Finally! A brick rose!

For this lab, I learned a few skills that let me take pictures from a foreground image and apply them to different backgrounds. I also learned how to use shapes from other layers to form easy pattern designs out of background images. Here, the magnetic lasso tool was used on the above rose, and the pen tool was used on the above banana.

I thought the easiest part of this lab was using the magnetic lasso tool to cut out the rose. I’ve done something similar earlier in the semester in DMA201, so using what I had learned wasn’t very difficult.

The most challenging part of this lab was having the patience to work with the pen tool. It took me a few tries to find the right pen tool so I could use it how I wanted to. In the end, I think it worked nicely.

I think that I can improve the rose. Part of masking the rose out of the original selection based itself on removing the alpha value of some of the petals, and that doesn’t satisfy me very much in terms of appearance.

I think that the directions for the Background Eraser were a little ambiguous. Perhaps it’s my version of Photoshop or it’s a different feature, but I found it a little confusing that setting a protected color didn’t have much use, as the first color the eraser is introduced to will start becoming erased. I had to actively start erasing the background itself for it to work properly.

If I’m ever introduced to an image with foreground elements that I want to isolate, I can be sure to use these tools to apply them to different backgrounds and expose backgrounds to patterns. I suppose I’ll have use for it soon as my digital art and influence develops.

Although the construction of the card is relatively easy, I soon learned that the separation of the front of the card and the back of the card in separate artboards would prove to be difficult, as it’s somewhat unclear as to what needed to be done for both artboards to show up in the final pdf. I understand, now, that the image above is supposed to reflect the outside of the card, when I was planning on having it reflect the inside, but it’s still just a minor fix. As far as I was concerned, the reading didn’t help me much with fixing this issue, but I learned enough from what it was communicating in terms of creating such works.