Medieval Portrait
Rationale
For my Renaissance portrait I decided to use the portrait painted by the Dutch artist Johannes Vermeer as my inspiration. Some problems I had with the project include lighting, perspective and figuring out how to put my face on the painting. I did not have as much trouble using Photoshop, as I am fairly familiar with the interface and functions. In the beginning I thought of just putting my face on her face, but my skin tone is a lot darker and so I cut out my neck as well. I posted my face on top of the painting, then I cut out part of her collar and her scarf and placed it on top of the photo of me. This way it creates to illusion that my face is indeed under the scarf and collar. I did not realize until I have finished the project, that the girl in the pictures face has some light reflections from the opposite side. As well it looks like her portrait was drawn from a higher point. I think the coolest part of the piece was matching the angles of two photos, so that it actually looked like I was in the painting. I would like to be able to create more works in Photoshop by merging different pictures together.
Surreal Portrait
Research
Things I noticed that are common in surreal paintings:
- play with perspective
- pale colours
- few subject matter
- feels empty
- makes you feel melancholy
Rationale: For my surreal portrait I used my photo and turned myself into a flower in a flower patch. I had to adjust the lighting of the several photo's I found. Some problems I had was adjusting the reflection of the flower on my face. Since the flower is red, I had to adjust the reflection on my face as red as well. In the end I was able to accomplish it by using a brush and turning down it's opacity to paint over my face. I think the coolest part of the piece was adjusting lighting, lighting can really impact the mood you want to deliver in a photograph. I plan to use this knowledge for when I draw digitally and traditionally.
Traditional Photo Portraits
Rationale
Photo on the top left: landscape, lighting from top right. Sam is facing straight forward, head slightly tilting down. By using this technique I was able to bring out Samantha's cheek bones, emphasizing the structure of her face. Therefore making her look more bold.
Photo on the right: portrait, lighting from middle right. Sam is facing straight forward, head is tilted back. By using this technique I was able to make Samantha's smile sweet and subtle, making her look cute and easy to talk to.
Photo on the bottom: landscape, lighting from middle left. Sams body is turned to the side, with her head turned facing the camera. By using this technique I was able to bring depth to Samantha's face, giving people a better idea on what she looks like. The lighting makes her look younger and more innocent.
I learned that by using Steve's T method of placing the camera and lights, any portrait can look good. As well as using the arm length method for positioning lights. In the future I can use the methods that Steve has taught me for my clothing line that I am starting.
Credits:
Created with images by the3cats - "camera old retro"