First thoughts on animation project

Oh my gosh, I did it!

I finally got something I feel proud of.  This process was really hard for me, but I persevered and made it happen!  My classmates really inspired me during presentation our last day of class.  I was really amazed at how they made it look easy!  I am used to small tasks taking a long time in Photoshop but animation takes that to a whole new level!  I learned a lot from the process.  I think if I started a new project now I would be much more comfortable and able to do some of the effects more smoothly.  I opted to stay with the choppy quality, I like the feel of it.  I think in a way it ends up being more personal.  Ready?  Here it is...

Was it a dream?  Could they really grow those wings?  In a flash it was there and gone.  Do you believe it's possible?  Do you believe in magic?

No love for animation

I'm having a really hard time with the animation project.  I have lost hours of work several times.  I have thought about ditching this project and starting over many times.  I have watched countless videos and read many how to websites but so far it isn't helping.  I did finally get this part done.  It doesn't look like much, but it took a really long time.  I didn't use many photographs as I was trying hard to use photoshop skills to blend the frames together.

Project 3 Proposal

Animation Project Proposal

Carrie Avery

Digital Design

Spring 2015

For the animation project I would like to use a combination of techniques including frame animation as well as the onion skinning technique to create an artistic 30 second to 1 minute animated video using Photoshop. 

The concept I have in mind for this project is a continuation of a theme used in project 2, which is to create a magical landscape.  The inspiration for this project is to capture the magic enchantment of the world as seen through the eyes of a child. 

I would like to use my own my photographs of my children in a natural setting, like a forest.  I will use several photographs, although not to the effect of taking tons of pictures to create stop action.  I will use some photographs along with the tweening feature to draw out and make the children’s actions rather choppy. 

I will create colorful butterflies flying above and around the children by drawing in photoshop and using the onion skinning technique to animate them.

The end of the video will have the children grow wings and begin to fly with the butterflies.

I will used lightening, filters, and other special effects that I have learned this semester in Photoshop to make sure that the video has an artistic feel and invoke a dreamy, magical feeling in the viewer.  

simple animation

My first ever animation!  I took a picture of a butterfly, created a mask for each of the wings and did a frame animation with the wings in the up or down position.

More digital landscape inspiration

I found this artist online today and had to share.  I love how this artist merged images to create a new idea of landscape.  So cool!

merve özaslan

Project 2: Due Date!

Here's the final project.  I was not able to get the hill top perspective I was initially interested in.  I like the perspective warp effect on the book village.  I added a second light source coming from one of the doors to make the lighting on the kids more believable.  

Imagery for Project 2

Project 2: Progress

I took my photographs, made masks and created layers.

There doesn't seem to be enough room at the top of the composition to play with creating structures out of the books.  I think it needs to be flipped and become a vertical composition.  

 The layers are looking good.  I'm excited about the progress.  It still looks really flat and I want to play with the perspective a bit.  

tutorials for landscape project

puppet warp

beam of light

perspective warp

Photoshop tutorial: Use lighting effects to bring a sparkle to a photo illustration

Proposal for Project 2

Project 2 Proposal
Carrie Avery
Digital Design
Dynamic Landscape Project

For the landscape project, I would like to create a fantasy landscape in Photoshop.  Although I envision the surroundings being somewhat familiar, it should also be unrecognizable .  I will use colors and imagery to invoke feelings of mystery and adventure in the viewer.

The focal imagery I would like to use for this project are children riding on an animal,  They will be on some kind of adventure exploring some strange new land.  I would like to use realistic imagery and perhaps even take my own photographs for the project.  I would prefer the use of realistic images over a painterly style.

I would like to explore some kind interesting perspective for this project.  I could see the children and animal approaching the strange land as if they were coming up a hill.  Looking upward and ahead, imaging what lies ahead on their adventure.  I will need to watch tutorials on the use of 3D and perspective alterations available in Photoshop.

Lighting will play an important role in the project.  If I take my own photographs, I could control the lighting source in the imagery to keep in consistent in the composition.  I envision the background of the composition being a bright light.  The "place" within the composition will be darker, allowing for dynamic light, sun rays, and the need for creating believable shadows.

