Week 15

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was finish the rest of the website which included finishing up the page for Abraham Lincoln Mesh-up, Second Art Mesh-up, and Comic. See the previous post for the link.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-Before begging anything I prepared a plan of attack. For the Abraham Lincoln web page I decided that I will use the "Photo" template that was provided; for the Second Art Mesh-up and for the comic web page I decided to use the "album" template. Having this plan I began by moving all the photos that I was going to use to the desktop. After opening up the iweb software I selected the option to create a new page. I selected the "photo" template and began editing the page to make it look like the rest of my pages. To accomplish this I clicked on and opened the inspector. After adjusting the background colors to be the same as previous pages I was now ready to add the photos. I opened the the folder that contains the photos of interest and selected all of them. Then I dragged the photos to the appropriate location and dropped them in. After dropping the photos in, the photos were in disarray so I had to rearrange them to the proper order. After having the photos sorted out, I began working on the rest of the page. I copied and pasted the same text box for the title of the page and copied and pasted the object in which I will put the text in. This ensures that the pages look alike, thus reducing any confusion that might occur. This completes the main objects that will be on this web page. Now I was ready to move on to the next page. Once again I used the option to create a new page. When the window with the templates appeared I picked the album template for the Second Art Mesh-up. To reduce an confusion I made sure to change the background color of the page and use the same text boxes for the text. To add the photos into the album there were a couple of steps that I needed to go through. First I had to open the iphoto program. After having the program opened I pressed the plus button near the bottom of the page to create a new folder. In to this folder I dragged and dropped the photos. Now I went back to the iweb program; I made sure that I can see both of the programs opened. Then I clicked on the folder with my photos for this page and dragged it to the iweb and dropped it into the album. After dropping the photos in, I opened the album and rearranged the photos to make sure that they are in the right order. I created three albums; the reason for this was to make it easier for the viewer to follow the progress of the project. Now I was ready to move on to the last page of the website. I approached this page with the same attitude, which means that that after I picked the album template I made sure to keep things as consistent as possible. To keep things consistent I used the same fonts, same text boxes, and anything else. I separated the project into about six stages which means that I will have six albums. The same approach was used create the albums as for the previous page. After posting the website on the web, I had to go through the website and check everything to make sure that everything was working properly. There were a couple of glitches; some links did not work and some albums did not open as well as some minor stuff such as background color. The next day of class which is Wednesday I corrected the things that I overlooked before. After saving the corrections I was ready to publish it again. The publishing required creating a new folder on the desktop. Then I selected the option to publish to folder. After completing this task, I was ready to publish it to the server. I went online and typed in the appropriate address, and after logging-in I selected the www folder. I clicked the publish icon, and after accepting the terms of java I was ready to transfer the files. I opened the folder that contained my website folders; selected all the files and dragged and dropped them into the box. Then I pressed begin the upload. The upload took a couple of minutes. After the upload was complete I clicked and opened the HTML icon which took me to me site. When on my site I checked everything to make sure that everything is functioning.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-On the Abraham Lincoln page the first thing that the viewer sees is the photo and then the title of the page. The next thing that comes into the view is the paragraph that describes the project and what is on the page, and finally the rest of the pictures that were used for the project. The pictures are followed by the drafts that were created and the final draft that was created for the gallery. For the Second Art Project page the first thing that the viewer notices is the title of the page which is followed by the picture. The picture is followed by the description of the project and what is located on the page. All of this followed by the albums. On the last page the Comic the first thing that is noticed is the title, which is followed by the paragraph and the albums.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using the web site I am trying to say where I am coming from and how it has influenced my work. Another things that I am trying to say is that technology makes communication easier. I am a novice to creating a website, but even with my limited knowledge of creating a website I did not have any serious setbacks. From telephones to websites anyone and everyone can keep in touch with people around the world.

Week 14 - NEW WEBSITE!!!

To view my new website click here

Week 14

(Some pictures that will be used for the website)

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was to create two web site pages, one about me and one about visual communication, using the iweb software.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-The first task at hand was opening the software. To do this I clicked on the hard drive and opened the applications folder; I scrolled down and doubled clicked on the iweb icon. Now that I was in the program it was time to make a new site. To do this I went under file and selected "new site." When I did this a screen opened up which had a variety of templates to choose from. I chose "Black" as my template. I chose this template because of its simplicity; not having the page cluttered up will enhance the viewers experience. Before I could continue building the page, I needed something to fill it with. To fill the page, I will use jpeg photographs of old project. The projects that will be posted are: Abraham Lincoln mesh-up, second art mesh-up, and finally the comic. To make life easier I created a main folder and named it Web-VC. Inside this folder I created five folders which includes one about the artist, me, one about the class and one folder for each project. Having accomplished this I proceeded to gather all of the information that would help fill the folders. I found some pictures of me that help establish were my views are coming from. I also collected all of the projects into their appropriate folders which includes a final copy and drafts of that particular project. Having all of the information organized I began building my page. I started by first dragging and dropping the pictures into picture boxes. To give the photos some unique look I added a frame. This option can be found in the inspector. Having typed my essay prior to beginning any work all I had to do was copy and paste the text into the appropriate text box. To make my site unique I added some shapes and played around with the colors for the background. During the critique there was one thing that was pointed out to me. I turns out that I had different styles on two different pages. To fix this problem I am going to keep things as I identical as possible; this means that I will keep the colors the same as well as the font.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-On the first page of the website, the first things that jumps out at the viewer is the picture of my family and me in the Jeep. The reason for it being the first thing noticed is its size and location. When one opens the page, the photo takes up most of the page. The photo is placed at the center and there is nothing around it, which is going to direct the viewer to go to the picture. After the main photo the next thing that stands out is my name and the paragraph that describes me. The rest of the stuff on the page is viewed in a linear matter. On the second page the first thing that stand out is the photo then the paragraph, which is followed by the second photograph and its explanation.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using the web site I am trying to say where I am coming from and how it has influenced my projects. Using the website I am also trying to say that every experience that one has during his/her life will influence everything that one does which includes anything and everything including ones art work.

