Contact Sheet - Vertical and Horizontal

'The Invisible'

Michaela Niesen, ‘The Invisible’, Photoshop Montage, February 20^th, 2015

Technical

When creating this piece, I used different elements in Photoshop to bring it together and make it flow. I used cut and paste, to bring all of the pictures together. I used the quick selection and lasso tool to select wanted parts of an image, and I used the feathering tool top give the image a softer, less pixelated look. I used adjustments like Hue/Saturation, Colour Balance and levels to bring all of my images to the same shade and colour scheme. I also downloaded and used available brushes to help tie things together, and fill in any empty space. I did also use dodging and burning to darken shadows and whiten highlights.

Idea or Concept

When creating this montage, my idea of the supernatural having a voice did affect the production process of the piece. I was stuck on how I was going to present my ideas through images that have deeper meaning, and images that require people to think. As I started putting pieces together, my idea developed, and helped me think of ways that the supernatural may try to contact us, through things such as spirit boards, and mediums.

Influence

There were no artists that really inspired me to make this piece. I came up with the entire thing without any inspiration other than my own.

Composition

When creating this piece, I used symmetrical techniques to help balance out the images, so it’s not to content heavy on one side compared to the other. For example I have the ghost in one side, and a girl on the opposite side to even out the piece. To keep the image flowing, I put images in a circular motion to keep the eye moving around the piece, so you don’t get caught up in one image. I also made the images large and small, dark and light, to help keep the eye moving. It keeps interest in the piece, so the viewer doesn’t look at one corner and get bored of it. These concepts work together as a whole to keep the piece interesting, and not bore the viewer after looking at it once, and helping them think deeper than just what the immediately see.

Motivation

When creating this montage, I felt that people should understand that the deceased have a voice, even though these voices and ‘ghosts’ are invisible, we still have the ability to communicate with them. Through this piece I wanted to show that we can contact the dead, and that they do have a voice, even though to us they are ‘The Invisible’. I want people to stop stereotyping spirits into thinking they are all Satan; that they are all evil, because I believe that good spirits live on, and they can contact loved ones, and any other people that they left behind. I feel that the dead have a voice and they are willing to contact us.

Critical Assessment

I feel the most interesting and most successful parts of my piece is the picture of the ghost, its sound waves, and the girl looking through the plancette are the most successful because they flow, and they focus the most on my idea or concept of the piece. I feel like the way the piece came together, and how it flowed surprised me, on how it all tied together. I like how it didn’t just cut off, and get your eye stuck on one image. With additional time, I would have added more darks, and smaller images, to make the piece more dramatic, and have more depth. 

The Invisible - Brainstorming and Paragraphs

Assignment #1 “The Invisible”

What do I think of when I hear the invisible?

●     I think of ghosts, spooking things, demons and the paranormal

●     I think of sound, light waves, and science things

●     People who are under prejudice of the government and from other people

●     The environment, and the effects of pollution on the environment/world

●     Feelings, souls, and emotions

●     Children that are bullied and mistreated

●     Families in poverty

●     People who have been trafficked in the world

●     Children that sit alone at school, at lunch, have no friends, etc

●     God, Faith, and religions

                For this first assignment, in “I Want to Believe or The Invisible”, I chose the Invisible category. For my piece, I would like to get the viewer to understand everyone’s blindness to the pollution of the environment, and the side effects of us continuing to pollute. It is about time everyone woke up and worked as a group against the pollution. Being aware of its bad effects has to be more than enough to work on pollution reduction. No matter what the governments do, the main action should come from people. I want my art piece to reach out to the viewer, and make them understand what is going to happen to the environment if we continue to do the same harmful actions. I want people to understand how we are taking our world for granted, and we need to take more careful actions, and respect the world that is given to us.

                In my art piece, I would like it to act as a ‘wakeup call’ to the viewer. I want the piece to get the viewer to understand the effects of pollution by using emotional and upsetting images. By triggering deep emotions, it can make the viewer connect more to the piece, and help them think more deeply about the art. I want the viewer to feel like they are almost committing a crime by polluting. I want them to remember the images that are put into my art, and understand what happens, and what will happen in the future if the pollution continues. I want them to be emotional by looking at the piece, and think about the harm they are doing to the environment, the animals, and potentially themselves and their future, every time they decide to make a harmful decision.

                This idea and art piece is appealing to me because it is something I feel deeply about, and I worry about the environment, the things effected directly by pollution specifically, and the things that are helpless to stop it from happening. Things like nature and animals are powerless to stop our mistakes, and we need to realize the true effects of our mistreatment. It is appealing to me because I want people to understand what we are truly doing to the environment, and I want them to think about the things that we are harming, and what will happen in the future if we continue to do so. I want people to feel as vulnerable as the animals and nature that are receiving the side effects of our mistakes. If people felt the same way as the victims of our mistreatment, people may think twice before they decide to pollute our environment.

                

Duotone

Colour Balance

Blending Layers and Erasers

Scene/Brushes Assignment