Series of Artistic Interpretations of a Modern Day Icon

Goal: Turn the commonplace into icons.

Context:

icon - n. -

• One who is the object of great attention and devotion; an idol
• An image, a representation
• An important and enduring symbol
• A representation or a picture of a sacred or sanctified personage

Pop Art - n. - A form of art that depicts celebrities or objects or scenes from everyday life and employs techniques of commercial art and popular illustration.

• Started in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
• Reaction to Abstract Expressionism (by artists such as Jackson Pollock), the non-representational art of the previous decade.
• Marked by a fascination with popular culture.
• Showed admiration for the energy and simplicity of commercial images.
• Commented on the media's growing influence on American life.
• In celebrating everyday objects, the movement turned the commonplace into icons.
• Mocked the established art world by appropriating images from the street, supermarket, & mass media, and presented it as art in itself.
• Transformed objects from popular culture.
• Helped us to see the world around us with fresh eyes - revitalized cliched images.
• Employed techniques of commercial art and popular illustration.
• The leading artists in Pop Art were Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Roy Hamilton, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Claes Oldenburg.

(notes from "Scholastic Art: Roy Lichtenstein: Working with Pop Art", March 1999 and from http://artmovements.co.uk/popart.htm)

Project:
Create a series of four artworks based on a single well-known image of a celebrity or ubiquitous ("existing or being everywhere") product, using the path tools in Photoshop.

• The celebrity may be from popular entertainment, news, sports, or other.
• The artworks will be "built" using paths, layers, saved selections, and any other Photoshop tools and
• techniques in your repertoire.
• Each artwork will be accurate in likeness to the original image in regards to lines and shapes, but your selection
• and creation of new color relationships are where you will prove yourself as an artist.
• Your conscious selection of color should be both aesthetic ("beautiful") and expressive.
• Your take on the original image should make the person or product appear 'larger than life'.
• View examples of student work on the Galleries page of this Web site.

Objectives:

• Gain an understanding of the methods and content of Pop Art,
• Develop skills in accuracy and precision with some of the following tools and techniques of Photoshop:
  • Paths
  • Pen tool
  • Saving/loading selections
• Strengthen your aesthetic concerning the effects of color relationships (Color Theory).
• Develop a more exploratory attitude in your art-making. EXPERIMENT!

PROCESS:

Prep:

1. Experiment with the pen tool, paths, and saving/loading selections.
2. Discuss Pop Art.
3. Read Scholastic Art and Art & Man magazines on Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
4. View paintings by Warhol and Lichtenstein online.
5. Locate 21st Century iconic image - You may digitally photograph it, scan it, or download it.

Begin:
1. Create a new document in Photoshop:

• Resolution: 300 ppi
• Dimensions: at least 7.5 x 10"
• Color mode: RGB

2. Accurately trace image using pen tool and paths.
​3. Stroke and fill the paths
          NOTE: Be sure to use several layers, for easy adjustments later.
4. Review basic color theory: neutral, monochromatic, analogous, complementary/ contrasting, triadic
5. Apply understanding of color theory to a series of images using the previously drawn paths.
6. Experiment with expressiveness through color relationships in the image.
7. Save each image (of series) as: "pop(1, 2, 3, or 4) yourlastname" in PSD, TIF, and JPG formats

View student exemplars here:

Project:

Transform a photograph of an everyday person into a more artificially
"glamorous" one.


Steps:

1. View the Dove commercial entitled "Evolution": https://youtu.be/iYhCn0jf46U

2. Select a straight-on close-up photograph of Mr. Ratkevich, or one of your parents, or one of your teachers Ask their permission of course, and take the photo yourself (head/neck/shoulders, minimal background, looking directly at the camera). 

3. Make the person look younger and more "glamorous" (while still looking like that person) -- younger, smoother complexion, brighter eyes, no wrinkles, sharper-featured, more “streamlined.’