Week 13

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was to use the information received during the critique and apply it to the project.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-During the critique my classmates pointed out some room for improvement. To fix the problem that was present in the comic I needed a new tactic; this new tactic will consist of changing the whole selection of colors. The new colors that will be used for the comic are yellow, red, and blue. For this part of the project we are no longer limited to just two colors so having three colors is still within the limit of the assignment; however, to remain as true to the two color theme that was set before I will use two color primarily. Having a saved copy of all of the photoshop slides removing the digital color was easy. After removing all the color, I had a black and white picture. To me this was like a new canvas on which I can start a new piece of art. The same procedure was followed for the rest of the slides. Having all the slides desaturated I began planning what will be was color. I decided to stay consistent throughout all the slides so I am going to use the yellow color for the people and anything that I feel is really important. The reason for choosing yellow is because it is very bright and stands out. For the background I will use a baby blue color. For some areas I will use the red color. At this point I had a rough idea of the layout of the colors so I began adding the color to the previously flattened image. To flatten the image all you have to do is go under the layer option and select flatten image. I created a new layer, selected the color I wanted for the background, and added the color using the pain bucket tool. I made sure that the photo layer was set to multiply and that the original photo was on top of the color layer. Then I added a new layer and chose the yellow color. Using the new layer and the yellow color I added it to the people’s skin. I added the red color where I needed another color to make something stand out or make something around it more visible. The new colors were added to all slides with as much consistency as possible. Another thing that was pointed out to me was that the slides did not have the same style. To take of this problem I picked one filter and applied it to all the slides. The filter that I picked was the stamp. Some photos at first did not look good so played around with the adjustments and settled on what I thought provided the best picture. Some worked out better than other so a compromise had to be made in some photos. After completing this task I saved the photoshop document. Next I had to transfer the new photos to the comic life. I just clicked and dragged the photos and dropped them where they belong in the comic. The same layout and frames will be reused and the same goes for the speech bubbles, but some bubbles will be removed and some will be reduced. After dropping the photo into its proper place, I made some adjustment by either making it larger or smaller. After having placed all the slides into their right places and making the necessary adjustments I saved the comic life file. This was the final draft, and now we must move on to a new project. The new project will involve creating an online portfolio. This task will be done using the iweb software.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-For comparisons reasons, the same slides will be analyzed as in the previous blog. The first slide with the new colors looks better for several reasons. The people pop-out from the background making them easily visible; even pass the squint test. Whereas the previous version failed this test because the background color and the people were colored in similar value even though the hue was different.
-The second frame in the previous version was hard to see because of all the speech bubbles and the colors were not working too for the same reason as the first slide. Both of these issues were addressed in the new version. The people in the new version pop-out and the reduction in text makes it easier for the audience to see what is going o in the frame and in this particular point of the story.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using the comic life program and the story slides I am trying to say that if you can imagine it can be done. There are no limits as to what can be done with the technology that we have today. We can take any photo and modify it to unrecognizable state, thus creating a new piece of art work. We can also take ordinary family photos and make them extraordinary by putting them into programs like the comic life, thus enhancing the memories that the family wants to save.

Week 12

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was to create a comic using the comic life program. This comic still needs to be able to tell the story.

