3 FINAL ARTWORKS

Art Work Tittle: Run, Tree, Run!

Visual Treatment: 

i) Art Movement: Surrealism

ii) Reference Artist: Salvador Dali

iii) Theme Chosen: Environmentalism

iv) Idea & Concept: Logging has been a very serious issue nowadays because they are not controlled properly. If this issue carries on without any reinforcement, all trees will be extinct one day. Thus, this artwork features the last log on Earth being chopped and its last piece (the hand) of the tree is running away from the disaster of logging for its survival. Also, the land is cracked and dry due to the effect of excessive logging. This artwork is presented as an awareness to people about the consequences of logging. 

Art Work Tittle: Future's Final Tree

Visual Treatment: 

i) Art Movement: Surrealism

ii) Reference Artist: Salvador Dali

iii) Theme Chosen: Environmentalism

iv) Idea & Concept: This artwork shows that this final tree will soon be chopped off just like the rest of his subordinates. I had taken the idea from Salvador Dali of the watches but I've replaced the old fashioned pocket watch with a slightly newer and standard wrist watch. The watches represent time as this artwork is based in the future. This artwork is also presented to give awareness to people about the consequences of logging. 

Art Work Tittle: Wastage is in Our Hands

Visual Treatment: 

i) Art Movement: Surrealism

ii) Reference Artist: Salvador Dali

iii) Theme Chosen: Environmentalism

iv) Idea & Concept: I was inspired one day just when I was about to fall asleep. It had dawned on me that papers or wood related materials are wasted by human beings everyday. Thus, this artwork symbolizes that human beings are the ones who waste wood resources with or without knowing it. Those white pieces flying about in the picture represents papers coming out from that log.

Burning Log

I had a terrible time creating this artwork because I don't know how to make fire look real.

To start off with, I redrew the outlines once again because the scanner was not that good.

I had used Magic Wand on the inner part of the hands + log and then used Brush Tool to paint those areas.
I also had created several layers of colour tones to for shading purposes later on.

I had created a rectangle box using the Line Tool. I found out that the line was too thin, so I pressed " ] " to increase the width of the lines. Then, I had copied that rectangle box into many layers to distort them into different shapes and sizes. For each rectangle box, I have tried all of the Free Transform options. I had used Marque Tool > Free Transform > Scale, Rotate, Skew, Distort, Perspective, Warp. It was fun experimenting on all of the options as they give different effects to the rectangle boxes.

I had a some trouble shading because it is hard for me to imagine that the light source is from the middle. I had used Eraser Tool at 22% Opacity & 22% Flow but it wasn't effective.

Thus, I eventually used Burn Tool to darken the areas.

Then, I created a layer filled with Black Colour and placed it above the White background. And I used the Eraser Tool at 22% Opacity & 22% Flow to create an effect.

 To start off with the fire, I went to Colour Picker & searched for the Red Colour. I roughly drew the fire on the artwork in a new layer. After that, I used Linear Dodge for this layer.

 Then, I searched for Orange Colour via Colour Picker and drew it on the artwork on a new layer. Subsequently, I used Colour Burn for this layer to create a glowing effect.

After that, I used Colour Picker to search for the Yellow Colour that I wanted and drew it on the fire on another new layer. Then, I used Screen to make the Yellow stand out from the fire.
The modified rectangles's Opacity were changed to blend into the artwork. Some were changed to 80% and some were changed to 60%.

Future's Final Tree

I have left my folder of all my artwork in my hometown in Perak. Luckily, my mom managed to help me to scan all of my sketches and emailed them to me. However, the scanner wasn't too good as it did not capture proper details (some areas are plain white). 

On the bright side, this artwork consumed less time because I had practised and learnt more about Photoshop on my first artwork.

As you can see, the scanning quality was terrible. So, I have decided to redraw using the original lines as a guide. 

 I had redraw those lines to get the image into right perception.

 Then, I hid the scanned layer and made the new layer my main outline layer.

 This is the picture of dry land for my artwork.

 After that, I had coloured the picture using Brush Tool and then used Magic Wand on the exterior region of the tree to erase off the unwanted colour on the artwork by using Eraser Tool.

 Next, I had made a new layer with a lighter colour in order to create shadings later on.

 Subsequently, I had used the Lasso Tool to select the stumps.

 However, certain areas weren't perfect. Thus, I pressed Q to enter into a selective state in which I can use the Brush Tool or the Eraser Tool to to either select more or less of a region.

 Once I have selected those areas, I have used "Layer via Cut" to put those stumps into another layer.

