Creation 3

This image is very different to many others in the collection of images, as it uses a collection of images to make it all make sense. I decided to incorporate Starry Night by Van Gogh with coffee. The reason behind this was because Starry Night has many swirls in it, and reminded me of coffee, and some of the pictures of coffee, where there are intricate designs made into the coffee. I began this by finding a picture of a coffee cup, specifically at an angle that looks at the coffee. I then cropped the image more to the right for two reasons. The first reason would be so that the coffee cup would be in one of the points of the Rule of Thirds. The second reason was because I needed more space for the text without ruining the image by making it look crammed. I did this by using a slightly different effect for adding to an image. I selected an empty space of the table, then added it to the black space of the cropped image and stretched it out, making an unnoticeable stretch effect. I then began finding text for the image. I did not want to create too much text, as that would ruin the simplicity and minimalism of the image. I found the logo of Nescafe and put it into Photoshop. I then inverted the colours, as it was in black, then cut it out and added it to this image. For the decaf part, I found a font online that resembled the Nescafe font, and then added it to this image. This was when I began to add the Van Gogh painting to the image. I created a clipping mask for the coffee cup and instantly the painting came through. I blurred out the ends of the coffee, as the selection was not perfect. I then found a good spot for the painting to come through and placed it in position. I then blurred the edges of the edges where it came through, so it would not look too harsh. This is when I decided I would not add anything else to the image, as it was fine like this and did not need any more words. 

Creation 2

This was created after I found one of Turners paintings. I edited it very slightly to match the colours I was going to be using, then began with the compositing. I thought this image would be perfect to promote fish, since there was a river, a boat, and land all around, which all adds up to a nice village that makes great fish and chips. I then thought of Young’s fish, as their logo is in the style of oldern, traditional design. I found a box of the fish online on a slant, and then added this into the image. I then added a drop shadow very subtly, to make to blend more into the image. I put this in the left corner, as it makes the eye flow better. I then added their logo in the same way, except this time I added a slight glow to make it blend more, as it had very sharp edges. I made it quite small, as I did not want it taking the majority of the image. I then added text, which says “Fish from the finest seas.” This is also in a serif typeface, same as the last one, but this one looks more casual and more pub-style rather than a very posh serif typeface. I centred this and made sure it was the first thing the viewer saw, as I put it in black. Overall I think all the objects I composited into the image work well and suit the image. The blue and red contrasts with the sepia tone of the image, making you look at the box and logo. The black stands out the most, as there is nothing going on up there in the image, which makes great use of space. 

Creation 1

This was the advert I created for Flora after finding and editing Vincent Van Goghs painting of sunflowers. I thought it was quite original since I had never really seen anyone else talk about the link between Flora using sunflower oil and the painting created by Van Gogh. The image is packed full of yellows, darks and lights, as well as some green. The image basically shows the bowl of sunflowers, with the Flora logo in the bottom right and the text in the bottom left saying “The healthier option.” I think this text is a good addition and fits well with the theme of the painting, without being too loud or brash. I created this on Adobe Photoshop CS6. The way I did this was I cropped the image longer than it should have been at the bottom. I then used the clone tool and cloned the colour above. This was made really easy, considering there was not anything that was going on underneath and instead of replacing a composite, I was simply adding more. When I had finished cloning the bottom, I found Flora’s logo on the internet in a high-res image. It was a PNG file format, which meant that the area behind the logo that did not need to be seen were not there, which made it easier for me to put into this painting. It took me a few go’s to get the positioning and sizing right, but I got there in the end, making it big enough to get to the bowl but not too big to be an eyesore.  The text also took me a few tries, as I struggled to find the correct font and colour, as well as sizing and positioning. In the end I decided on a serif typeface, in the corner of the image. I made the text pure black, but lowered the opacity so it would be less harsh and suit better with the image. Overall it was a very simple procedure and works well, in my opinion. 

Vincent Van Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh and his work had a he influence over 20^th century art, as he was a major Post-Impressionist painter. Many people learn about Van Gogh and his name is one of the many names you hear first when learning about art. He created portraits, self-portraits, landscapes, and many more. H drew when he was a child but did not begin experience with paint until his late twenties. In the last two years of his life he created the best pieces of work he had ever created. In a little over a decade, he had created more than 2,100 artworks, an astonishing amount.

This is a painting by Van Gogh and is a painting resembling a café. The first thing you can see is the warm glow of the café probably lit by lanterns, and this lights up the entire part that the balcony overlooks the street and acts as a shelter for the rest of the street. There are many people sat on chairs underneath the shelter, as there is seating available. You can also make out a waiter taking orders. There are also some people walking along the street next to the café, and are illuminated by the light and warm glow of the café. There is a lot of detail in objects you don’t look at, such as the detail into the houses that are dark and not illuminated by the light. Van Gogh put an extreme amount of work and detail into this work, which is the reason why it has so much depth. I especially like the night sky, as the shade of blue is perfect and the stars he created to create the perfect night look very good. Overall, my favourite element of the painting is the lighting and how Van Gogh used it to change his image.