Craft:(How did you do it?)
-Before opening and beginning working on the comic life program I made sure that I had all the frames for the story done and that the frames had the accompanying dialogue. After having this sorted out, I opened the comic life program. The first thing that I did was set the page to be landscape because that was one of the requirements. Then I browsed through the different arrangement patterns that the program has available. Having browsed through most of the pre-set arrangements I picked the one I liked and thought would work best to deliver the story. Some of the shapes I did not need so I deleted them. To add the photos into the shape I you have to do is click on the photo of interest and drag it into the desired place. After placing the photo into the proper shapes, I edited it; the way I edited the photo was by making the photo bigger or smaller. To do this I double clicked on the appropriate shape which gave me an orange outline and this means that the photo is selected. I also edited the box in which the photo is housed-in to have full control of what the viewer is going to see. After completing the lay out of one page, I began the search for the perfect color for the background. To mix it up a little bit, I used the gradient option and picked a second color; the end result is a transition from a red to gray color for the background. This program was chosen for its user friendliness, and it is true this program is easy to use. This program makes it easy to add text where desired. All I did to add speech bubbles was click on the speech bubble and dragged it to the location where I wanted this speech bubble to be. Then I added the text. This is a critical step because it can help the viewer see the story. The title was placed on the first page, and this was done by using the lettering option. To add some style and uniqueness the letters were colored green with addition of a gradient. The same principles of choosing a layout and then filling and editing the photo were taken for the rest of the pages.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-In the first slide, the first thing that jumps out is the title because it is big and has a very bright green color. The next thing that catches the eye is the frame where the guy and the girl are talking and then in a cascading motion the second frame is noticed and its contents. During the critique today some of the problems were pointed out. As last time the photos and the people inside them are still blending together, and this is noticeable when one's eyes are squinted. This happens because both the background color and the color used for the people are closely related in their saturation and value. The first time this was pointed out I made the background layer darker and the layer with people lighter, and seemed to do the trick for me, but apparently it was still not good enough. To address this issue again a new tactic will be employed. The new tactic is changing the colors.
-The next slide has a lot a speech bubbles and this impedes the viewer from seeing the image. To correct this problem I will reduce the number of words and the number if of speech bubbles and let the image do the silent talking.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using this program, the comic life, I am trying to say that life is full of surprises some more pleasurable than other. Another thing that I am trying to say is that some relationships are not meant to be and should be ended as soon as possible before either partner gets to involved and get hurt really bad when things end abruptly.

Week 11

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was to use only two digital colors to enhance the story slides.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-The first major hurdle that needed to be passed was to make a decision about which colors should be used. Jessica and I settled on using red and purple; however, we are not limited to just these to hues we have the different saturation levels of colors that can be used; also different values can be used of the two colors. The color choice may be limited, but the combination of these two colors is endless. Since our story has twelve slides, we once again decided to work on six slides each. Now it was time to get down to doing some work. After opening the slide of the story that I will be working on, I desaturated the slide of any and every hue; this gives me a clean plate where I can let my imagination and color combination run wild. Knowing my limits in terms of color I began by choosing a dark and saturated color to use for the background. Before I could proceed any further, I flattened the image. Now I was ready to start adding some digital color. Having my background color picked out, I created a new layer so I can add this color. For every new color that I decided to add I created a new layer because this allowed me total control in the sense that if after completing the task and I do not like the way the image looks I can delete the layer without affecting the rest of the image. After playing around with different saturation level and different values of both red and purple I had the slides done. To accomplish the assignment I used a couple of tool to help me accomplish my job; in this process I used the polygon lasso, eraser, and a brush. These tools were the best tool for the job at hand because they made the job easier and more efficient.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-In the slide where the two people are talking the first thing that the eye catches are the people or at least this was the plan. During the critique today, an issue came up, and the issue was that the image blended together. What this means is that the people disappeared into the background. The reason why the people dissolved into the background is because the colors that were used for the background and the people are very similar in value and saturation. To solve this problem, I have to make the background color darker and make the people lighter; this will allow for the people to pop-out from the background and will defiantly be the first thing that the eye notices.
-The slide where the girl is dreaming had the same problem. The viewer needs to be focused on the girl and the bubble which represents the dream, but the eye is not drawn there. To make the correction, the background will be made darker and the girl and the bubble will be made brighter. By addressing these things the audience should be drawn to the girl and the bubble which is where the action is happening in this slide.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using only two colors was a challenge, but well forth the extra time that went into planning. Using just two colors allowed for an opportunity to work with different values and saturation levels of the same color; this makes the art work more unique. By using different values and saturation levels of either color allowed for development of a specific mood in that particular moment of the story.

Week 10

Assignment:
-The assignment was to work on the story slides in our groups using all the knowledge that we have about the photoshop program and its tricks.

Craft:
-For this project each and everyone in class was divided into group; some groups have two people other groups have three. I was paired up with Jessica Greene. The backbone of the story for every group is that there is one person traveling, one person waiting, and one of these people has the package for the other. After some brainstorming and deliberation Jessica and I settled on an idea. The idea for the story is that a husband of a newly wed couple goes to Italy for a medical convention, and while there he falls for another woman. Having this general view of the story Jessica and I collaborated and created a dialogue. It is best to shoot the photographs of people and places separately and later combine them using the photoshop program. Before any pictures were taken we have some to an agreement that I would be in charge of taking pictures of places and things, and Jessica would be in charge of getting pictures of people. Having the dialogue as our guide map we set out and took the necessary pictures. Next time we met we combined our photographs and began working on the project. During the whole process we were both providing inputs to each other. This allowed for mistakes to get fixed before they got out. This is one of many advantages of working with someone else. Having another pair of eyes helps catch mistakes and provides another perspective on the same images, thus allowing the images that was created to undergo a message test. Having someone to collaborate with allows for more time to be spent on each slide because you are not rushing to get the assignment done; this means that each partner will have more time to get the details straight and make sure the image says what it is intended. After having completed all twelve slide we combined the slides, placed them in order, and printed them out. The slides were passed around and each group was allowed to look at and give feedback on the work. This is also a form of collaboration because other people are looking at your work and providing opinions on how to improve the story.