This is the effect of Layering via Cut as the stumps are not bonded to the tree.

 Also, I have played around with the Marquee Tool > Free Transform > Perspective to distort the shape of the tree.

 From Free Transform, I have used Scale to adjust the size of the tree for the artwork.

 After that, I have also continued on to use Marquee Tool > Free Transform > Warp on the stumps to distort their shapes.

 Once I am satisfied with the shape of the tree, I had flipped the tree Horizontally.

I have flipped the tree to ensure that the tree is aligned well with the stumps. 

 Since I have changed the shapes of the tree and the stumps, I have to recolour all over again. Thus, I had smudge 3 tones of colours via 3 different layers. Then, I used Magic Wand on the exterior region of the tree  and pressed Delete to instantaneously remove unwanted mess on all 3 region.

 Since I have split the stump into another layer, the colour on the stump was also removed via Magic Wand + Delete. Thus, I have to manually recolour the stumps and use Magnetic Lasso Tool + Q button + Delete to remove the exterior mess of the stump.

 I have found a picture of a wristwatch from Google Images. I have copied the watches into many layers and distorted them via Elliptical Marque Tool > Free Transform > Warp, Scale, Perspective, Rotate. As you can see, I have drawn a arrow pointing at the top left of the picture to remind me where is  the light source coming from.

 I have Scaled + Rotated one watch and used Colour Dodge.

 It's time to move on to shadings. I have used the Magic Wand on the tree to focus only on the tree. Then, I had used the Eraser Tool at 11% Opacity & 11% Flow. However, I have been erasing and erasing but I did not find a significant change of colour tone. Then, I had increased the Opacity and Flow of the Eraser Tool to 17% then to 22% each.

 Finally some shadings started to appear after a short while of using the Eraser Tool at 22% Opacity and 22% Flow.

 I found out that the center was kind of dull. So, I had created a new layer and drew lines in the circle via Brush Tool.

 I wanted the picture to be more lively. So, I had used Colour Replacement Tool on each watch with different colours.

 Since the tree has no texture, I have decided to use Filter > Texture > Stained Glass on it.

 Then, I moved on to shade my stumps. I first used Eraser Tool (22% Opacity & 22% Flow) > Hard Round on the specific area that needs severe shadings.

 Then, I used Eraser Tool (22% Opacity & 22% Flow) > Soft Round to blend in the shadings so that the difference is not too drastic.

 All the major details were done but I found that the picture was so fake! Then, I have tried Colour Replacement Tool (black) on the land to give shadows but it failed. Thus, I used the Burn Tool on the land instead as I have remembered that Burn Tool makes the area darker.

I still find the picture funny looking. So, I had used the Burn Tool on the watches and certain areas of the tree to create shadows for a more realistic look.

Run, Tree, Run!

I have taken a photo of this artwork via my DSLR.
I have dragged the picture into Photoshop via Drag & Drop.

However, It was very troublesome to clean up the mess because there were too much smudge in the picture.

Thus, after hours of cleaning and cleaning, I have decided to scan the picture at Wisma WN for RM1.00.
However, it was too good as well but it was better than what I have had earlier.
While I was cleaning, I have discovered that I could use Magic Wand + Eraser to help me clean up easier.

Then, I also used Magic Wand + Brush Tool to paint but the picture feels a very fake.

I seek for help my friend thought me layering to create shadows.
I have used two layers of colours for the hand and use the Eraser Tool at 11% Opacity and 11% Flow to give a realistic shadows on the lighter colour. 

While I was cleaning up some mess, I have found out that I could use Lasso Tool + Delete to completely remove a mess without using the Eraser Tool. 

I have used an arrow to point where the source of light is coming from.

Then, I also have learnt to use textures in my layers. I have found a suitable texture for the land and applied it. I used Filter > Texture > Texturizer... I really liked it because it really resembles dry and cracked land.

After that, I have picked a few skies to apply into the artwork. I have dragged and dropped the picture of the skies into Photoshop and placed the sky picture at the bottom of the layers so that it would not overlap the other layers. I have found that the red coloured sky was most suitable for this artwork for dramatic effect.

I have used Filter > Texture > Grain to make the sky match with the other parts of the artwork. 

I have asked for opinions from my friends about my artwork. They told me that the land is too dark and less appealing. Thus, I have created a third light layer of land used the Eraser Tool with 11% Opacity and 11% Flow to create shadows. The shadows are more appealing in this artwork compared to the previous one. 

I also have inserted Drop Shadow to a few layers via Blending Options.