This is my final project for this course and is a design for an online photography portfolio to showcase my work.  I included a logo that is part of my family crest, and used a layer mask to limit this image.  I also included social media links and navigation bars to direct traffic.  There is also a search option, I found this to be common on many online photography portfolios.

This is a sketch idea I developed for a workable website created through Photoshop.  I researched some photographic online portfolios and tried to include many aspects of those in my design idea.  Images will be placed in groups and the top three windows scroll through images in different groups.  These windows will be clickable links that open all images in a group into a view-able grid.  The window on the top left will contain portfolio and artist logo or information, with other information at the bottom of the page.  Background will be simple so focus is on images.

Module 5 Avatar Project with the addition of background and hair.  I aimed to give the piece a lumberjack avatar message. Enjoy.

This is my avatar for Module 5, for this project I aimed to replicate the techniques shown in the article.  I ended up applying 22 layers on this project for uses like; skin color and detail, eye color and size, dodge/burn effects, curve adjustment layers, and multiple layer masks.  I also did a hue/saturation red boost layer masked to my shirt, to contrast the color of my face.  Masking layer effects was a key part of this project for me.  

Working with eyes and Skin Color.  I found the best approach for this assignment is to focus on layer masks and go step by step.

Working to refine techniques for enlarging and adding color to eyes.

Module 4 Book Cover

This is my book cover for Module 4 based off the band City and Colour.  I used the bands name as the title and my name for as the author just below that.  I decided on a light blue background to bring out warmer colors and to give the appearance of a sky on the cover.  I also used a watercolor sample provided in the readings, with an added hue/saturation effect to depict a sky or cloud with colors close to a sunset.  The image on the bottom of my cover is the Dallas, TX skyline with a hue/saturation effect to bring out oranges and red.  I used the color of the sky and the city skyline tie into the title City and Colour. 

The spine is simple with the print C & C going vertical, with a dark swipe of watercolor paint in the middle, and my initials in gold at the bottom.

On the back cover I offered a short description of the book/band and use previous albums as chapters or other books in a series.  In between the text I added some watercolor paints to space out the text.  On the bottom of the back cover I added four paint brushes and then used the transfer color brush tool to copy colors from the watercolors to the paintbrushes.  I then used the blend and smudge tools to make it look like the paint and brushes were actually used to paint the spine and the cover. 

Book Design Sketch

This is my first sketch idea, along with a preliminary front cover design idea.  I chose the folk band City and Colour, with the lead singer Dallas Green.  For a simple and to the point cover, I used cursive text along with a watercolor splash image and a Dallas skyline image.  The watercolor image is from the readings in this Module, and then I added a hue/tint layer to the image to make the color more resemble the colors of a sunset.  I used the same hue/tint effect on the skyline to bring out reds and blend better with the watercolor image.  I would like to add gradient to the background image, or maybe blend some white clouds, an effect that could carry over to the spine.  On the back cover I would do a short biography, with a paintbrush and paints underneath.  

This is my Awareness Poster for Module 3.  The aim of my poster is to portray the corrupt nature of oil by referencing snake oil salesmen of the old west culture.  A snake oil salesman is someone by definition who knowingly sells fraudulent goods or is themselves a fraud.  I gave the text on the top of the image a warped quality as well as dripping oil aspect to connect it with the snake/pipeline image.  The snake head I used in my poster I believe to be the most striking (pun intended) part of my piece, and draw the viewer into the main idea.  The snake pipeline is wrapped around the entire planet and is squeezing the little oil left down to the salesman.  I used a money symbol as the "s" in salesman to help portray the greed associated with this type of corruption.

This is the outline for my poster.  My idea is to outline how oil is about money, and is a false fuel source for society to invest in.  I am still working to find an image of a snake head I can add, and working with more aspects of typography I can come up with.

Mod 3 Environmental Issues Poster

In these panels, I explored the visual aspect of using a plane or oil pipeline disguised as a snake.  The snake oil pipeline is visually striking so I limited the text, whereas the plane is a simple image and I believe requires a little more information.  The last panel shows an artificial tree/light-bulb combination that plugs directly into the earth

These six panels explore the use of an Earth image to express worries about global warming.  In the first image, the eraser end of a pencil is erasing the Earth.  The second personifies the Earth and shows the planet sweating.  The third image shows a dried up planet where humanity is leaving for another galaxy.  The third and fourth images are portrays of the Earth over a fire with steam coming out.  The final image would be many planets with Earth visually smaller than others.

For my first photo-montage I used some images I found online and some I had captured myself.  By zooming in very close and using high resolution images, I was able to maintain image quality.  The guitar is an image of my own placed inside a flame type image to create the visualization of a guitar-like meteor.  The pyramid and moon are images I used from the internet and in combination with the statues and stone image of my own convey a mystic/spiritual twist to my photo-montage.  I titled this piece "From the Heavens, To the Earth Vol. 1" to help portray my image as a musicians album or poster art.  To get the color for the letters, I used the dropper tool to select colors from objects already incorporated in this work. "From the Heavens" color comes from the flame, while "To the Earth Vol. 1" comes from the stone in the center of my photo-montage

Rough draft from one of my preliminary sketches

Prelim Sketch 1 Mod 2

Preliminary sketch 1