GDES

120

Professor
Golden

Quang Tran
Jeff Golden
September 15, 2015
GDES 120

The First Stages of GDES: Project #1

Strategies for working on project #1:
Answer, in your own words, what is an irrational being? (Use what
we discussed in
class as well as the Project #1 Requirement Sheet for more
information).
In my mindset, an irrational being is basically something which is
out of the ordinary or something thats unexpected and totally out
of proportion with no real rhyme or reason found or used.

Once you have a definition, begin to visualize, in your head, what

such a creature might look like. Below, create a list of possible
creatures: (for example, half fish half bird or half robot half human).
Look to the Project #1 Idea Folder for visual examples.
YOU ARE CREATING NEW CREATURES, NOT USING MYTHOLOGICAL
CREATURES OR ONES YOU HAVE SEEN IN FILM ETC.
1. Human/Animalistic Cyborg
2. Violectra Man
3. Water Leprechaun Guppy
With one of the creatures you have listed in mind, think of a
landscape where that creature would either be completely out of place
or where they would fit in nicely.
Consider working with humor and being wholly absurd or take a more
practical approach. Consider what type of world, for example, a fish
with wings would need to live in.

GDES
Professor
120 List with specific details what type of world or landscape
Goldenyour
creature would exist in:

If I was creating and working with an atmosphere specifically for a

water Leprechaun guppy, the wildest place for my creature would
have to be none other than a custom sea, which I call Sea Irish. Sea
Irish is a Coral Sea bed deep within the Irish Sea in the UK. Itll be
like a large or small underwater leprechaun village with actual
leprechaun guppies like my creature Ill be creating and also with
pot of gold coral beds to be found among rainbows created in the
water where the leprechaun guppies can hide in should a larger
creature be seen or heard trespassing onto their land. Itll be seen
bigger when in a photo but in reality, it can be so small you would
need to have a magnifying glass to see them instead of the naked
eye alone.

Our next step is to find HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGERY that will

allow us to create the world and creatures in our heads. YOU WILL
NOT FIND THE PERFECT IMAGE ONLINE. Project #1 is about making that
image. You will find the pieces to create that perfect image online.
For example, if I want to create a fish with wings, I would need to find at
least one image of a pair of wings and one image of a fish. You will more
than likely need at least five images to work with.
List the types of images you will search for:
1. Ocean
2. Leprechaun
3. Guppy
4. Pot of Gold
5. Leaf Clovers

Before you go any further, stop and answer the first question on your
Project Critique Form, which is:
Describe, in complete sentences, what your project is about. (What
you are defining here is your intent; the idea(s) you would like to
convey to your audience).

GDES
Professor
120Do you intend to tell a story? Do you intend to be humorous?
Golden
What is your intent? Write your intent for the first project below:

My intent was not to tell a story with my project but mainly to create a simple art piece
that gives me a sense of peace and personal closure, a kind of landscape that comes out of the
corner of my imagination. Its not meant to be a humorous piece to make everyone laugh but
more of a classical art piece with new objects but in somewhat familiar settings on an
imaginary scale. Itll be a simple little scene of what I call: a landscape of imagination and
heart and nothing extravagant as Im starting out in digital art, specifically the world of
graphic designs.

The remainder of the strategy sheet outlines the steps to take

to complete the project. We will walk through these
steps together in class.
With your high resolution imagery selected and saved to your desktop,
bring that same imagery into one blank Photoshop document. Use the
File>Place Embedded command to bring all of your found imagery into a
Photoshop document. Hit enter on your keyboard or Okay on the option
bar as you bring in the imagery one at a time.
The next step after rasterizing each one of your newly imported layers is to
place them, according to your visualization of how you want your image to
look, in a set-up that follows your train of thought. For example, organize
your layers so that you can easily see how your imagery will work together
when you begin to work with selections, masks and transformations.
Start by making your being. You are creating something new, not
something that already exists (i.e. a mythological creature). Use either
masks or the selection tools to isolate the parts of your imported imagery
that you want to use.
Your selections/masks should be crafted with care.
With the imagery now successfully isolated, begin to put together your
creature. As you work to bring your imagery together remember your
transform options to change the shape (sculpt or re-orient and image) so
that they fit in a more seamless way. To get to your transform options go to
Edit>Transform. Warp will allow you re-shape an image, distort and
perspective will allow you re-orient your images bounding box
Using the same techniques as early begin to piece together an
environment that fits with your idea outlined in first question of the project
critique form.
This project requires at least 6-8 hours of solid work. It is very easy to see
which projects were made in haste and which ones were crafted with care.
Do your best to create the image you have in your head.