Digital Art: Abstract Portrait of a Real Person

Abstract Portrait of a Real Person:

This artwork is by the 19-year-old Hungarian photographer Flora Borsi.  She imagines what the models of contorted and skewed paintings must have looked like if they were distorted in real life.  Through some hilarious photo manipulation, Borsi examins the models for paintings by Kees van Dongen, Modigliani, and Picasso among others.


Project Criteria:

You are going to distort a portrait of a person to resemble an Abstract painting by a famous artist.

1)  Images you need to search for:

• Abstract Portrait
• Portrait of a person (famous or not) standing in a similar pose.  Clothes can be changed!
• Background that is similar to the Abstract Portrait

 2)  Start a new Canvas:

• Name: Abstract Portrait
• Width: 12"
• Height: 18"
• Resolution: 300
• Background: White

3)  Open the Abstract Portrait and the Portrait of a Person that you are going to distort

4)  Drag the image of the Portrait of the Person that you are going to distort onto your canvas and Free Transform to the largest size you can make it.

5)  New tools that may help you when distorting your Portrait:

• Smudge Tool
• Clone Tool

6)  After distorting, you can work on adjusting colors to match if need be and add a background.

More Examples by Artist Flora Borsi:

Teacher's Example:

 Abstract Painting by
Pablo Picasso of a woman

Portrait of Elizabeth Moss
Looking in the same direction

Digital Art: ZOMBIES!!!

Project Criteria:

You are going to 'Zombify' an image of yourself OR someone famous!

You are going to learn how to:

• add textures
• use 'Masks'
• Dodge and Burn tools
• use your skills of changing colors, resizing, etc.

Below is the link to an online Tutorial:

http://www.dphotojournal.com/photoshop-tutorial-creating-a-zombie/

Intro to Painting

INTRODUCTION TO PAINTING:

Which of these Paintings do you think Picasso created first?

 














The painting on the left was created in 1935 during Picasso's Late Cubist period.  The painting on the right (which was a portrait of Picasso's Mother) was created in 1896, when Picasso was only 15 years old.

THE ART MAKING PROCESS:

• Painting realistically is only 1 skill to possess
• Painting creatively and inventing your own unique style is something every artist strives for
• There are a billion painters who paint realistically, but those who try to reinvent themselves and their painting processes usually find the most success!

SO, why is this important to know?

BECAUSE all the artworks we learn about in this class are by artists who were creative and inventive for their own time.  They are to influence us to come up with our own ways of creating!

IMPORTANT POINTS:

• Painting usually requires some drawing skills
• There are a variety of media and tools to choose from to express your ideas in visual form, but all are composed of 3 basic ingredients:
• Pigment: finely ground powder that gives a paint its colors.  Some are made chemically, some from earth materials like stone or minerals.
• Binder:  a liquid that holds together the grains of pigment.  Examples are egg whites, linseed oil, water, acrylic polymer, etc.
• Solvent: the material used to thin the binder, like water!

• Paint brushes come in different shapes and sizes: flats, rounds, fan, filberts
• You can use unconventional materials to apply paint also, like palette knives, hands, etc.

Project:  HARD EDGE PAINTING

1)   Frank Stella: Irregular Polygons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgaPuHDV8v0 

2)  Leslie Wilkes: Kaleidoscope Paintings

 Project Criteria:

• Complete color mixing practice:
• Color Wheel
• Tints and Shades:  Monochromatic
• Complimentary Colors
• Split Complimentary
•  Analagous Colors
• Triadic Colors

• Create 2 Sketches for a Hard Edged Painting
• Ideas:
• Symmetrical/Radial Balance
• Repeat a motif
• Choose a recognizable image, then distort it
• Color your sketch using one of your favorite color schemes:
• Monochromatic
• Complimentary Colors
• Split Complimentary
• Analagous Colors
• Triadic Colors

• Redraw your favorite sketch on a large sheet of watercolor paper
• Paint using watercolors
• Be sure to mix colors properly
• Don't let the paint bleed!  HARD EDGES! 