Composition:
-When we were working on our slides we used each other to make sure that the applied filter as well as other things did not ruin to readability of the photograph and that it conveyed the intended message. Also, when slide had more than one layer subsequently more than one object of interest, Jessica and I worked together on the arrangement of these objects. This makes sure that the eyes of the audience will follow the path that our eyes followed. The first thing to get noticed in the first picture is the leaning tower of Pizza, and then the two people in the picture. The second picture has the people in the center because this is where the action is happening in this frame of the story.

Concept:
-Collaborating with someone on an art project, research or writing a book is one of the best things that anyone can do. This is due to the fact that you have another set of eye to inspect your work, and you have another brain which can be picked at for new ideas. Working with another person on a project while using different programs can be helpful; for example, one member of the team may have forgotten how to do something thus the other member would help. Overall, working with someone else on any project is fun that is if they pull they share of the work. Working alone may create unique style, but when two people combine their styles it becomes even more unique, and example of our styles being combined can be noticed in the two pictures above.

Week 9

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was to create a first draft of the story using the pictures that were taken and modified using the photoshop program.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-Having everything sorted out as far as which pictures will be used to create the appropriate slide of the story Jessica and I began working and meshing pictures together to get our story across to other people. Since there were twelve slides to the story and two of us we decided to divide the slides in half; this did not mean that each partner worked alone because even though the slides were divided we gave each other inputs on how the slide can be improved throughout the whole process. Having a rough idea of the layout of the slide and the picture in front of me I began by selecting a main photograph that will act as a background. After having that figured out I began working on the subjects. The first thing that I did was select the magic wand tool because this tool will be the most efficient; there were a couple of pictures were the background and the clothing on the subject matched in color and this presented a problem. This posed a problem because the magic wand tool works on the principle of selecting pixels that are similar in hue in comparisons to the one that was initially selected. Using the magic wand tool, I removed as much of the unwanted pixels as possible and the once that presented a problem I used the eraser tool to get rid of the pixels that were not desired. In some cases the edges were a little rough after the erasing so to fix that the smudge tool was utilized. Having learned how to apply different filters during the previous session of class, I applied those filters that I believed help accomplish the message. In some slides, I added digital color. This was done to improve the picture and to make the style of the slide a little more unique; all digital color that was added was added on a new layer because this gave the freedom to play around and trash anything that did not work out without harming the original. Before saving a copy I made sure that the image was still readable; once I was happy with the arrangement of elements and the colors I saved it. The described process above was applied to all the slides that I created. Today, during the critique, the groups were allowed to look at all the stories and had an opportunity to make comments on anything. The objective was to look at each slide individually, meaning not looking ahead to figure out the plot, but to look at each frame and decide what it is trying to say, and the comments had be written on the back of each slide. Doing this will help the creators of the story know if they are sending the right message; if the case is that the images or arrangement of these images is sending the wrong message than the comments should help guide the authors of the story on to a path to fixing the problem. After every group had a chance to examine other stories we were given a few minutes to look at the comments that our stories received. After reading the comments it became evident that some things need to be straightened out.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-Slide number 9 which is the one where Dr. Little is inquiring about the convention; this photo was made using the previously described methods. Dr. Little is placed in the center and the eyes of the viewer are draw to him first. The next thing that becomes visible as the eye travels is the piece of paper that he is holding which is key to the story. The clerk is the next person that gets noticed because she is right next to the paper. Next, the eye travels to the big calendar date because the clerk is pointing to that location. Image has some digital color, but it was done purely for aesthetics. Some suggestions that were proposed was to add the month and the year to the white paper to make sure that it appears as a date and not just some random number.
-Slide number 8 is where the girls are exchanging the phone. The first person to get noticed is the girl wearing the orange sweater because of its brightness; next, the eye travels down the arm and reaches the phone and then travels to the next person in the picture. During the critique there was some confusion about the object being transferred from one person to the next; this problem occurred because of the filter that was applied, thus to solve this problem the filter needs to be removed or adjusted so no question can arise as to the identity of the object.
-Slide number 3 is when Amanda, the fictional character, is sleeping and dreaming about the family she wants to have. The first thing that jumps out is the girl sleeping which is followed by the bubble. In the bubble the eye travels clockwise because the man in the bubble is the closest; the next thing that gets noticed is the girl in the bubble. She gets noticed over the babies because she is bigger. Thus the last thing to get noticed are the babies. During the critique, for the most part, the message that was intended got out and was received.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using the pictures above as well as other photographs that are part of the story I am trying to say that you should think hard and make sure that you are ready for commitment as well as make sure that the other person feels the same way before major commitments are made.

