For this image, I decided to design a logo for app-making business that my friends and I started called, n3.I initially had about eight different designs, but I eventually grew on this one, and progressed from there. I started with the circular background, which I created with the ellipse tool, and added a grayish color overlay on top of that shape. I then rasterized the layer when I was happy with the overall color and shape.
After than, I used the custom shape tool, to draw a ying-yang on top of the layer. I removed the top portion of the custom shape, and filled in the hole on the bottom half, leaving a tear drop shape on the bottom half of the ellipse. I then used the text tool to write the "n3". I tried out many fonts until I got something that I liked. I duplicated that layer, added a black color overlay and then reduced the opacity. I moved this layer about 40 px left and 50 px down, to add the shadow effect that you can see on the ellipse.
I then added a colored pencil filter to the ellipse and the tear shaped layer (picked different shades of gray) and added a clear gel style to the "n3". And lastly I added a bevel, inner glow, and shadow to the base ellipse.
This image was a homework assignment from a few weeks ago, but with a few minor changes that are not very noticeable. The image of the hamster I got from hdwallpapers.net, and the image of everything else is from the movie poster of "Man on Wire".
Some changes since last time; I added more shading to the hamster on the wire, I added a gradient mask to the background of the image (to give the sky a better contrast against the text), and reduced the edges of the hamster to let it blend in more into the background.
The sources of this image include: National Geographic and South Coast Central UK.
In the original image, the dragonfly was perched on a piece of metal and had various colors. I selected the dragonfly out of the image using the magic wand tool, and pasted it onto the stone hedge image. I added a color overlay onto the dragonfly, and made it black with 80% opacity. I used the brush tool to darken key areas of the dragonfly and lightened others. For example, I lightened the wings of the dragonfly to give the slight appearance of sunlight shinning through them.
After I finished with the dragonfly, I modified the brightness and contrast of the stone hedge image.
This image was also a homework assignment from a few weeks ago. Credit for every image goes to National Geographic.
When I first saw this image, I saw multiple flat surfaces which made this really easy to work with. I used various images from a National Geographic catalog, and positioned them accordingly to each clay plateau. I used the free transform tool and changed the perspective of the image to tilt it appropriately on the surface. After I have done this, I used the selection tool to cut the exact shape of the clay "plateau". When I applied images to every area, I merged them and added a sepia tone style.
Self Evaluation:
What I really liked with my images, was the n3 logo and the dragonfly on stone hedge. I liked the colors and how the image blended with the foreground and the background. I liked the colored pencil filter that I used with the n3 logo, and the contrast against the clear gel style on the text. In the dragonfly picture, I liked the scale of the dragonfly compared to the stone hedge, and the little amount of visibility of detail on the dragonfly. This image was more difficult to imagine then to actually create, so in this aspect, I really liked the creativity of the idea.
What I did not like, was the visibility of the edges in the last image. I also did not like the lack of shading and texture of this image, and I wish I could have had a better alternative to this.