                                                                                                                                             

COLOR SCHEMES

  Monochromatic:  1 Hue + Black or White

Complementary:  Opposite Colors

Split-Complimentary:  A Hue plus the two colors next to it's opposite

Triadic:  Three colors that are equidistant from each other

Analagous:  Four colors that are next to each other

INTRODUCTION TO CLAY

What is CLAY?

 

• Clay is a combination of clay minerals, metal oxides, and decayed organic matter
• It is extremely malleable when wet, it has incredible elasticity!
• It is extremely fragile when dry
• A property that makes clay so utilitarian is when it gets heated up to thousands of degrees, it becomes ceramic - a permanent state
• Ceramic is used in pottery, both utilitarian and decorative

 CLAY TOOLS:

• carving tools
• sponges
• water buckets
• fettling knives

The most important tool are your HANDS!









CLAY TECHNIQUES:

• Coil: Rolling a snake shaped piece of clay
• You can create bowls, mugs, vases, etc. when the coils are stacked
• Coils can also be used as decorative pieces for projects - like handles, vines, hair, etc.
  
  
  
  

 

• Pinch : Utilizing your hands to manipulate clay by pinching it
• You can use this with sculptures
• additive features to mugs, vases, etc.

 

• Soft Slab: Rolling clay into a thin large piece of clay and using it while still very moist.
• You can make mugs and plates with soft slabs
• Soft Slabs also take well to textures
• Great for organic pieces

 

• Hard Slab: Rolling clay into a thin large piece of clay and letting it sit a few days and using it at the leather hard stage.
• You can make mugs, tea pots, vases, etc.
• Really great for geometric, hard edged pieces

 

Project:  CERAMIC WIND CHIME


Project Criteria:

• SKETCH:
• Choose Theme
• Draw top
• Draw hanging pieces

• TEMPLATE:
• Create templates for pieces, if necessary for uniformity

• Techniques used for Project:
• Wedging
• Pinching
• Score + Slip
• Carving for decoration

 

Intro to 3-D: Relief Portrait

WHAT IS THREE DIMENSIONAL ART?

• Three Dimensional Art is any artwork that has height, width, and depth.
• Materials can range from paper to bronze, clay to found objects
• Sculptures date back to 28,000 BCE!!!

 

 VENUS OF WILLENDORF

• A statuette of a woman figure that dates back to between 25,000 to 28,000 BCE!
• Found in Willendorf, Austria during an excavation dig in 1908
• Nicknamed 'the Pear'
• It's purpose is still unknown, but it is believed to have been used as a Fertility Goddess

 MAGDALENIAN HORSE

• Dates back to 15,000 years ago
• Found in 1908 in Western Europe
•  Part of a carved mural by the Magdalenians - the culture at that time that were well known for using weapons -- had higher level of thinking and creativity for that time

From then on, three-dimensional art was always included in the art of cultures.

Where do WE begin?!?!?!

Project:  Three-Dimensional Relief Portrait

 

 PROJECT CRITERIA:

• SKETCH
• Draw a portrait: of yourself or a neighbor using 1 continuous pencil line
•  Exaggerate the expression! [EXAMPLES: lonely, angry, excited, and joyful]
• You can distort the features and expression to emphasize the emotion
• You may need to create several sketches!
•  TBC....

 

Digital Art Color Wheel

Digital Art Project:  COLOR WHEEL

 

 










Photoshop Tools Emphasized:

• Lasso Tool
• + Layers
• Resize
• Rotate
• Adjust Hue and Saturation 

Project Criteria:

• 24" x 24" Canvas, 300 dpi, white background
• 1 image repeated and organized in a circle
• Image adjusted to represent the 12 Colors:
• Yellow
• Yellow-Orange
• Orange
• Red-Orange
• Red
• Red-Violet
• Violet
• Blue-Violet
• Blue
• Blue-Green
• Green
• Yellow-Green
• Address the background