Week 8

Assignment:
-The assignment was to bring pictures to class that might be used to tell the story that the group came up with.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-Having the printed copy of the dialogue in front of us, Jessica and I decided that we will use the twelve slides option to tell our story. Next we decided what will go into each slide; establishing the necessary details of slide was critical because this is going to help us determine what, who, and how pictures need to be made. Having covered all the preliminary details it was time to go out and take the pictures for the story. I was in charge of taking photographs of places and things. Using the story as my guide I knew that I had to get some pictures of Hotels, cabs, and an airport among other thing as well. Knowing that the story takes place in Italy it was important for us to establish this fact; it is important because this is where the convention is going to take place and it is where Dr. Little falls for another woman. One of the most recognizable facts about Italy is that this is the location of the leaning tower of Piza, thus I went out and got a picture of the tower. I got several shots of this tower so that later Jessica and I can pick the one that will work the best with other picture. Another picture that helps establish that Dr. Little is leaving is a picture of the airport terminal. In the story, Dr. Little arrives to Italy at night; knowing this fact I took a picture of a hotel in the evening, and as luck would have I got a couple of cabs in the shot which is going to help the story; the way it is going to help the story because it tell the audience that the character has arrived and is checked into the hotel. Other important details that had to be represented in the story was the time and that Amanda is waiting at home for her husband. The picture that is going to help make that case is the picture of the clock and the picture of a girl waiting and staring outside. The strategy that I used when taking photographs was to take several shot of the same object; I did this by varying the distance between me and the object as well as the angle of the camera. The other pictures that were critical to the story were the characters and these pictures were provided by Jessica. The picture include people in different positions and a variety of hand gestures. Combining our picture together we narrowed down to some essential pictures that will be used to tell the story. During the class period we learned some feature that would help each team to make their stories unique; some of these features include the numerous filter options as well as how to apply digital color to a black and white photo; however, this technique is not limited to just black and white photos, it can be used on any photograph and used to make something jump out at the audience. The color can be used differently; some may use color to draw attention to something or someone may use the color to set the mood for the story. It is recommended that if a color is going to be added it should be done in a new layer; this prevents any mishaps.

Composition:
-I really like the picture of the leaning tower of Piza; I like this picture for several reasons. One reason is that it is going to make it easier for us to communicate to the audience that half of the story is going to take place in Italy without using any written communication. The other reason is that it is just an incredible piece of architecture. The other picture that I like is the picture of the hotel in the evening. This photograph was taken at night, but because of the lights located on the over-hang details were not lost to the dark environment; instead of fading, the main entrance pops-out.

Concept:
-Using the picture that were gather by Jessica and me we hope to tell the story about a doctor who travels to another county and falls in love with another woman. The story reveals some of the hardships that newlyweds go through during the first year of marriage because as the common belief says, "the first year is the hardest."

Week 7

Assignment:
-The assignment for this week was to come up with an idea for a story in our groups and type it out; the story had to contain the following three pieces:
a. one person waiting
b. one person traveling
c. and one of these individuals has the package for the other

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-The first thing that needed to be addressed is the idea for the story. Some brainstorming was done, but eventually an idea was settled upon. The idea was proposed by my partner, Jessica. Using outside of the box thinking she came up with an idea; the central theme of the story was already done for us, but it was up to us to fill-in the detail. The proposed idea was that one character is a husband who is away on business and he is traveling back home; the second character is his wife who is at home waiting for him, and the package that the husband is bringing home is another woman whom he chooses to be with. Having this general statement as a backbone a dialogue was created. I got the opportunity to let my imagination run free. After completing a rough draft of the story line, I sent it to Jessica for her approval as well as adding any additional pieces of information she felt the story was lacking. After a couple of more modification we felt that the story was complete. In the end it was established that the husband's name is going to be Dr. Little who is a year old family physician who owns his own family practice on the North Side of Chicago. The wife's name is Amanda; Amanda is a 25 year old nurse working at Rush Hospital. The last major character in this story is Nicole who is a 23 year old receptionist at the Villa la Massa hotel where the 2009 American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) annual convention will be held. Using the dialogue of the story as map, I went out and took the pictures that would help tell the story.

Composition:
-The possible photograph candidates that will be used for this project are located above. The reason why these photograph would make a great addition and help tell the story is because they fit in with the set theme. The first picture deals with one of the set ground rules for this story; one person waiting. The other picture that you see above helps establish the fact that the husband is leaving the country because this picture was taken at O'Hare airport fifth terminal which is used for international flights; establishing the international feel of the photo are different flags from different countries.

Concept:
-Using the pictures that will be taken by my partner, Jessica, and me we hope to tell a story that we created. A story about a husband who goes to an annual convention and bring home a girl home to his wife. The story addresses a couple of questions indirectly, and these questions are is there true love? and how much faith plays a role in our lives?

