'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.