Evaluation

I think the whole process went pretty well for me. I used my time pretty well, as I came to lessons on time and went pretty much straight to work once I was in class. In class I didn’t really talk much or stuff around with things that I didn’t need to, so I was fairly productive with the time I had and used.

I managed my blog alright. At the start of the project I kept it up to date really well, but near the end all I wanted to do was keep working on my avatars on Photoshop, instead of blogging. This meant that I also did not do much blogging for homework as I worked on my avatar at home on my trial version of Photoshop that I downloaded. I kept telling myself that I still had ages until my assignment was due and that I had already done most of it, which was clearly not the case as I still had to do my personality profile, reflection and evaluation. I was however, quite good at keeping my drafts and posting them.

I think I had a good saving method. I saved each draft for each image as a JPEG under the name of ‘draft 1’, ‘draft 2’, etc. I also saved a copy of my Photoshop file for each image to my USB and created a backup copy of this at least once a week.

I am quite pleased with my final result. This is because I think that my avatar’s look pretty similar, which is good because they are the same person. Also, the colour scheme is quite good, and the picture looks sort of normal and like it could be real – not like some cartoon image. Furthermore, I think that the backgrounds go well with the expression on my avatar’s face and that the images relate to the personality profile that I created. The only thing is that the eyebrows are a little bit dodgy and needed a bit more time put into them, but this can only really be seen when looked at up close.

If I had my time over, I would make sure that the strap from my top does not show. I would make the hair or something cover it. I would probably use two different people to start with instead of the same person. This is because the changes you make don’t have to be exactly the same, for example, the hair style, skin and eye colour, etc. I would also save separate Photoshop files for each draft, like I did for the JPEG images, and would ensure that I backup my USB after every lesson. This is because sometimes I would have two or three lesson’s work on just my USB - and I got a lot of work done in two or three lessons – so if I had lost my USB or if it had broken, I would have had no backups and would have been ‘stuffed’. If I had my time over again, I would use a slightly smaller image to start with (one around 6 – 8 megapixels instead of 12) as they will save a lot quicker than the 12 megapixel images in Photoshop, giving me more time to work on my avatar and blog. I also would work on my blog more and not give in to the temptation of working on my avatar instead. I also would not leave my personality profile, reflection and evaluation until the day before the assignment is due!

Reflection

There were a lot of things that worked for me and went really well in this project. These included layers and masking, as they were super easy to use and were very effective. Also, the process of changing colours worked really well for me. Even though most things worked really well for me, there were a few things that gave me some trouble. For example I found it very hard to find a suitable background and hair piece that had a high enough resolution to not pixelate when placed on the image of my avatar. This meant that I had a very narrow range of images to choose from for my backgrounds.

I changed a few things along the way, but not too many. First of all, I changed the lip colour. It was originally going to be a colour similar to that of the skin, but I wanted a colour that had a higher contrast, so I went for a colour that was more bluey. I also did not end up adding in scars, or changing the ears and eyebrows. This is because they did not quite look right on the whole image and made the image look way too busy. I decided that the image looked a great deal better without these changes and that they did not match my avatar’s personality profile.

I learnt many things by doing this project. I learnt how to use layers, mask, desaturate, apple U, the opacity slider, free transform, and the marquee selection tool. I used each of these by doing the following. For the colour change in each feature or the addition of the hair and background I made a new layer and labelled it appropriately. I sometimes duplicated this layer. In the case of the hair and background, I pulled the opacity slider down so it was fairly see through and used ‘apple T’ or free transform to get them the right size on my avatar. For most of the layers, I then applied a mask and rubbed out all but what I wanted with the opacity slider down. I then used desaturate, and ‘apple U’ to change the colour of whatever I was changing to one that I liked. To change the colour of the eyes, I used the elliptical marquee selection tool, used desaturate and ‘apple U’ again and then rubbed out the middle of the eye – where the pupil is – and softened the edges using a mask.