Some Suggested Tools:

• Paintbrush
• Healing Brush and Spot Healing Brush
• Clone Stamp
• Edit - Transform
• Blur
• Image - Adjustments - Hue/Saturation
• Image - Adjustments - Color Balance

​
Grading Criteria:

• Technical Proficiency
• Success in making photo more youthful, more glamorous
• Studio Habits of Mind

Due: 
One week

Project Description:
Using your mouse and/or a drawing tablet and stylus, draw and paint an expressive self-portrait from a digital photo that you have a friend take of you. The photo should have a dark background and a single light source directed towards the side of your face.

Objectives:

• Gain experience with the drawing tablet and stylus.
• Create a feeling of natural drawing using digital tools.
• Use line expressively.
• Create mood through color.
• Create the appearance of three-dimensional form via the technique of chiaroscuro.

Tools/Materials:
Adobe Photoshop

Parameters:
Format as follows:

• Width: 7.5 inches
• Height: 10 inches
• Resolution: 300 pixels/inch (Important: A lower resolution will result in a printed image of poorer quality.)
• Color Mode: RGB

Process:

1. Create a new document using the format above.

2. With partner(s) to help you manipulate the lighting and take the photograph, arrange photographs of yourself with a dark background and a single light source. Take a series of photographs.

3. Upload the photos into the Photos app of your computer

4. Open your best photograph in Photoshop.

5. Copy and paste the photograph into the new document (from step 1).

6. Lock the photograph layer.

7. Create a new layer above the photograph layer.

8. Using your mouse or a drawing tablet and stylus, trace the essential parts of the photo. Use line expressively.

9. Using different layers, differentiate the light, middle, and dark tones on the head, neck, and torso. Paint the shadows on one layer, the middle tones on a second layer, the lights on a third, and highlights and details on a fourth layer.


Grading Criteria:

• Proper formatting
• Skill with mouse and/or the tablet and stylus as drawing tools: Quality/naturalness of line.
• Expressiveness of line
• Expressiveness of color and style
• Three-dimensionality of the form via use of chiaroscuro
• Studio Habits of Mind

Tip to Get Started:
Study the work of Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt.


Helpful Resources:

• There are a number of books on painted portraits in the art room.
• More information on chiaroscuro can be found at Empty Easel: Chiaroscuro

Self Critique Questions:
Before turning in your work, ask yourself:

1. Is my artwork sufficiently expressive? What have I done to create that expressive quality (color, style, quality of line, facial expression, body language?)
2. Have I mastered the use of the drawing tablet? Does my mark-making look natural?
3. Does the image have enough visual impact? Will it catch and hold a viewer's attention?
4. Have I created a sense of three-dimensional form/volume by using light, middle, and dark tonal values (chiaroscuro)?

Due:
Three days

Project Description:
Using the Type Tools and Layer Styles of Adobe Photoshop or Photopea, create two treatments of a type-based graphic for a band that can be used for a CD cover, a T-shirt, or a button. It should include the band’s name and an album title, and the style and color should be appropriately expressive. THIS IS NOT AN ALBUM COVER, JUST THE GRAPHIC.

Alternatively, you may create the title-art graphic for a video game. This should include a title and subtitle.

The graphic must:

• Be self-contained -- The graphic itself is a beautiful shape
• Combine type plus shapes
• Alter the type - Not just downloaded and dropped in
• Look three-dimensional - Imply depth
• Use Layer Styles in Photoshop
• ​Have texture (Use the Texturizer in the Filter Gallery)
• Be 300 pixels/inch at printable size

Objectives:

• Experiment with the type tools (horizontal type tool, vertical type tool, type mask tool)
• Experiment with the shape tool
• Experiment with layer styles
• Experiment with filters.
• Rasterize and transform type
• Use all of the above to create heightened visual impact.

Materials:

• Adobe Photoshop (You may begin your work in Illustrator, but elements will need to be modified and refined in Photoshop)

Parameters:
Format as follows:

• Width: 10 inches
• Height: 7.5 inches
• Resolution: 300 pixels/inch (Important: A lower resolution will result in a printed image of poorer quality.)
• Color Mode: RGB
• If you would like to work beyond these limitations (for example: work larger than letter-size) consult Mr. Ratkevich.
• Don't just download special fonts. Convert fonts to outlines, then modify them to make them distinctive and unique.
• Include other design elements (shapes, outlines, textures, layer styles)

 



Grading Criteria:

• Work Habits
• Skill with all the tools and methods listed above (type tools, layer styles, rasterize, transform)
• Experimentation / Exploration
• Design / Visual Impact

Due:
One week.


