Experimentation 2

Changing colours of my screen printing:

Using the Hue and Saturation adjustment layer I was able to change the colours of the multi coloured screen print that I produced.

I selected each colour individually and changed the saturation and hue for that one colour specifically. This allowed me to make the images have more contrast however the quality deteriorates as the colours are adjusted more. This is because the orange has very distinct strong areas and weak areas of saturation.

The purples and pinks on the face are ghastly; almost blinding which is why I dislike this image. I also adjusted the saturation down however is quickly becomes a strange grey, very boring.

The same applies to this image. The colours of the face are so intense that it is almost impossible to work with this print digitally so I am going to stick with the original colours as they look natural to the image.

Using Ink and Paint

During this task I was told to create an image using images I already had, paint and ink. This is a form of physical manipulation to an image. I have chosen images from a previous fashion project.

 This is the first image that I used. I thought that I should start very basically with paint however I disliked the innitial result and decided to use my hands to blur the colours which revealed parts of the image. In particular the face of the model had become visable across the eyes and mouth. This makes the image spooky to look at because all the details are not visable; like something is being hidden from the veiwer. I think that this vould have been more effective with shades of black since as the image is already made to be quite eerie and the black could be interpretted as the aura the character is trying to display. It could also be taken as a protective shield just like the face paint that she is wearing.

The second attempt I decided that I would use black and white ink to drip onto the paper; however when this looked too boring I tipped the image to let the ink fall down the page. I think that the colour revearsal works a lot better because it seems to act like a veil which is adding to the eerie appearance of the image. The original image shows the model already wearing black and white face paint, this shows an advancement of the 'masks' depth in the image.

Using a different image I wanted to use the ink to make something like a picture card often used to evaluate phsycological sanity. However the different inks have really mixed together and not worked out how I had hoped. I feel that this method might slow my down and not create strong results so I go back to dripping the ink.

I feel that this image has potential to be stronger, although I would have to use a more viscous ink or paint like acrilic paint. The ink simply was too thin and ran down the page to fast for it to be absorbed. This image was to originally to show the fear that some people carry with them when they gamble and now it shows more of the result. this would be a following image to the original work I did to create this image.

Karl Lagerfeld

Born 1933; Lagerfeld was the son of a wealthy German businessman. The wealth his farther had allowed him to study in Paris at the age of just 14 and become an artist as well as designer. Since his 30's he has been taking part in prestigious competitions and worked for many top designer brands like Chloe and Vogue. He also used his own fashion and style to produce his own label which he eventually sold but kept all design control of.

The model in this image is Abbey Lee, one of the most sort after models of the fashion industry. With recent work being completed for the likes of Hugo Boss and Gucci. To me this image feels like Lagerfeld is trying to make Lee look fragile and delicate. A lot like a china doll. Her bleach blond hair is decorated with an array of flowers and translucent materials. Gold has been used as the main jewellery material probably to match the hair and similar pale yellow tone of her skin. The reds and purples used for the lipstick also matches other areas of the image including the cloth she is wrapping herself in and dark tones of the eyeshadow used. 

I think that Lagerfeld has used two lights to create this image. It looks like a snoot was used on the light for the background due to the gradual fading in tone outwards from the centre of the dense area. I also think that he has used a form of flash ring that has created two clear lines down the face and their reflection is visible in the models eyes.

 

            

 

Lagerfeld has made his own fashion/style into a brand. He uses his name, face and distinct blacked out glasses as the label for his designs, many know who he is and his work because of the massive amount of unique branding. All of these images shows how he would normally dress: the sunglasses, white hair in a pony tail, high white collar, dark suit, jewellery on the tie or necklace and finally the gloves. Lagerfeld has also created extra areas on his website which publicises his lifestyle. Karlism is an area where himself or assistants would post sayings/quotes from him. There is also an area called The Karl Daily which to my understanding is a newspaper that is about Lagerfeld, his latest designs and stories that is of interest to him and his brand.

This might be something that I can think about, using repetitive imagery to communicate awareness of a style or brand, maybe even create a brand. I would then have to think about typography and what the brand would be. I would also have to consider what the continuous theme would be since as I wanted to experiment with different colours and styles.

Initial ideals

When I first heard that I would have to make postcards I came to the conclusion that I would have to take landscape images. However this turned out to just be the final image format and souvenirs was the real theme. The tourist shops in cities like London came to mind straight away. As the true meaning of souvenirs and examples of postcards were shown I saw images that used block colours in specific places of the image. I wonder if I can use block colours to excite portraits. 

That actually makes me think of Warhol's Marilyn Monroe images using consistancy and defined colour to define the image. An illustrator names Luke Weller recently came to give a talk and explained how he uses mono printing to give a rustic and rough look to what would have been a boring block colour. Maybe this is something that I could look into. 

I feel that still life would be too easy to achieve because the objects and the lighting is fully adjustable however controlling a model is a lot harder especially if I am working alone because I have to get the model right and adjust the lighting to match that position all myself. I find this challenging and that's why I enjoy taking fashion and organised portraits. Initial thoughts lead to taking black and white film photographs and then using prints, ink, paint etc to manipulate the image. This could possible change the whole image entirely. 

The shaded areas are there to show the use of colour or manipulation. Possible shapes and different uses/positions of the colours.