The time they let me loose on Photoshop....

After our tutorial, we were told to try and recreate the steps of the tutorial  by ourselves. I managed to remember most of the steps until I came to colour the background. I  referred back to the sheet that Paul gave us and carried on. When I came to recreate it myself, I altered the shape I made on Illustrator and decided to try and keep a colour scheme. I  used blues and purples  in my own version of the pattern. I think  that my first attempt was better, although I am starting to get the hang of using Photoshop and the tools on it.  

Photoshop Tutorial 2

In tuesday's lesson, we did another Photoshop tutorial. To start with, I drew a squiggly line in Illustrator and then reflected it. I moved the reflection up so that the lines connected and formed  a shape. I then pasted  this shape into Photoshop and added some noise to the background. This  meant that the background blurred slightly. I then pasted the shape in four times so that I had one pointing in each direction. On separate layers, I added a spot of colour on each point of the shape. I then dissolved this so that it looked like the colour  was distorted slightly. After this, I added a layer mask to alter the tones. Once we had completed these steps, I added a lighter tone into the middle to highlight the colours.
From this tutorial, I learnt how I can create really good graphics using only basic tools in  Photoshop.      

Fonts - The Hunger Games

 

The font used for "The Hunger Games" movie posters is very similar to Bank Gothic. Bank Gothic looks like this:

 I think this font is good because it is very bold and the x-height isn't too large. I like how the stems and shoulders are all the same width because it makes the font look more rigid. This is a sans serif font which makes the lettering look more prominent in my opinion. It is a good choice of font for this poster because it is an action type film and the strength of the letters adds to that.
Bank Gothic has also previously been used in film advertisements. For example:

The Day After Tomorrow - an action/disaster film

Hancock - an action film

 

Bank Gothic is always used in a strong, action type style because it is so recognisable. 

Photoshop tutorial 1

To start with, I opened Photoshop and set the paper size to A4 size. I then searched on Google images for a large image of a city at night. I needed a large image so that it wouldn't be pixelated when I started to edit it.

 I started with this picture as my background image. I thought it looked mysterious and dark. I then decided my theme would be superheroes/ The Avengers. I started collecting pictures of the various characters and I used the magnetic lasso tool  to cut around the parts that I wanted. I then selected the parts I wanted and copied them over to the cityscape which was "layer 1".

I cut around all of these so I just had the figures and pasted them onto the background. I used CTRL+T to alter the size of the images. By holding shift while resizing, it ensured that the resolution stayed good.  Once I was happy with the size and positioning of the other layers, I hit enter and they became clearer. The next thing I needed was a title. I searched for a picture of The Avengers title and chose this one.

I couldn't use the magnetic lasso tool for this because it has a light behind and it would bring that too. I used the magic wand tool and selected all the parts I needed and pasted them into the other layers. My finished product looks like this:

All of the layers have been  flattened. I did this by right clicking on a layer and selecting "flatten image". This means it is a smoother, smaller file. 

Cover illustrations done by Tom Percival

Skulduggery Pleasant's cover is one of the first pieces of graphic work that I really admired.  I love how the text looks so imperfect but fits in so well. I like how the black and white spatters look as though it's been sprayed with a can of paint. The smartly dressed skeleton contrasts with the entire concept of skeleton being horrible and something associated with death and morbid things. I also like how it looks like he has clicked and conjured up the fire. The fire is the only bit of colour, which makes it more mysterious and makes the viewer more curious as to where it has come from. The block of  white at the bottom with four silhouettes looks effective because it continues the theme from the title. The concept is really simple but stands out.

Cover image by Dave Calub

Graphic Illustration by Laurence Beck

I love this book cover. The lighting and smoke makes the cover look really futuristic whereas the man in the top hat looks as though he is from a Victorian era. I really like how you can't see the surroundings; it's mainly just a bright light. It looks really mysterious, as though you need to read the book to find out more about the cover. The text looks quite ice-like, kind of like it's thawing out. This makes me think that something from the past is returning. I love how the blue blends into the white and also into the black. 

Artist - Banksy
Sold in 2007 for £37,200 at auction

This is one of my favourite Banksy pieces. I like how the murky colours make it look sad and as though the girl is lonely. People might interpret Banksy's work in various ways but to me, this piece is about the loss of a child's dreams and hope. The only piece of colour is the red heart shaped balloon which is rapidly retreating, perhaps suggesting her dreams and hopes are floating out of reach. Although she looks like she is longing for the balloon, the lack of movement might mean that she understands that her dreams will never happen. It almost looks like she is waving at the balloon, possibly accepting the fact that her dreams are out of reach and waving a sad goodbye to them. It's such a simple piece of artwork yet can be interpreted in so many different ways.