Project Description:
Using the clone stamp tool, paintbrushes, fills, and the multiply mode, restore an old, distressed photo to new life by removing the scars and blemishes and adding full color.


Objectives:

• Increase skills with Image Adjustments
• Improve tonal values and contrast in a photograph
• Increase skill with the clone stamp tool.
• Use the healing brush tools to fix problematic areas in a photograph
• Use the multiply mode to allow for rich, vibrant color in a black and white photograph.
• Create photorealistic color relationships.
  
  

Materials:
Adobe Photoshop and/or Photopea


Format:

• At least 7 1/2 inches x 10 inches
• Resolution: Scan at 600 pixels/inch so that the artwork will eventually be 300 ppi (Important: A lower resolution will result in a printed image of poorer quality.)
• Color Mode: RGB
• If you would like to work beyond these limitations (for example: work larger than letter-size, or in a square shape) consult Mr. Ratkevich.

Steps:

1. Bring in a distressed (frayed, torn, bleached, stained, creased, faded, etc.) photo.
2. Scan, using the following settings
3.           Output Type: Millions of Colors (24 bit)
4.           Resolution: 600 dpi
5. Open the file of the scanned image in Photoshop.
6. Adjust the contrast and brightness of the image in Image - Adjustment - Levels.
7. Use the clone stamp, the spot healing brush, and the healing brush to remove dust, scratches and other marks.
8. Change the mode of the photo layer to Multiply.
9. Create a new layer under the photo layer.
10. Paint light, vibrant colors under the photo layer.

Tips:

• Scan at 600 pixels per inch or higher
• Duplicate the layer containing the original photo, so that you always have the original scan.
• The top photo layer must be set on MULTIPLY mode, at 100% opacity
• The color layers should be below that, at 100% opacity
• ALWAYS use only light, bright colors to paint (from the top left corner of the Color Picker)

Grading Criteria:

• Level of ambition in selection of photograph (How damaged is it?)
• Degree/quality of "fix" - improved values, improved contrast, removal of all unwanted marks
• Quality of painting
• Visual impact of color

Due:
One week

Project Description:
Combine digital photographs of friends, animals, and natural objects into a “grotesque”

Objectives:

• Use the Liquify tool in Adobe Photoshop
• Master blending and layering using tools/techniques such as: color modes (multiply, etc.), opacity, soft-edged brushes and erasers
• Use exaggeration and odd combinations to add visual impact to an artwork

Materials:
Adobe Photoshop

Parameters:
Format as follows:

• Width: 7.5 inches (at least)
• Height: 10 inches (at least)
• Resolution: 300 pixels/inch
• Color Mode: RGB

Steps:

1. Create a New (Letter-sized) Document , using the format above.
2. Save it as "Morph yourlastname.psd"
3. Take a series of digital photographs of friend(s), animals at home and/or in the Science Center, and other objects as needed.
4. Open the photos in Photoshop.
5. Copy and paste the first photo into your new Morph document and resize it to fill the picture plane.
6. Combine photos with smooth, blending transitions. To do this, on one of your other photos, using the Lasso tool to select around a face, feature, or part; then Feather the selection by going to Select ( in the menu bar at top of screen) - Modify - Feather, and changing the number to 15, 20, or 30; then Copy your selection. You will see that when you Paste the selection onto the other photo, the feathering will make a soft/cloudy edge that smoothly transitions the combined photos.
7. To help align one face with another, you can reduce the Opacity of the upper layer (in the Layers palette in the bottom right corner) so that it becomes slightly more transparent, then use the Move tool (arrowheads at top of Tools palette) to shift one photo over another.
8. You can erase parts of photos using a softer edge. To do this, go the the options palette of the brush or eraser (the horizontal bar near the top of your screen) and change reduce the Hardness of the brush/eraser while increasing the Size.
9. When you paint, to make the colors more transparent (For example, when adding something like eye shadow), reduce the Opacity of the layer in the Layers Palette, OR reduce the Opacity of the Brush using the options menu for the brush (horizontal bar near top of screen). You must first select the Brush tool in the Tool Box before you can see these options. You can also change the Color Mode (in either Layers or Brush Options) from Normal to something else (such as Multiply). Experiment to see what works best.
   