This was also created by Van Gogh and is a painting of a wheat field. I really like this image as it is very swirly and has many brush strokes into each swirl. The colours are also extraordinary, as they blend so well together and mix even better with each other. The whites in the sky are very bright and really make the swirl effect, as the sky would just be a strange shade of blue if not for the white. There is a large tree on the right of the image, which is painted in Van Gogh’s signature style of brushstrokes. Next to this there is a lot of greenery, as there are many bushes and leaves. Beneath this is a wheat field and this is a golden yellow. He has made it look like there are many by adding small short strokes, and has made them look long in length by painting long lines where they begin. This also gives the effect that they are moving and flowing in the wind, which would also explain the sky and why it looks so swirly. 

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse was a French artist and was well known for his ability to use colour in an extraordinary way. He was a painter, printmaker and sculptor, but is known by just painter. He was regarded as one of the three faces that defined plastic art in the first few decades of the 20^th century. His use of fluid colour led him to develop his own style in the 20^th century.

This is a very famous piece of work by Matisse, and is called Dance.  At first I thought it was some happy celebration, as people are holding hands and spinning around. If you look at the person in the middle bottom, you can see they are falling. This leads me to believe this is not some happy celebration, and may be a ritual of some sort, as it looks like they are dragging her while they are standing fine upright. The message changes drastically the way you see it, which is why art is all about personal interpretation. The colours are quite neutral and don’t really stand out, as the blue and green are dark and don’t stand out. The skin colour stands out a lot against the blue and green, as it is lighter than them, and this is why you can only see the dancers. They are also naked, which is also the reason why they don’t lose the focus of the painting.

This was also created by Matisse and is a very simple collage. It was created when Matisse was too ill to paint anymore, and was confined to the bed. He was able to tear the paper, and told his assistant where to place it. Matisse said he was able to draw in colour, as usually he would draw then outline then colour it in, but with this he could paint in colour. This piece is very bright and is quite vivid with colour. Even though there is no depth to this image, the saturation of the colours is still very high.

Pierre Auguste Renoir

Pierre Auguste Renoir was a French artist and an important figure in the Impressionist movement. He was famous for creating vivid paintings of nature and of people. He was the father of an actor, a filmmaker and a ceramic artist, as well as being a grandfather to another filmmaker. Needless to say he inspired many people, even within his own bloodline.

This painting is of two women in a boat, and is a bright and cheerful painting. First of all, you see the brown boat against the light blue water, so that makes the boat stand out. You then see the women sitting inside the boat, who are wearing white. The painting is, I think, of a rich life in the olden days. There is a boat in the water being pushed using the oars by two women in the boat. The two women are wearing white, which is a link to the white boat with sails behind them, and the large mansion behind them. If it was a different colour the women would not look as if they belong with the rest of the white environment. The boat is in some sort of river or lake and is not very far to the house. There is nothing complicated about this image and is very simple in telling you what is happening

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The title of this painting is “Luncheon of the Bating Party, and instantly you get a sense of higher-class people in this painting. There are many people in this painting, which gave me a strange effect when I was searching for this image on the internet. When I only glimpsed at it, it reminded me of a hyper-realistic painting, as the two men in the hats at the front of the painting look very realistic. Everyone is doing something in this painting, which makes me like it so much. The girl in the front is playing with the dog in her hands, who looks startled, a realistic experience. The man in the hat on the right looks like he is in the conversation with the girl next to him and the man leaning on their chairs. Everyone is doing something and is talking to someone else, which I think is an incredible amount of detail to be able to put that in a painting. The colours in this painting are very defined and work very well with each other. A lot of things look blurred out, but that is simply the way brush strokes were at the time. It seems everyone in the painting is in a tent, and that there is grass all around them. The tent flapping in the wind is one of the reasons it reminded me of a hyper-realistic painting. 

Laurence Stephen Lowry

Laurence Stephen Lowry was an English artist and was born in Stretford, Lancashire. As he lived in Pendlebury for 40 years of his life, many of his paintings and drawings depict areas and buildings from there. A lot of his work also depicted Salford. He was famous for painting everyday life in the industrial districts of North West England in the mid-20^th century. Because he created so many paintings he developed a certain style and the people in his paintings were then known as ‘matchstick men’. As well as painting landscapes full of people, he also painted dark, mysterious and unpopulated areas and marionette works, both of which were found after his death. 

This is a landscape painting that is crammed full of people, and looks like some sort of a festival or celebration of some sort. The sky and the ground are both white, which feels and looks like snow to me. However, he painted like this in all his paintings, so perhaps there was never any snow and he just created a style where he did not try to paint the sky or the ground. In the centre of the image you see a block of houses that are at different angles, and have paper and string stuck up on the walls, definitely indicating some sort of celebration. There are also people everywhere and this also gave me a chance to see the famous ‘matchbook men’ effect. In the background there is a huge hall of some sort, which is grey, and also has many people outside of it. As you go further back in the image things tend to get faded out yet still has the feeling that everyone is celebrating something, and it is not just in the very front of the painting. 

This painting is by LS Lowry and is showing the market town of Manchester. I personally think this image looks a little bland and desaturated, outside of the matchstick men, who are quite high in saturation. You can see many people forming around the markets, indicating it is probably a busy day in the market. There is a lot of colour yet also a lot of white, which takes up most of the image.