I really like using Photoshop and learning about all the cool things you can do with the program while doing this project. I also liked and really enjoyed creating my avatar on Photoshop.

I dislike using and keeping the blogs, but realise it is a necessary part of the process. I dislike them because I find that the work we do on them is kind of boring, and that all I really wanted to do was the practical stuff on Photoshop, not the theory. I was frustrated by the speed of which my Photoshop images opened and saved on Photoshop, as it was really, really slow. I think this was because my original image was so big as I took it on a 12 megapixel camera.

My preferred learning style is to do a little bit of group discussion to get some ideas, and then work independently for most of the lesson. I prefer to have group demonstrations on the smart board and to take notes from these by myself. I also like a combination of visual and aural teaching, as I learn best this way. I like to take a few notes while we work on projects and to learn as I go on a basis of trial and error, as this helps me remember things better. I also like learning by doing lots of practice.

In this project, I took a few notes and brainstormed a bit at the start and then leapt straight into the creating part of the assignment, experimenting a bit with everything. I listened to the group demonstrations and applied what I had learnt from these to what I was creating, sometimes taking notes in the process. If I then did not know something, I would try to figure it out by myself, but would then ask for help if this did not work.

final images....

- surprised -

- sad -

These are copies of the final avatar images that I submitted.
The changes I made to both of my images are exactly the same, with the exception of the background and eye colour - which was made darker for the sad expression because the colour of my avatar's eyes go darker when she is sad.
I chose to have light purple coloured skin and hair because my avatar lives in a hot climate, so these features need to be light coloured to reflect some of the heat so she does not get too hot. The colour is also a purple because the forest in which she lives in is purple, so she is able to camouflage and hide in it.
She has lips that are a bluish-purple colour because this is the colour of the berries she eats. The berries have stained her lips because she eats this type of fruit the most and has eaten them ever since she was a young child.
My avatar's eyes are a yellowish-green, similar to the colour of a cats'. This is because she is mainly active at night, so therefore has very good night vision.
My avatar has scaly skin, similar to that of a reptile's. She has this because she needs it to grip the floor in the forest, retain moisture as the climate she lives in is quite dry, and absorb the heat needed for night-time activity as she is cold-blooded. Also, the scaly skin is quite tough and strong so that it won't tear when she is running through the forest. Her long strong hair also helps protect her from the forest when she is running through it.
I chose to have two different backgrounds - one for each expression. I chose to have a burning forest in the background of the image with my avatar being surprised. This is because she loves her home, the forest and is shocked to see it being burnt down. I chose to have a destroyed forest in the background of the image with my avatar being sad because when her forest is harmed or destroyed, she becomes very sad and upset because she loves it so much.

Personality Profile

My avatar is quite calm and easy going. She is generally happy, and always takes care of other species in her race, rarely fighting with them. My avatar and her race are quite primitive and love their home, which is a forest that is a purple colour with thick undergrowth and a slippery floor. She becomes very surprised and upset when her forest is being harmed or destroyed. My avatar is mainly active at night, and therefore has excellent night vision. She eats only fruits, from which she obtains all of her nutrients, although she mainly eats berries that are a bluish-purple colour. My avatar loves playing games that require running through the forest and climbing the growth. She lives in a very hot climate and has light coloured skin and hair that reflects some of the heat. My avatar and her race are cold blooded, so rely on heat from their sun to survive.

original images...

-surprised-

-sad-

I was reading through the task sheet for this assignment and realised that it said to put on the original photos that we used to create our avatar - so here they are! The top one is the photo I used for the surprised image of my avatar and the bottom one is the photo I used for the sad image of my avatar.

Surprised - third draft

I thought that I had finished the image of my surprised avatar, but after finishing my sad avatar I realised that I had to put a background (other than my room!) in that would relate to the expression on my avatar's face. I chose to do a burning forest because this is something that would shock my avatar. I used the same techniques to put this background in that I did to put the background in my sad avatar's image. I really like this background because it creates a nice colour contrast between my avatar and the forest.