Overall, I hope to create a landscape that is believable and makes the viewer feel like they are along for the adventure.  

Sketches for project 2

Project 2- Dynamic Landscape Initial thoughts and ideas

Purpose: to create a dynamic landscape in Photoshop
Possibilities: explore depth and perspective as well as lighting
Inspiration: Emily Martin, Maggie Taylor
Imagery: children, planet surface, open field, wilderness, strange fantasy land
Concepts: children holding sun/stars on a string like a balloon, navigating a strange landscape and bringing light into darkness.

Project 2: Dynamic Landscape- Inspiration

Project 2 will be a "Dynamic Landscape".  Here is some inspiration for project #2-

I found inspiration for this project while reading to my kids one night at bedtime.  I love the book Dream Animals.  I instantly thought about how fun it would be to include my children in this landscape project.

Emily Winfield Martin

I am also really inspired by Maggie Taylor.  I love how she seamlessly combines imagery into new composition.  The lighting and color palette are amazing.

Maggie Taylor

I couldn't track down the original source of this image but I love the fantasy aspect.  I would like my landscape to be have unrealistic elements.

I am including this one for the cool perspective and lighting source.

Mid-Term: Elements of Art Project

Project: Find 3 examples of the Elements of Art

ELEMENTS OF Art & Design Project

Carrie Avery

Point

A point is an element that has position, but no extension. It is a single mark in space with a precise, but limited, location. Alone it can provide a powerful relation between negative and positive space, but when

grouped with other points the Gestalt grouping principle of closure tends to kick in and the brain compulsively connects the points together. Line or form is a natural result of multiple points in space.

Line

A line is an element characterized by length and direction. Lines create contours and form, and are often used to convey a specific kind of feeling or point to an important feature in a design. Lines are also used to create perspective, and dominant directional lines are often adopted to create a sense of continuance in a composition. In addition, lines that are grouped together often create a sense of value, density or texture.  The direction and orientation of a line can also imply certain feelings.  Horizontal lines imply tranquility and rest, whereas vertical lines imply power and strength. Oblique lines imply movement, action and change. Curved lines or S shaped lines imply quiet, calm and sensual feelings. Lines that converge imply depth, scale and distance.

Shape/Form

The simplest definition of shape is a closed contour or a closed group of line segments; a shape is defined by its perimeter. The three basic shapes are: circle, rectangle (square) and triangle. Form is the shape and structure of a dimensional element within a given composition.  Form refers to the three-dimensional quality of an object, which is due in part to light, and dark areas. When light from a single direction (e.g. our sun) hits an object, part of the object is in shadow. Light and dark areas within an image provide contrast that can suggest volume.  Factors that can affect our feelings towards an image include the direction of the light source, from above or below, and the gentleness or abruptness of the half tones.

      

Texture

Texture is used to create surface appearance, and relates to the physical make-up of a given form. Texture can be created by varying the size and juxtaposition of points, lines, shapes, and color. Texture is both a visual and a tactile phenomenon.

Space

Space is the area between and around objects. The space around objects is often called negative space; negative space has shape. Space can also refer to the feeling of depth. Real space is three-dimensional; when we are able to two-dimensionally create a visual space that has the feeling or illusion of depth we refer to it as perspective.

  

Color

Color is the response of the eye to differing wavelengths of radiation within the visible spectrum. The visible spectrum is what we perceive as light—the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can see.  Color can be used to set the emotional tone of the work, direct the viewers gaze, encourage associations, and create spacial definition.  There are three main components of color:

Hue: Where the color is positioned on the color wheel. Terms such as red, blue-green, and mauve all define the hue of a given color.

Value: The general lightness or darkness of a color. In general, how close to black or white a given color is.

Saturation: The intensity, or level of chroma, of a color. The more gray a color has in it, the less chroma it has.

Color Harmonies serve to describe the relationships certain colors have to one another, and how they can be combined to create a palette of color.

Complementary: a complementary relationship is a harmony of two colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. When complementary colors are placed side-by-side they tend to enhance the intensity (chroma) of each other, and when they are blended together they tend to decrease the intensity of each other. 