Week 6

Assignment:
-The assignment was to create a rough draft of an image that communicates a message to the viewer using as many pictures as needed.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-Having the central theme of the image in the back of my mind I started to pick images from the contact sheet that I wanted to use in this project. After picking out the appropriate images I began thinking about the layout of the image. Having a rough idea of how things are going to be arranged I opened the photoshop program to begin working on the project. After setting up the dimensions of the new document I copy and pasted the image that I wanted to use for the background. The image that I ended up picking to use for the back ground is the photo of the park. I chose this image because it provided a lot of space to work with, and another reason why I chose this photo is because it is a photo where one can frequently find a dog with the owner. Now that the background was set it was time to fill the space to communicate a message. I added some puppies and other dogs. To cut the dogs out from their original images I used the magic wand tool. This tool allowed me to select the pixels that I wanted to keep which allowed me to copy them and paste them to the project in progress. Since one of the central ideas of the message was being forced to do what you do not want to do I had to get something or someone to help me establish this relation; to get this accomplished I found a police officer who volunteered to have his picture taken. At this point I was missing the owner who is being forced to do what he does not want to do. I took a picture of my dad with garden scissors and in scrubs; these items create an impression that the owner becomes the veterinarian who will do the unfortunate deed. To the image I added some minor detail such as the "PetSmart" logo and the clean up after your dog sign. After adjusting the brightness and contrast where necessary and making sure that the things are arranged the way I wanted I saved the copy and printed one. Having one in color I thought it would be a good idea to have it black and white; in order to make one in back and white I used the option to desaturate the color from all the layers. When I was happy with the product I saved and printed one copy. During the critique I found out the some things in the image did not really add up, thus some improvements were necessary. One area where some improvement was needed is the two individuals in the picture. Since the police officer's pointing did not mach up to where it is intended for him to be pointing I need to move the individuals a little towards the center. The dogs and the individuals have bright colors and stand out from the background and it is something that I needed to address. One way to fix this is to make the background brighter by adding color. Taking into consideration these suggestions I will improve the first draft.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-When someone looks at this photograph the first thing that would be noticed are the dogs. This occurs because they are the closest object to the viewer. The next thing that probably is observed is the two individuals. This is enough to accomplish the central theme of the photograph. After noticing the important objects in the photograph the eye may travel around and see the logo of the store and the other puppy who is running towards the police officer.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using a couple of photographs I am trying to get across the message that mandating neutering is wrong. The decision to neuter a pet should only be made by the owner and not the people sitting on the Board. The reason why this big decision should be left to the owner is because the owner knows the pet the best.

Week 5

Assignment:
-The assignment was to come up with an idea for the new project and take pictures that would help convey the intended message.

Craft:
-Before taking any pictures I did some brainstorming to figure out what is it that I want to say with my art. It took some time for me to come up with an idea, but as I was walking the dog I was stuck with an idea. I remembered that a couple of months ago the Cook County Board had a bill that they were going to vote on; this bill was about mandating dog owners to have their pets neutered. Having this opportunity I would like to voice my opinion on this issue. Having figured out what my central idea was going to be I went out and took pictures that would help me get my point across. I visited a couple of stores were puppies were sold and took pictures of them behind the cages. The purpose of these images is to create an emotional feeling in the audience and will create a feeling of guilt if the cute little puppies are hurt in any way. Other pictures establish and link the owner to his or her best friend; this is evident in one of the pictures where it seems like the dog is giving a "high-five." Having taken some pictures of dogs and their owners I proceeded to taking pictures where dogs and their owners spend some quality time. I took a picture of a park where during the morning hours there are a lot of people jugging with their pets and enjoy each others company. Owners take pride in their pets and pet related merchandise is a million dollar industry and some examples of these industries include hospitals, dog grooming salons, and stores such as Pet'Smart. The overall meaning of the message that I am trying to get across with this project is that mandated neutering is wrong and this tremendous decision should be left to the owner of the pet not the "man."

Composition:
-The two photos located in the beginning of this post are possible candidates that will make the cut to be used in this project. The reason why I like the park photograph is because this is an area where I frequently see pet owners come out and play games with their pets such as Frisbee. The owners play a pivotal role in the life of their pets; from the daily tasks such as feeding to taking them to the veterinarian for a physical. It only seems right that the decision is left to the owner. The second photograph appeals to the audience by appealing to the soft side of the emotions. Seeing a couple of puppies in the cage awaiting their unfortunate destiny will make any man cry. When one looks at this picture the puppy is staring back with those puppy dog eyes that creates a sympathetic feeling. Thus creating a situation where a questions arises; the question becomes "How can a law that mandates debilitating procedures on puppies exist in our society?"

Concept:
-By meshing a couple of pictures into a collage using the photoshop program I am trying to get a cross the idea that mandating neutering is best left to the person that knows what is best for the animal and that person is the owner not the elected official on the Board.

“200 Lincolns” Abraham Lincoln Exhibit

-This was an optional assignment that became available once the Abraham Lincoln projects were done and were on display for the public to see. To fulfill this assignment one had to go to the gallery and take a picture that would prove one’s attendance.

-The first thing that I needed was to find out the address of the gallery where the exhibit was taking place. This information was provided to me as well other students in the e-mail that was sent by Professor Peck. This e-mail also contained other vital information and that was the time and day the exhibit was going to be open to the public. After arriving at the destination I noticed that the place was packed, and it looked like there was no more room for more people. This overpopulation was also why some people were standing outside. Getting inside and walking around the gallery was a challenge, but well worth it because the work that people put into their project was incredible.

-There was a lot of art work on display, but it does not feel that way when one walks into the gallery. This was accomplished through strategic layout of the art work that was submitted. The available space was maximized, but the walls did not appear cluttered. There was enough space between two adjacent art works that made it possible to focus on one picture at a time to get an appreciation for the hard work that was put into the work. What allowed enough room to be available between art works and provided a unique feature to this exhibit was that some of the work was hanged on the ceiling.
-There are a couple of things that I like about the “Abe & Andy” photograph. The first thing is that the photograph looks like it is in an album thus giving it the real life feel to it. Another unique feature is the burned and wrinkly state of the photograph itself. What this provides to the overall message is that this picture was taken in the 1950’s and recently resurrected and put on display.
-Another work that I liked was the enlarged one cent. The first thing that came to my mind when I was observing this work is how Abraham Lincoln changed lives and the history with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. The “In God We Trust” brings the idea of hope that everything will eventually get better. The smeared face on the coin is done on purpose and that purpose is to show that change may come from any one person. Today the country is going through some tough times and the people are looking for some change. This change is coming and the first step is Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.