Sad - third draft

This is the final copy of my avatar. I added in a background by putting the picture of the background on a new layer. I then duplicated the layer and added a mask so that I could change the main colour of the vegetation in the background to purple, which I did by using desaturate and apple u. I chose to use a trampled/wrecked forest because this is one of the things that makes my avatar really sad and upset.

Sad - second draft

This is the second draft of my sad avatar. All I have left to do now is add in the background, which I am still unsure about what to use for it. I really like the colour scheme I have chosen and like the eye colour especially. The eyes on this sad avatar are darker in colour than the eyes on my surprised avatar, this was not done purposely but works well because your eye colour sometimes changes a little with different emotions. I used the same techniques again for this avatar as I did for my surprised avatar.

Sad - first draft

I used the same techniques that I used to create my surprised avatar to create this first draft of my sad avatar. This is only the first draft, so I still need to add a lot to it. I need to change the colour of the eyes, the colour of my skin and lips and add a background. So far, I think my avatar looks quite good, and similar to my other avatar, which is good because I am using the same character for my avatar. I think I just need to tidy up the edges of the outline of the whole avatar before I add the other elements, especially the background.

Surprised - second draft

This is my second and probably final draft of my avatar with the surprised expression. I really love the colour of the eyes. They stand out a lot and really add to the surprised look of my avatars face. I changed the colour of them by using the elliptical marquee tool and then desaturate and apple u. I also like the snake skin overlay, which was done by using layers, masks and a soft light overlay. I changed the colour of the lips and tongue also by using a mask, desaturate and apple u.

I had a play around with changing the size of different features and distorting them using the liquify tool, but found that the changes I made just didn't look right, and that the image looked so much better the way it is now.

Next lesson - sad expression! :)

Surprised - first draft

Above is the work in progress of my avatar with the 'surprised' expression. To get this far I have put someone else's hair on my head using layers and masks. I also used these techniques along with desaturate, and apple u to change the colour of my avatar's skin, hair and eyebrows.

I quite like the way this image looks. I really like the colour of the hair and skin and the way the hair sits on my avatar's head. I will continue to add to this image to make an even better avatar.

hair

http://www.scavengeinc.com/images/smiffys/cher-wig-blonde.jpg

I have been trying to find suitable hair for my avatar. I really like the one above and think I will use this on my avatar. I think this hair style will look good because it is long and straight and being blonde, it will be easy to change colour.

more research and thoughts.....

http://www.psd-tutorials.com/photoshop-tutorial.php?name=8&title=Realistic-Scars

http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/11167.jpg

I am thinking of using elf-like ears like the ones above. I quite like the point in the ears, but I would like to make them a bit bigger and wider. I am also thinking of using scars like the ones above. I will not just copy and paste these onto my avatar, instead I will create them myself, as the site from where I got the picture from is actually a Photoshop tutorial site which tells you how to create them. I hope to give this a go in an upcoming lesson.

learning & thinking

Today i learnt how to use a few more tools in PhotoShop. I learnt how to use the liquify tool and the inverse tool. To use the inverse tool you must click select, inverse and then press delete. This is really handy because it deletes everything but what you selected. To use the liquify tool, you must click filter then liquify. This tool is really good because you can easily transform things.

http://grazia.ninemsn.com.au/blog.aspx?blogentryid=258137&showcomments=true

http://pictopia.com/perl/ptp/artwall/?ptp_photo_id=140821

I have decided to make my avatar race of people quite primitive. I am currently thinking of having eyes similar to the cat's above but make them bigger than normal, and having large ears. I am also thinking of using snake skin, quite light coloured skin and big, thick, bushy eyebrows like the ones on the picture above as well as putting scars on its face and making the colour of the skin go darker when my avatar is angry.