1. What were your inspirations for creating the album cover art?

The inspiration I had for creating my album cover art was originally making a scrapbook-like design with a bunch of hand drawn drawings to make the cover feel more ‘book-like,’ as the album’s name is The Book. However, I ended up combining my main hand drawn drawings with digital art to create my album cover. With the character I drew holding a book and having the word “Book” on the cover in Japanese, I felt that I still was able to encapsulate the feeling of a book through the use of symbols representing the word on my cover.

2. Which Adobe programs, CRAP principles (contrast, repetition, alignment, proximity), and digital techniques or trends did you use, and why did you make those choices?

I decided to contrast the Japanese symbol and my picture against the background by adding a shadow of a different color behind them. I did this in order to make them stand out more and add depth. I also used photoshop to make my drawing black and white to help it blend in with my cover more, which I created in illustrator. I also used AI to make the thick lines seen at the top of my cover to make my cover more unique.

3. What do you intend for audiences to see, experience, and think about when viewing your work?

I intend for audiences to notice the illustration and study it. I included both a music player and a book in the character’s hands to encapsulate what the album is – a collection of music under the title The Book. I additionally want them to notice the Japanese symbol and be curious about what the symbol means so that they give the album a listen.

4. Which are the most successful aspects of your work?

I think my most successful aspect of my work is the use of backdrops to help the subjects of the image stand out. I wanted to emphasize my traditional drawing and the name of the album in Japanese to catch the viewer’s eye. I feel that the colored silhouettes I put in the back of each of those images helps accomplish my goal.

1. My artwork is a high-contrast image using the colors red, orange, and yellow. The subject of my artwork is Lena Raine, a transgender musician that has created music for popular games like Minecraft and Celeste. I titled this artwork “Musical” because I feel that word best describes Lena Raine. 
2. I created my art using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. I applied the contrast and colors to the photo using photoshop and added the background, border, and text in Illustrator.
3. My art was inspired by Shephard Fairey. I used his style of art to create a poster that depicts the music creator Lena Raine. 
4. My goal was to create a poster that represented Lena Raine. By using the colors on the first music disc she made for Minecraft and having the word Musical on the poster, I feel that I have accomplished my goal.
5. I learned that it is fun to combine the use of photoshop and illustrator because it allows you to create more interesting pictures. The final piece is exactly as I imagined it and I really enjoyed my final creation. I will likely try to use Photoshop and Illustrator in future works of mine.

What is the type of business you designed your logo for? Explain.
The type of business I designed my logo for was a company that sells trading cards, such as Pokèmon’s Trading Card Game and Magic the Gathering. Additionally, my business also holds competitions for playing the card games and contains other geeky interests, such as anime and manga products.

How does the logo represent your business? Explain.
The logo represents my business with my own original depiction of a Pokèball-like object, a commonly known item in the Pokèmon universe. It helps people realize, with the name of my company being on the side of it (The Card Geek), that this is a place that sells trading cards.

Who is the target audience for your business? Explain.
My target audience for my business is kids or adults who want to learn to play, compete, or collect trading cards. However, due to the

How does the logo appeal to that target audience? Explain.
My logo appeals to that audience because it clearly states what my company sells, having a symbol that represents a Pokèball as well as my name which shows that I sell cards.

What are you the proudest of in this piece of artwork? Explain.
I think I am the proudest of the fact that I was able to keep my logo simple and straightforward. It is easy to tell what my business sells from my logo.

What could you have done better? Explain.
I think what I could have done better is including my abbreviation in my final design to even further express what my company is about. My company’s name is abbreviated to TCG which also stands for Trading Card Game, which is the main product that I sell.

1. What is the subject of your illustration and why did you choose it? Explain.
The subject of my illustration is Stranger Things, specifically the scene where Max is levitating and running away from Vecna in the Upside Down. I chose this scene above any other scene in Stranger Things because it is one of the most iconic and well known scenes from the show, and in my opinion one of the best.

2. What do you like about your art? Explain.
I really like the effect that the red circle around the characters gives because it makes it seem that you were viewing the characters from a different place then they are in, which is what I was going for. This perspective is what Max and Vecna see in the Upside Down, with the color red representing that dimension.

3. What advice would you give another student before they begin the pictogram technique? Explain.
I would suggest that the student makes sure that they choose a theme that can be simple to convey well. For my project, I had to add specific characteristics to every character so the scene I was depicting would be easily recognizable by fans.

Describe your artwork

My artwork depicts a motivational card themed around Pokèmon for kids with cancer with the message that they are the very best that no one ever was. It displays four Pokèmon around a Pokèball with happy expressions on their faces to hopefully give the kid that receives the card a smile.

How did you create your art

I created my art on Adobe Illustrator while utilizing many shapes to create the characters in my art. Layering was very key for this project as I had many different shapes that needed to be adjusted so that they were in front/behind the other shapes they needed to be.

What is the big idea behind your artwork

My artwork was entirely inspired by Pokèmon. As a Pokèmon fan myself, I thought it would be fun to design a card based on one of my favorite franchises for this project as many children also like Pokèmon. I tried to design every Pokèmon on my card with a joyful look on their faces and I included an iconic and heart lifting message to bring happiness to the child that reads it

What were your goals for this artwork

My goals for this artwork were to bring joy to the child that gets my card through iconic Pokèmon characters. By putting in a positive message and including smiles on every one of my characters, I believed I achieved my goal.

What are your overall thoughts of your artwork

I believe I did a nice job on my artwork considering it’s my first time using Illustrator for a project. I am happy with how each Pokèmon and the Pokèball came out, as well as the background. The only goal I have for myself for next time (as of right now) is to add more / get better at shading.