10. To transform a selection or layer, click that layer in the Layers palette, then use Edit - Free Transform to rotate or resize the selections. Double click within the selection when you're happy with the changes.
11. Use Filter - Liquify to push, pucker, and bloat parts of the image to exaggerate the features and/or to make the the layers better fit one another.
12. Add additional textures by layering additional textured photos over the head photos.

     (Be sure to include a background/environment.)

Grading Criteria:​

• Inventiveness
• Cleanliness of selections / Convincing combination of objects (A viewer cannot tell that they've been combined from separate photos.)
• Smooth transitions between one object and another
• Design (Visual impact)
• Work habits

Tips to Get Started:

• Take photos using good natural light (i.e. go near a window, or even outside.).
• Turn off the flash of the camera.
• Take the photos close up, with a minimum of empty space above the head.
• Take photos from the same angle on all your subjects (For example, if you take it straight on for one friend, take it that way for all other subjects.).

Due:
Three (remote class) days

Project Description:
Using related objects, create a fantasy "portrait" in the style of Arcimboldo.

Objectives:

• Gain experience with the basic selection tools and techniques of Adobe Photoshop (and Photopea).
• Draw clean selections to cut and paste parts from various sources into a seamless whole.
• Create convincing, but odd, juxtapositions to add visual impact to an artwork.

Materials:
Adobe Photoshop or Photopea

Parameters:

• Format as follows:
• Width: 7.5 inches
• Height: 10 inches
• Resolution: 150 pixels/inch (300 would be better, but may lag on some devices)
• Color Mode: RGB

If you would like to work beyond these limitations (for example: work larger than letter-size, or in a square shape) consult Mr. Ratkevich.

Steps (Process):

1. Take photos around your home of items related by theme.
2. Upload the photos to your computer or iPad
   
3. Create a new document using the format above.
4. Make clean selections, then copy and paste into the new document.

(Be sure to include a background/environment.)

Grading Criteria:

• Inventiveness
• Cleanliness of selections / Convincing combination of objects (A viewer cannot tell that they've been cut and pasted.)
• Design (Visual impact)

Artistic Expression and Creativity Rubric

Tips to Get Started:

• Think about a theme. Take photos of items related to that theme.
• Think about the direction of light on the objects. It should be consistent for all objects (That is, if the light is coming from the left on one object, you should arrange that for the other objects as well.

Helpful Resources:
View the works of Arcimboldo.
They can be found at this site:
http://www.giuseppe-arcimboldo.org/

Self Critique Questions:
Before turning in your work, ask yourself:

• Is my idea unique enough? Does it have personality?
• Have I selected and pasted the items in such a way that a viewer cannot tell they have been patched together?
• Does the image have enough visual impact? Will it catch and hold a viewer's attention?

Time Frame:
3 (in-school) days

Project:
Create a photographic collage illustrating a myth or fairy tale.

Medium:
Photoshop or Photopea

• Selection Tools (Lasso, Magic Wand)
• Eraser
• Edit Menu
  • Cut, Copy, Paste
  • Transform

Objectives:

• Develop skill with the selection, cutting and pasting techniques of Adobe Photoshop.
• Tell a story visually
• Arrange elements to maximize visual impact

Parameters

• At least letter size (8.5 x 11 inches)
• At least ten different pasted photographs

Tips:
Start with the largest image you can find of the type of environment you want to use. Make that the background layer of your file.

Grading Criteria:

• Concept
• Design
• Technical Quality -- how convincingly have you integrated different photographs?
• Personal Investment

Artistic Expression and Creativity Rubric