Alchemy

These are some abstract images I made using Alchemy, and then modified with Photoshop. Alchemy is a free abstract drawing tool that is very useful for being creative with wild shapes. I consider using both of these programs in a workflow to be a fun and interesting method of making random art. For example, I used the posterize effect on the first image to create the second image. You can download Alchemy here: http://al.chemy.org/

Color Wheel

For this assignment, we were to take six or more of our own pictures, place them in a unique outline, and color each one individually, so the whole spectrum of a base color wheel was present. I decided to once again use Source Filmmaker to pose the nine characters of the game, "Team Fortress 2" featuring an expression that reflected a portion of their personality. I arranged all camera placements, facial poses, and lighting for each photo. Then I resized and cropped each one to be a circle. The outline stencil I used is the logo for various programs that use the Source Engine, such as games, developer kits, and the Source Filmmaker itself. I placed each character into the center circle of the logo. I then chose what basic color each would be. Since there are nine characters, I had to reuse some base colors, but altered them so they were noticeably different, such as light and dark blue. All nine images were then formed into a circle, and placed in the order of a color wheel. For the background, I chose to trace and color the Team Fortress 2 logo. Then in the center, I used the popular abbreviation for the game, "TF2" and used various layers on the T, F, and 2 to make them more dynamic and fitting to the game's style, with a black border and gradient brown and orange scheme. 

One Word Text

For this assignment, we were to illustrate a single word using themes or images that were connected to the movie The Power of One. The original idea for the assignment was to place images inside the letters of the word, but I actually placed these images around the word instead. I chose the word, "Contravene" as it means to counter to or oppose. The movie shows how one man can inspire many people to rise up and oppose a threat. The man being the protagonist, Peekay, the people being the abused African tribes, and the threat being the Nazi soldiers.

Morgan Freeman on the left plays a character who teaches the protagonist how to defend himself, so it is thanks to him that the revolution begins. The boxing ring is also where the protagonist is taught by his trainer. The ring symbolizes both conflict and mutual agreement, as the fighters are very respectful.

I found a picture of a clenched fist, and traced it with the brush tool. Then typed the word and used liquify to give it more dynamics, and perhaps appear as a tattoo. I found a picture of a boxing ring, made a duplicate of it, changed the layer to color, and made it fit in with the red and black theme. I did the same thing for Morgan Freeman. I used the select and eraser tools for the splatter effect around the images, as that splatter can represent both the chaos of the battles and the tears that are shed over the fallen. For the background, I used a gradient of two reds, and another layer on top with various brushes to give it a grainy tone. To refine some lines, I used the eraser tool.