Loop

Paramount

Rembrandt

Split

1.Which is your favorite portrait photo that you took? Why?
My favorite portrait I took is probably the split photo because I believe I conveyed emotion and mood in this photo the best and am proud of this photo. With the hood, the gaze down, and the black and white filter, this image clearly shows a gloomy mood.

2.Which of these lighting techniques do you think you can apply for future picture taking? Explain.
I think I can comply the split technique to future picture taking because I believe it adds a really cool effect to photos as it provides a mysterious feeling as you cannot see the other half of the face.

Shutter speed: 1/60 seconds
Aperture: f/16
ISO: 100

Shutter speed: 1,200 seconds
Aperture: f/6.3
ISO: 500

Shutter speed: >1024 seconds
Aperture: f/11
ISO: 100

Reflection:
What tips/advice would you give another photographer about shooting motion?
I would advise another photographer that they should try positioning the camera to be facing up so that they can get a cool shot of someone throwing or catching a football or another object. Additionally, I would recommend future photographers to try getting closer to their subjects to get a clearer view of them.

• What do you hope your composite image communicates to the viewer? What statement is your piece making about culture today?  Explain. Give reasons why you chose your images. 

I hope that my composite image communicates how influencers are celebrated more frequently than political leaders in today’s age, hence why I put a popular celebrity, my favorite YouTuber, over Napoleon, who was a political figure. The statement that my piece is making about culture today is that celebrities tend to become idolized by their followers – Grian is actually pretty humble about his popularity, but any influencer will get followers who want to be just like them. I chose to put Grian on Napoleon as it would be a funny reference to the game he plays, Minecraft, because horse-riding is a large part of the game.

• What advice would you give to a person looking to create a composite image in Photoshop? Be specific.

Firstly, I would recommend the artist to use two pictures where the faces of the people are facing the same direction. I chose two photos that were facing in dramatically different directions, and it was hard to warp the face correctly to have them line up. Additionally, I would also tell the artist to make sure that their celebrity and their picture relate to each other and they aren’t making the image just for laughs.

Refraction

Shadows

Water beads

Oil & Water

a. What is the distinct mood of the photograph? Explain.
The mood of my water bead photo is joyful because the assortment of colors, in my opinion, expresses feelings of excitement, happiness, and fun. Additionally, the circular shapes of the beads can represent completeness in that the circle makes a full seamless loop.

b. What does the photo make you think about? Explain.
This photo makes me think about art in general as many pictures are filled with a variety of colors, similar to how my photo contains all of the colors of the rainbow.

c. What in the photo jumps out at you? Explain.
All of the colors jump out to me instantly as the mix of colors is supposed to be the biggest drawing point of the photo.

d. How does the photo make you feel? Explain.
The photo makes me feel inspired to create as the colors are meant to represent imagination, and each color is supposed to represent all of the possibilities you can come up with to make an amazing piece of art.

e. What advice would you give to next year’s students for shooting abstract photography? Explain.
I would recommend next year’s students to try to pick an image for their refraction photo that doesn’t have a large amount of detail because the glass apple blurs the lines in between those details. Instead, students should try to use images of space, fireworks, or the like.

Amir blowing bubblegum on the field.

My Dad about to eat a pepper in my kitchen.

Q1 How did you choose the specific types of food for each portrait? What is their significance? Explain – be specific! (3 sentences min.)

For the pepper, there wasn’t much significance in the food. We didn’t have much in our house and so we picked something from the fridge. As for the bubblegum, I was inspired by the photo of someone blowing gum from a past year and wanted to do something similar.

Q2 Consider the lighting in your photographs. What was the light source in each of your photos. What time of day? How did it affect the mood and atmosphere of the portraits? Explain – be specific!  (3 sentences min.)

My pepper photo’s light source was the lights on the ceiling. It was also night time, so there wasn’t any light coming through the windows, which made the photo have a more bland mood and atmosphere. As for my gum picture, the light came from the sun which reflected off of the gum bubble adding a bright mood and cool atmosphere.

Q3 Think about the composition of your photos. Name the composition technique you used for each photo. Why did you choose to crop your photos as shown? Be specific! (3 sentences min.)

I used the fill the frame in my bubble gum photo and got close to my subject to emphasize the gum bubble. My pepper photo uses the rules of thirds composition technique. The pepper falls on one of the intersections which also helps emphasize it.

Q4 How do the colors and color splash technique in your photographs contribute to the overall impact of the images? Why did you choose to mask the specific areas in color for each photo? Be specific!  (3 sentences min.)

The color splash technique is an effective way to emphasize something in a picture. In my photos, I masked the food to make it colored in contrast to the black and white background. It makes it extra easy to see what the people in the photos are eating!

Q5 Consider the technical aspects of your photography, such as focus, depth of field, and exposure. How did you use these techniques to enhance your images? Be specific! (3 sentences min.)

My depth of field in my photo of Amir was very small and helped emphasize his gum bubble. The exposure of light in my photo of Amir is high, allowing the reflection of light off his head and the bubble gum. The exposure is also high in my picture of my Dad, which makes the color of the pepper bright and vibrant.

Q6 What advice would you give to next year’s students for shooting food portraits? Be specific! (3 sentences min.)

I would say for people to pay attention to lighting and composition of their photos. On lighting, I would highly recommend taking all the photos outside because the reflection of light on objects always looks cool. Being attentive to the composition of photos is also important because it can make your photos more appealing to the eye.