Analogous: an analogous relationship is a harmony of colors whose hues are adjacent to one another on the color wheel. Analogous colors tend to be families of colors such as blues (blue, blue-violet, bluegreen) and yellows (yellow, yellow-orange, yellow-green).

Triadic: a triadic relationship is a harmony of three colors equidistant from one another on the color wheel. Primary colors and secondary colors are examples of color triads.

   

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

Balance

Balance is the overall visual weight of a composition. Without it, the composition looks awkward and unstable. When objects in an illustration are the same or similar on both sides of the composition, it has formal balance. Informal balance is the arrangement of divergent forms.   There are three different types of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial. When an object or image has symmetrical balance, aspects of the design, and visual weight, are equally distributed on the right and left sides of a central axis. When an object or image is asymmetrically balanced, aspects of the design are not distributed equally on each side but their total weight is balanced. Radial balance originates from the center, like a daisy. While all of the visual components may not be exactly the same, but they all extend from one point in the center,

radiating outward, and maintain a visually stable center. 

The Building-Blocks of Design

Contrast

Contrast is an abrupt, unexpected change in a visual element. Artists can create contrast through value, color, texture, and shape.  Color contrast can be achieved through hue, saturation, and value.  Complementary colors (red/green, yellow/purple, blue/orange) seem to vibrate when they are placed together in a composition. By juxtaposing value (light/dark) an artist can create a sense of depth.  By varying the thickness and thinness of lines or combining horizontal

and vertical lines an artist creates contrast. Contrast can also be created through shape—curved shapes are calming and jagged shapes create edginess—and through texture—the juxtaposition of smooth visual textures against rough visual textures.

Emphasis

As a composition develops an artist may decide to stress certain elements of the design over others to create a focal point. The eye of the viewer will focus on the area of emphasis or center of interest first, then take in the rest of the composition. An artist uses emphasis to direct and focus attention of the viewer on the most important parts of

a composition.  An artist creates emphasis through size, contrast, color, texture, and shape. A design lacking emphasis will be monotonous and uninspired.  One of the techniques for developing emphasis is through the Gestalt Principle of Similarity/Difference. By grouping together similar aspects of the design, one can easily emphasize a design element that is different.

Harmony and Variety

Harmony and variety are closely related because both involve combining the elements of art (color, line, shape, texture, and value) to create interest and guide the eye through the composition. Both harmony and variety convey meaning through repetition, proximity, and simplicity. It is the degree to which each is used that create the contrast between the two. Harmony is a way of combining elements of art to accent their similarities and bind the picture parts into a whole.

Harmony is subtle. Variety gives a composition interest and vitality by abruptly changing an element.

  

Movement

Movement in a composition guides a viewer’s eye through the work, usually to a focal point. An artist arranges parts of an image to create a sense of motion by using lines, shapes, forms, and textures, or by combining elements of art to produce the look of action. For example, by incorporating diagonals lines, a sense of movement is created.  Consider a staircase. The diagonal line in a in a staircase cause the eye to move upwards. Through shape, by scaling the size of shapes, an

artist creates movement artwork.

  

Rhythm

Rhythm is the regular repetition of elements of art to produce the look and feel of movement. An artist creates movement in illustration by repeating colors, shapes, lines, or textures. The repetition of the elements invites the eye to jump rapidly or glide smoothly from one image to the next. Rhythm allows artists to create a feeling of organized movement. Elements placed at regular intervals create a calming rhythm. Sudden changes in position and size create a lively rhythm.

Variety keeps rhythm exciting and active, moving the eye around the artwork.

Unity

Unity is the quality of completeness a composition has. In a unified work of art, all the parts come together to form a whole; one part of a composition feels like it belongs with the rest. Like taking a brick from a wall, a piece needs all the components or it might fall apart. An artist achieves unity by balancing all the aspects of the composition. One way to achieve unity is repetition through color, shape, and texture. By grouping objects closely together, you create proximity , which unifies a composition. Variety, contrast, and harmony also work together to give unity.