Week 4

Assignment:
-The assignment was to take the information received during the critique session and apply the comments to improve the photo.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-After the critique session with the group it was obvious that some additional work had to be done to make the photograph presentable. What I intended to say with this photograph is that Abraham Lincoln is a regular citizen who likes to spend time with his family and celebrate holidays amongst them; however, this was not what the photograph presented because some key elements were missing. One key element was that there was nobody else in the picture but Abraham Lincoln; to make the message more vivid it was necessary to add family members. In order to add more people, I had to take some new pictures because none of the old ones fit the theme or the people were in the wrong position. After uploading the new photos into the photoshop program it was time to manipulate them. The first thing that had to be done is remove the color. This was done by unsaturating the picture, thus making it black and white. After cutting the appropriate parts from the new photos they were pasted in a new layer over the photo from the previous blog. It was necessary to get the scale of the photo right so it looked believable, and after completing this task I cleaned up the rough edged around the newly pasted photo so it blends in with the other picture. To have some choice in the end a couple of versions were created of the same photograph with varying positions of the individuals in the photograph, but the same process, cleaning the edges, was taken to make the photo look good. This addressed the issue of not having any members of the family in the picture. Another issue that arose during the critique was that no one was smiling. I was able to fixed this problem by adding smiles using the liquify function. Using the burn tool I was able to darken the neck of Lincoln's body because before it looked like the shirt and the neck blended in together. The last step was adjusting the brightness and contrast to make sure that all parts of the photograph fit together.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-When someone is looking at the second and third version of the photograph the first thing that probably jumps out is the Christmas Tree and then the family. This, however, is not the case in the first version of the photograph. When looking at this picture the first thing that an eye notices is the boy and then the eyes travels in succession of increasing height of individuals in the picture. Abraham Lincoln during his presidency was always in the spotlight and the center of attention in the pictures, but these photographs key-in on the idea that he is a regular citizen of The United States of America who likes to spend time with his family, and that is why he does not jump out at first glance.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-What I was trying to accomplish through these pictures is link the past and the future and trying to imagine what Abraham Lincoln and his family would do on Christmas. There are a couple of features that help establish the era of these pictures. In one of the pictures there is a laptop, which is a good indication of the 21st century. Another feature is the Christmas Tree itself. It is a modern idea to get a Christmas Tree and decorate it. Overall the purpose of these images is to connect past and the future in subtle ways.

Week 3

Assignment:
-The assignment was to create a portrait of Abraham Lincoln using two photos, one new and one old.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-Before beginning any meshing of photos it was necessary to come to a conclusion about what the overall message of the final product is going to be. After having that figured out it was time to search the contact sheet for photographs that would convey that message in a clear manner. The photo that was picked for the background was "Friend Christmas." Having the background picked it was time to pick a photo of Abraham Lincoln that would be used to create the portrait; in the end the photograph that was decided on was the "Lincoln in Chair." Now that the starting photos were picked out it was time to move on to photoshop. The two photos that are going to be used to create the draft were dragged into the photoshop program and photo editing can begin. First the dimensions of the page were setup then the background image was pasted on the page. Using the corners of the image to increase the size of the image so it fits the over blank screen; increasing the image dimensions was done while holding the shift button because this way the image proportions remained the same, and after the desired size was reached I hit enter and the image was set. Now it was time to remove any color from the image. To do this I selected the "image" function and under "image" opened the adjustment functions which allowed me to select the hue/saturation function. Using this function all the color was removed from the image. Now the image was black and white, and ready for further editing. Now I turned my attention to the photo of Lincoln; using the lasso tool a rough cut-out was made around his head. To make the picture more realistic the rough edges needed to be cleaned up. Using the "magic wand tool" I selected the pixels that I wanted to keep and deleted the other pixels. Lincoln's head was a little to small for the picture so adjusting the scale of the picture was necessary. This option was found under "edit" and "transformation." After getting the right scale the head was superimposed on the individual's head in the background picture. Once the position of the head was just right the image was saved. Before printing the image out the page was setup. The height was set to 8.5 inches and width was set to be 11 inches; now it was ready to be printed.

Composition: (Arrangement and order of elements)
-When someone looks at this picture the first things that probably jumps out at them is the Christmas Tree, and the second thing that jumps out is Abraham Lincoln himself. Finally, the last object in the picture that stands out is the chair. It does not look like the picture has any areas where there is a lack of information and the picture is also not cluttered with information. The most important information that is going to help convey the message across to others is in the middle of the photo.

