Reflection

1. I think my most significant accomplishment was creating a meaningful idea for my final.  I chose the Bid Idea of technology because I felt it was an idea that everyone could relate to including myself because our generation as grown up through the development of technology.  I remember my parents first cell phones and it's amazing how far cell phones have come compared to today's popular iPhone which is included in my final piece. I wanted people to step back and really think about how much we use technology and what our lives would be without it.  I wanted to reveal to them that it is our "drug" we need to have it, although we survived before with books and the typewriter as the left side presents. I think it was easy for others to recognize my idea.  In my final I felt a lot more confident with basic Photoshop techniques which helped me further explain my Big Idea visually.


2.  The most challenging tool for me was the liquify tool.  I remember first learning the tool for the Retouching quiz.  During the lesson I tried many times to slim someone's nose and face but I could never get it to look natural.  For the retouching quiz, I chose an image of a female with a larger nose because I really wanted to improve my skills with this tool.  It took me many tries but I finally got the nose to look smaller without looking fake.  This gave me a lot more confidence with this tool and I even used it in various portions of my final as well.



Before



After

3.  I want to compare my midterm and final.  While both had meaning, I think my midterm achieved a more hidden connection as opposed to my final which had a more obvious meaning.  My midterm left a lot more room for interpretation than my final.  The faces were unrecognizable and there were a lot more shadows and dark spaces for the viewer to fill in.  I used a lot more opacity in my midterm and hardly at all in my final.  Although both dealt with human beings I think my midterm as much more vague while my final with the technology and recognizable iPhone app buttons led the viewer to a more obvious connection.  Sometimes in art, I think it's good to lead the viewer but I also think it's important to leave room for their own interpretation without much guidance at all.
 

Midterm




Final