NOVEMBER & DECEMBER 2017 (End of First Quarter - Beginning of Second)

By now you should be very proficient in the use of most of the Adobe Photoshop CC Tools. If you have any questions regarding the Move, Rectangular and Elliptical Marquee, Magnetic Lasso, Magic Wand, Polygonal Lasso, Brush, Eraser, Paint Bucket and Custom Shape Tools, please let me know.

You can start experimenting with the Gradient Tool, the Type Tool, the Eye Dropper Tool and the Crop Tool (I will teach these tools in class).

This month's Essential Vocabulary is the following:

Typography (Leading, Tracking, Kerning, Hierarchy); Serif, Sans Serif, Display Fonts, Opacity; Penelope Dullaghan, Jim Bradshaw, “Kawaii” images; René Magritte, Salvador Dalí, Surrealism. Branding & Identity, logos, advertisements, color (color theory - the color wheel), hue, saturation, value; monochromatic, analogous, complementary and split complementary colors. Please check the following Videos (which I will show in class but will be included in a Quiz in November and a Test in December and in the Midterm in January 2018): Typography and Color (click links). You can also find these videos in here under "My Favorite Links" on the right side. Review the videos I already showed in class on Fundamentals of Design and Layout & Composition. You may also want to check the Branding & Identity video as well as the Power of Images video. All these videos are essential to understand Graphic Design.

For Exercise 9 you are creating a simple illustration; this is why I asked you to check the work of Penelope Dullaghan and Jim Bradshaw. You could also check Muxxi's work or simply enter "simple illustrations" or "Kawaii" in Google Images. Remember the techniques you already learned in class to create something interesting and attractive. 

We will also create an advertisement and a poster this month, and will try to imitate some of René Magritte's and Salvador Dalí's work. We will learn about "Surrealism" and try to look into our unconscious minds for inspiration. The Surrealists sought to channel the unconscious as a means to unlock the power of the imagination. Many surrealist paintings are based on dreams and the artists' imagination. We will learn about Magritte and Dalí and other surrealist artists, and look at some of their work. And you will certainly use your imagination to create a "surreal" piece of digital art. You will complete three or four Surrealist works of digital art.

"Surrealist art often uses dream imagery to show the inner workings of the mind. Have you ever had a dream that your teeth were falling out or that you were flying? Surrealists used images like this in their art to create instinctive meanings the viewer would not need rational thought to understand.

Surrealists also used symbols as a method of telling a story. Symbols are objects that stand for ideas, events, or emotions. For example, a smile can be a symbol of happiness; an image of a heart can be a symbol for love.

Surrealist artists used collage. A collage is a work of art created by using images not normally associated with one another. These disparate associations were meant to make the viewer question previous rules of art and popular culture."

(From: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-surrealism-definition-art-characteristics.html)

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. Below you can see two examples of simple illustrations that I created, two examples of my imitation of Magritte's work, one example of my imitation of Dalí's work, and one example of my imitation of Olbinsky's work. Also check the work of other Surrealist artists, like Marcel Caram, Rafal Olbinsky, Frida Kahlo, and others. Check: Google Classroom for the Presentation on Surrealism (shown and discussed in class) and your assignments. GET INSPIRED, GET CREATIVE!