was a challenge working with this new style, I felt very unfamiliar with it and tried my best to understand this sort of idea especially after working in a style that was very different. I also tried to convey water in cubism which was very hard and would be harder in clay.

• I worked in a new style, new ideas, and used new tools I had not used. the whole assignment was new and I learned a lot from it.

• Next time I would have to try a different way of achieving the cubist look. The dark lines and texture do not seem to work well, maybe the use of thinner lines or solid colored blocks would help create a cubist look.

Parking Lot Snow Bank

Reflection

• This was the second Starry Night picture. It was a picture taken in downtown Mundelein in a parking lot at night during the winter. I used the smudge tool to distort the image and give it texture. I wanted this picture to use brighter colors but still using some of the original colors as well. I changed the colors in the sky and lights to add contrast to the ground which had darker earth colors. I used darker colors in the sky add the same kind of gradient that was in the original picture.

• The biggest challenge was creating the texture for snow. I don’t think Van Gogh ever painted snow and so I had no idea what I could have used as the abstraction. I decided to use vertical strokes to provide contrast to the horizontal strokes that represent the pavement.

• I learned how to used different strokes to create different textures, I also like how the original colors work well with the image.

• I would try to think of a new technique for making snow abstract, thought I felt that it was suitable I think that it maybe confused with things such as trees which have a similar texture.

Fire Hydrant

Reflection

• I started this project off thinking that this image did not have much potential. I was trying to work out some ideas as to what I could try with this image and testing out some new techniques. I ended up using the smudge tool to create three different textures in the image. I added a border with the same pattern as the leaves.

• A challenge of this assignment was creating the fire hydrant texture. I would have to have made a better abstraction and spent more time on it. A success was the texture in the bushes and grass, they were new and original, and I was very impressed with the way they looked.

• I learned how to make new textures that are the same kind of abstraction as Starry Night but were still very different.

• I would probably want to give more attention to the fire hydrant because I do not feel that it was the best it could have been.

Falling Branch

Reflection

• I wanted to combined the to styles I had used previously. The original image is a branch that is slightly broken that hangs over. The picture was taken at the pond by Mundelein high school. I started by creating a separate layer and using the line tool I traced out shapes and filled them in with three different colors from the picture of the branch. I created a new layer and added different shades of blue. I used the smudge tool and created swirls that bounced off of the branch. I then added the black border to the image to complete it.

• The biggest success was my progression on the cubism style. It is looking more like a cubism then the previous image.

• I learned that the geometric cubism style works well with the organic starry night style. I may use the combination once again.

• Because of the strange odd angle the image is a bit too abstract. I am trying to decide whether or not to turn it so it appears normal. If I turn it, it would look more familiar but would not be true to what it actually is.

Buildings

Reflection

• I used the same process I used in the first starry night to distort this image. The blue in the sky was really bright in the original picture and I didn’t need to add any color to it. Most of the colors are the actual colors and mostly the smudge tool was used. When the poster edge filter was applied it created a lot of texture in the buildings, which I liked very much.

• This was one of the best examples of the skills I have learned. The greatest challenge was whether or not I decided to smudge the objects farther away or to leave them be. I decided to leave most of them be but added some distortion to the small pedestrian sign.

• I learned that buildings show great texture I may want to take more pictures of skyscrapers because of how well them look under the poster edges filter.

• If I were to redo this picture I would add a new layer and then use the smudge tool on all layers to let the wind pass by the buildings in the back.

Glare

Reflection

• I tried distorting the sun’s glare with the same kind of swirls that Van Gogh used in his work. I added color to the sky and to the sun and darkened the city in the background. I added color to the rays of light and to the street lights. I decided to leave most of the smaller people and object alone but I did use the smudge tool on the person in the bottom left corner and to the road on the right.

• Trying to use the glare was challenging because I had to decide what kind of light would make it to the tile stage. If I did every ray of light the tile would not look right but if I took out most of the sun light there would not be as much sunlight and the glare would not have a purpose.

• Next time I would have to find some way of making the tents less textured because they are too distorted and blend into the background too much.

• I learned a lot about creating sunlight. The amount of glare and light I put into this picture would determine how high much higher I would put the sun.

The Lake

Reflection

• The idea was to use the glare again but use less clouds then anytime before. The picture is a bit crooked and when the plaster edges filter is applied the sky has too much texture that is unnecessary. Using few swirls did give it a different feel to the image and gave it a more open appearance.

• The biggest challenge was working with space and composition. Balancing the sun, clouds, ocean and negative space was difficult because each needed their own attention.

• I learned to use less clouds and work more with negative space.

• If I were to redo this project I would focus a lot more on the composition and straighten out the picture before I worked on it.

Navy Pier

Reflection

• The original image had a lot of different subject that I did not use the smudge tool on because I did not want them to blend into the background too much. The only thing I really changed was the sky.

• I had to decide what I wanted to change and what I wanted to keep the same. I did not want to add too much texture to this image because it already had a lot of different texture.

• I learned that a busy picture like this does not really need more texture.

• I don’t believe that this picture needed to be distorted that this image would probably been ok by itself. I did like how the people on the side walk came out though and if I were to do this picture again I would probably focus on the street and less on the sky and building.

Apartment Distortions

Reflection

• The idea behind these picture started from one of M.C. Escher's lithographs. I tried to distort the image so that it would create a bubbled out look but still be clear enough to see the subject of the image. In Escher’s picture the balcony is the subject and it is clearly visible while the background is also remains undistorted. This idea was hard to duplicate. My attempts used the liquify bloat tool and the magnetic lasso tool.

• It was a challenge trying to duplicate the idea. I made progress but in the end I think that I would have needed different pictures of the same building at different distances and then blend them together.

• I would have probably had to have found a new building similar to the one in Escher’s picture. More pictures at different scales and I would have to use the bloat tool more carefully.

• I learned a lot about the liquify tools which brings more options when creating tiles.

Chicago Sky

Reflection

• This is another starry night picture. It is one of my favorites because of the color and texture used. In this picture I used multiple layers to get the wind to go behind the building and I decided that I wanted the wind to go in front of it too.

• I feel that this was a very successful piece that showed some of the best texture and movement. A challenge was trying to give the castle the same kind of texture that the other lights had.

• I would probably work on the wind in front of the tower more.

• I learned how to make the wind part of the foreground as well as the background.

Current work