Photoshop Postcards

Description: 

This is part of my second project for a digital art class I took during my sophomore year of college. The assignment asked us to make some postcards each with a different themes and prompts. Here are th prompts: 

For the Landscape, you are to compose your image in the Picturesque Style: with a foreground, middle-ground, and background. Each of these “layers” should come from a separate source image — so that the final image will become a “composite” overlay of multiple elements & photos. There should be an architectural component or folly (like a building; gazebo; columns; ruins; etc), and several carefully cropped and inserted characters (entourage) — so the scene begins to tell a story. The figures may be realistic, or more abstract in nature — but they should all look like they are part of the same image.

For the Portrait, you may choose to depict yourself, or someone else. The image may be fragmented and abstract, or more realistic in style — but it should be composed of multiple layers and elements. The portrait should be constructed from various techniques we’ve discussed in class, and appear as though all of the elements fit and belong together — try to make it look convincing. You may choose to manipulate layers, transparency, colors, gradients, or other filters to make the image pop.

For the Stacked Object, you should be careful to set up your layers in an organized and logical manner. Remember that the top most layer is the image that appears in the front. For this exercise, I typically think of food items: like a stacked sandwich, a burger, a layer cake — anything that requires multiple components to build up to a single image. For this exercise, make sure you’re careful to crop the edges of each layer clean and precise, and use effects like cast shadow to add a bit of depth and contrast between each layer. The background should be blank — but you may fill it with a pale color or light gradient wash if you wish.

For the Text postcard, you may choose any word, name, or phrase: it might be your own name, a favorite noun or verb, or it may be the name used for your logo assignment. The objective for this exercise is to crop an image cleanly to fill the text layer above. You may choose to use one image, or multiple images, to fill the word or phrase — and play with filters, color balancing, and effects to add dimensionality or visual interest. The word may look metallic and smooth, or more granular and textured — but it should look cohesive and sharp, and pop off the page. The background is up to you — it may be white and clear, or filled with a pale wash or color, or a very faint image. But for this exercise, the text is the main subject, so make sure the background is neutral enough that it is not distracting from the focal text.

For the Multiplicity image, you should include one person, figure, or character who is shown in multiple positions, places, or poses within the same frame. Have a look at artists like Kelli Connell, Johnny Tang, Hayley Roberts, or other “Multiplicity” Photographers who use the concept of repetition, iteration, and cloning to tell a story. For this exercise, you may need to take multiple images of a figure yourself, and montage those together into a single picture. Or you may choose to digitally manipulate copies of a figure — using the various Clone, Copy, Stamp, Duplicate, Puppet-Warp, and Selection Tools in Photoshop.