Blog Entry #4 Artist Statement

Artist Statement:

A:

For my final project I will continue my work with my big idea of money. I will explore the various facets that coincide with money, such as poverty, greed, and power. I will be trying to express the meaning of what money means and does to people.

B: The visual strategies that I will employ for my final are those of human emotion, distinctive colors, and possibly the placement of words. Humans designate a color to a specific emotion (red= anger, green = envy, etc.) so the color of money will be incorporated to give off the feeling that the money is larger idea. I fee images of money are too openly giving away the big idea behind the work, but the use of dollar signs or presidents faces is a possibility. Humans connect to each other on a level that other things cant. The use of people in my final project adds a human aspect to the idea of money and how it affects humans every where.

C: I am not currently sure what context I want my final project to be used in. I have yet to decide if I will be portraying money as a good thing or a bad thing. Say I choose to portray money in a bad light I could invision my project in an add about the poverty that stretches across the globe. On the other hand if I portray money as a good thing it could maybe be used for a bank ad.

Three things that have influence my final work are.

1) Christophe Huet and Koen Demuynck: Both of these men's works were simple yet still captivating and interesting. They chose simple images to combine and were still able to fully express their ideas which is what I will attempt to do.

2) My struggles with money right now have had a large influence in my final work. I see how having or not having money can affect a persons decisions and life in either a good or bad way.

3) The economic slump that America is currently going through makes me want to explore and express the deep effects money, or a lack their of, can have.

I am not sure what specific techniques I will use on this project but some I would like to possibly incorporate and find cool are:

1) Hand Drawn Stitches in Photoshop

2) Turning People Into Statues

3) Bullet Hole Effect

4) From Picture to Puzzle

Blog Entry #3 Artist Analysis of Koen Demuynck & Christophe Huet

In the case of both artist, when I look at their works they both cath my eye very quickly. Each uses an out side of the box method to convey their message. Christophe Huet appeals to me in the way that there is always on particular part to each of his works that is so oddly different and creative that it makes you look at it closer. Koen Demuynck appealed to me because he is able to take people, animals, and landscapes and transform them into unique works combining every day objects. Both mens works were inspiring because I found it was easy to relate and connect to their works. Both men used simple objects, nothing fantastical, or strange to convey their ideas. The big idea behind both Huet and Demuynck's work is the intermixing of simple everyday common things, such as people, animals, landscapes, electronics, etc. to form a sole idea and message.

After exploring both mens work's a few questions, and arise.

1) Both men seamlessly combine two or more images to create one main image, is combining too many images a bad thing?

2) Why are they so good at what they do?

3) Do certain kinda of images work better together as opposed to others? (Ex. landscapes + people vs. something else)

These men have become inspiration for my work because they have shown me that simple images can be transformed into captivating images that express complicated idea. For my final I am going to be looking to create something full of meaning yet simple. My midterm project dealing with money was simple but had the capability of conveying a powerful message. I am unsure yet whether I will continue with my same big idea or look for a new one. Some stylistic components that caught my eye from Huet's and Demuynck's works were they way turn a simple, uninteresting photo into something that people desire to look at, and finally I take their proper choice of images when combining them is something else I take from analyzing their works.

Blog Entry #3 Artist 2: Koen Demuynck

The second artist I chose to explore is Koen Demuynck. He is a Belgian photographer and digital artist. His works are very creative and origional. He adds an out side of the box kind of thinking to his works. His works include stills, landscapes, people, and animals. What I found most interesting about his works are the way he adds his own unique spin to each of them. He takes real life ideas and mixes them together to create a captivating picture each time. Here are some of his works.

Photos via:

[EV +/-] Exposure Compensation

My Modern Met

Blog Entry #3 Artist 1: Christophe Huet

The first artist I chose is Christophe Huet. He is a "retoucher" from France. I visited his website and found his works to be very interesting. He has done work for yoplait yogurt, motorola, and nike among others. Huet got into the photo business as a printer and found an interest in retouching. He found hi niche here and has been retouching for over 10 years now. Huet works with, and does most of the retouching for photographer Dimitri Daniloff. Here are a couple of the works from Huet and Daniloff.

Blog Entry #2

The first Tutorial I chose was Glossy Reflections.

Lets first look at the "Glossy Reflection." I chose the image of a pair of basketball shoes with a white background. The tutorial said a white background provides the best reflection effect.

Step 1 Glossy Reflection

Step 2

Before anything I altered the size of the canvas so I could have more white open space on the side and bottom. I selected the main image of the shoes then copied them and pasted them in a new layer. Next I transformed the copied image of the shoes so that it was upside down, as it would appear in a mirror.

Step 3

In my next step I selected the copied shoes then created a new layer. In this layer I put a gradient mast over the shoes. Lowering the opacity and changing the mode to screen I then dragged my gradient selection from the top of the copied shoes to the bottom. This produced a glossy reflection effect.

With the completion of the third step I have created a mirror effect on a simple pair of shoes, and that is how a glossy reflection is made.

Blog Entry #1

The artist I chose to analyze is Jaime Jasso. Here are a couple of images from Jaime.

Image #1

Image via

What one can denote for the above image is that there is a burning cigarette in which the outlines of people are left in the ashes.

There are some very interesting connotations that can be drawn from this image. First lets explore the idea of the cigarette. Cigarettes are known t be the leading cause of lung cancer which kill millions every year, yet they are still used by a fairly large portion of the population. Even second hand smoke is considered lethal to young children. Now lets look at the ash portion of the image. The ashes are formed into the outlines of human bodies. When we connect both parts of the image, the cigarette and ashes, we form the main connotation that the image exudes; Cigarettes have the ability to anyone, even those that are closest to us. There are ash outlines of children, business men, a man with a ball (who I assumes is a basketball player) and some other figures. The connotation sends a very strong message, that everyone is susceptible to the evils of smoking cigarettes.

Image #2

Image via

This Jaime Josse image is one of his futuristic depiction. What one can c