Concept: (What are you trying to say?)
-Using photoshop program and a couple of pictures to create a Lincoln portrait there is one thing that I am trying to say. Using this image I am trying to say that Abraham Lincoln is a regular Joe who likes to spend time with his family and celebrate holidays amongst them. This image also shows the other side of him; the side that is not all about business.

Week 2

Assignment:
-The purpose of this assignment was to collect twenty-five Lincoln era and twenty-five modern era images.

Craft: (How did you do it?)
-The first step in finding some images about Abraham Lincoln and Lincoln era was connecting to the internet and going to google. Then the image option was selected to make sure that the images that were found were in high resolution; the option of displaying only large images was selected. Now it was time to search the engine for some pictures. The first keywords that were searched were "Abraham Lincoln" and this resulted in over eight thousand images. After looking through some of the pages of pictures and picking out the ones that were appealing and had relatively good quality it was time to get a new keyword; this would allow for a broader variety of pictures. After reading some background information about Lincoln on a couple of websites new keywords were formulated. Some of the new searches included keywords such as "Lincoln and family" and "Lincoln and wife." Since Abraham Lincoln was a president it means that he delivered an inauguration speech. In order to find some pictures of Lincoln as he is presenting his speech keywords "Lincoln" and "Inauguration" were typed in. To get some images of an up-close shot of Lincoln's face I typed in "Lincoln's portraits.' These searches provided more than enough images. Finding twenty-five Lincoln era images was only have of the assignment. Next, it was time to get twenty-five pictures of the modern era. The first step in acquiring pictures from this era I needed a camera, and after charging the battery i was ready to take pictures. To get the best quality pictures most pictures were taken outside during the day when the sun was out. When taking a picture it was important to make sure the camera was not facing the sun because this would cause a blurry picture, and when the pictures were taken inside a house all the lights in that particular room were turned on. Some pictures were staged while others were not. The fact that some where not staged provides a lively feeling to the picture. The pictures taken provide a variety of positions; some were taken where the subject is facing the camera and other have the side shot of the face. After separating the new and old pictures into two separate folders a contact sheet was printed for both and it was accomplished using the program called "Light Room." After importing the images to the program from the desktop, the rows and columns were adjusted to 5 X 5. This layout provides the best orientation of pictures and uses the space on the paper efficiently. The pictures seemed a little cluttered so some additional spacing between the cells was added. Now the contact sheet looked perfect and it was ready to be printed. After sending the file to the printer and swiping the card the contact sheet was ready.

Composition: (Why did you choose these pictures as your best?)











-The picture that appealed to me the most out of all the Lincoln era images was the one where Abraham Lincoln is reading a book to his son. This image shows that Abraham Lincoln was a passionate person who cared about his family, and this passion also translated into his service to this country during his presidency. It looks like he is smiling while reading something to his son, which is distinctive because in most photographs he is serious.
-The picture that appealed to me the most out of all the pictures that were taken by me was the one where my brother is with Annabell. This photograph, just like the Lincoln and son photo, shows a lot of passion which is evident by the fact that there is a smile on my brothers face.

Concept: (Which of your pictures might you mix and why? What are you trying to say?)











-The two pictures that I would mix are titled "Lincoln in chair" and "Hands together." The reason I would mix these two photographs is because both of the individuals in the pictures are positioned in a similar fashion and both are sitting down. These are some of the similarities between the pictures, but there are also some differences between the two that would make mixing these two pictures interesting. In the "Hands together," the individual is wearing some casual clothing, but in the "Lincoln in chair", Abraham Lincoln is wearing a suit which is more of professional clothing which means business. Using these two pictures there are a couple of things that I am trying to say. One thing is that clothing styles have changed; another is the way people speak. During Lincoln era people were well versed and accomplished speakers; unfortunately, this is something that is not present in modern time, with few exceptions.

Week 1

Assignment:
-The purpose of this assignment is to set up a blog.

Craft:
-In order to set up a blog I needed a gmail account, thus the first thing that I did was create a gmail account. After verifying that the account was active I proceeded to pick a photo that I can add onto my blog. I wanted a photo of myself that would tell the audience something about me. After the final choice was made on the photo I logged on onto www.blogger.com to set up a blog. Using my gmail account I logged in and followed the instructions that were displayed. First created a name that I wanted to appear, created a blog title, and typed in the appropriate blog address. Picking the template was important because it says something about my character. This was the last step in setting up my blog; now I am ready to blog and share my ideas for other to see.

Composition:
-I chose this photo because it tells the audience something about me. At the center of this picture and the biggest object in this photo is a car. Learning about cars and working on cars is a hobby of mine, but this photo does not stop there. It also reveals that I am a family person and love to spend time with my family.

-Picking the template for my blog was important or at least I felt that way because it displays something about me; it is part of first impression. I believe that this layout and the color of the template clearly show that I have a calm and laid back personality. The color is calm; it is not bright so it is easy to look at the screen without hurting ones eyes making reading the blog pleasurable. The center piece of this template has a feel of an antique document because of the discoloration around the edges thus providing a feeling that whatever is on display is unique, and since we all have different and unique opinions and ideas I felt that it was appropriate to choose this type of template.

Concept:
-What makes me so good is the idea that has been instilled in me as I was growing up. I was told to never give up, thus I have the will to learn and open to suggestions for improvement.