Book Cover # 2

For this second book cover we had to make a cover for a book that we already have read. I used the book Running with the Buffaloes: A Season inside with Mark Wetmore, Adam Goucher, and the University of Colorado Men's Cross Country Team by Chris Lear, one of my favorites. I used a picture of Mark Wetmore and Adam Goucher on the cover. I added an outer glow to both of them. I used the school colors, gold and black for the text and background covers and for the border.

Book Cover #1

For this project we had to create a cover for a book. For our first cover, we had to make a cover for a book that we have't read. For my book, I did In the Hear of the Sea: the tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick. For my cover, I used a stormy sea picture, a crashing boat, a whale tail, and a small boat with a few people on it. It wasn't too hard of a project and a pretty good project.

New Photo-editing sites review

We were reviewing new websites today in which you can do a type of photoshop. It is mostly just different effects that can be added to photos rather than the full on photoshop experience. The first site that I reviewed was Photofunia.com. On this website, there are a bunch of different images you can select to have your face put into. There are a lot of different options and it is really easy to use. The options are right there are the main page and you can simply select one, upload a photo, and then it is done. They couldn't make it any easier. Some of the images are really cool and they even have some that are moving images which is pretty neat. Overall, super easy website to use and produces a quality product (if what the product turns out to be is the type of thing you're looking for!). Photo505.com is essentially the same thing as Photofunia.com. Photo505 just has some different images to choose from.

I also reviewed Splashup.com. This website was pretty cool. I only glanced at it briefly but it is pretty similar to photoshop. It looks like it has a good deal of the same tools, all of the essential ones at least. The format is very similar to photoshop as well. The toolbar is on the side, there are layers, etc. I think that this would be a good option for someone who doesn't have access to photoshop but still needs the same basic tools that photoshop offers.

Dr. Seuss Project

For this project we had to create something using a Dr. Seuss theme. We could've gone the route of creating a scene from one of our favorite books but I went a different route. I decided to create a scene using characters from a few different books--characters that I really liked or are just essential Dr. Seuss characters. I used the Cat in the Hat and Things 1 and 2. I also used Sam from Green Eggs and Ham. In addition I used the Lorax. I made a few copies of the Lorax tree and it made it look like a little forest and then I put the Lorax up in one of the trees. I also used the bird and the cat from Are you my Mother? That was one of my favorites. Finally, I used some of the dogs from Go Dog Go--another one of my favorites. I basically just put them all on one page using a hilly scene from The Lorax Trees and a Dr. Seuss logo on the top. It was a pretty fun project and I am happy with the end result.

LIFE Magazine

For this post, we had to look through LIFE Magazine's Best and Worst covers. I chose to post one of their best. I chose a cover of Jeanne Crain. I thought that this picture was really interesting and a really well done cover. The picture is really happy and it makes you want to read about Jeanne.

Double Neon Effect

For this project we had to use the Photoshopuser website, watch a tutorial, and then make that effect. I did the double neon effect. It wasn't too hard and I just used my name for it. It was mostly just doing things with the outer glow effect and the blending options. Then, you can just skew the text a little bit and rotate it to give it a different perspective.

Kaleidoscopes Project

For this project we had to turn a picture into a kaleidoscope. I used the banners from our spirit week. The first banner I did was the Sophomore's banner. Their theme was Mulan. This first attempt was a little rough and didn't turn out quite right but it is still pretty cool. It is just a little off line. The hardest part of this project is getting a 45 degree angle out of a triangle. It is hard to make a symmetrical square to be able to get a perfect 45 degree angle. The next mural I did was the Seniors whose theme is Aladdin. This turned out better than the first. Finally, I did the Juniors mural whose theme was The Little Mermaid. This project looks cool and once you know how to do it, it is easy to do. It is a cool affect that can be done to pictures to make something completely different.

Extreme Surreal Sports

For this project we had to make a newspaper ad of a sporting event. Only the sporting event was to be extreme and surreal. For mine, I worked with a partner and we did people playing polo only they were riding ostriches and not horses. It was a fine project for me. It wasn't too hard because there weren't that many effects that had to be done. The only hard part was cutting out the images because sometimes that can get tricky. Also finding the images because you had to find people and ostriches that were oriented the same way.

Mission Impossible

For this "Mission Impossible" project, we had to design a T-shirt idea for an Elementary School. Their mascot was an eagle and they wanted the slogan "Soaring to Success." I used a school frame for the front of the shirt and the design would go on one of the chest sides. On the back, I used an eagle with the slogan in it.

Poster Design # 2

We had to do a second poster/advertisement for this project. I choose to do one for Prom 2012. In this poster, I did the Tampa Text Effect to the words "PROM" and "2012." I simply added a clipping mask to "Western Albemarle High School" and the two figures to give them the same background that I used for the other words. I found the images of silhouettes of people dancing online. To the words and images that I did not give the Tampa Effect to, I added a drop shadow just to make them stand out from the background a little bit more.

Learning New Effects

Another small project we had was to go to this website, www.photoshopuser.com, and view some of the tutorials on cool effects that you can do in Photoshop. I chose an effect called "Tampa Text Effect" in which the text is given a 3D look and you add a clipping mask to show the background picture through the text. I decided to use a picture of Emerald Isle and use those words as the text as well. At first try, the effect is kind of hard, but once you do it, it becomes easier. The hardest part for me was using the pen tool and giving the letters a curved look.

Posters/Ads

For our first project of the new year, we were to design posters for upcoming events around the school. I did a couple posters. One was for the "Warrior of the Week." For this poster I used the text that the leadership class wanted on there and added a WA symbol and put that under with reduced opacity text that said Warrior of the Week. I added some effects to the text including a texture which gave the text a fractured look. For my other poster, I did an ad for the opening school football game. It is a little outdated now but at the time it would have worked. I did the background in both color and black and white, not being able to decide which I preferred. I have posted both. In the black and white version, only the background is black and white.

Self-Promotion Advertisement Project

For this project we had to create a advertisement for ourselves. The idea was that if we trying to get a job this could be sent to represent some of our artwork. For my project I did only 4 of my pictures because I wanted them to be large enough so that they could be seen. I did one of my chair artworks, my horse word mask, my flower bulb visual pun, and my WAHS Basketball advertisement. I did a black border and a black and white gradient as the background. I thought this gradient with a linear orientation looked cool because the white part was around my name so it was kind of like highlighting it. I also added a sandstone texture to my name as well as some slight embossing.