Playing Around

Tonight I played around a bit with photoshop. I got an image of Emma Watson (off google) with a white background a played around with it in photoshop. I started off following a tutorial. I deleted the white background and put in some dark clouds instead (image found on google). I then used the dodge tool set on highlights and with an exposure of 15%. I used the dodge tool on her eyes to brighten them up. Once I'd done this, I made a new adjustment layer and I made Emma Watson look darker. The tutorial got pretty hard after this, so I decided to stop and just see what I had, which I think looks pretty cool. I'm going to play around with a few other tutorials in the next few days and do some easier ones.

The tutorial I was trying can be found here: http://csscreme.com/tutorials/photoshop-tutorials/cinematic_poster_photoshop_tutorial

Experimenting

Today in class, I experimented with a few photoshop tutorials that I found. The website can be found here: http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/40-cool-abstract-and-background-photoshop-tutorials/

This website is very helpful with making some cool backgrounds for my Avatar. In class, I experimented with two of them that I though I might be able to use on my avatar. The first one looks sort of like water and I think I might use that one fore the background of my second avatar. The purple swirl was a fun one to make and it looks very cool. I followed the tutorial for this and created the purple one. But as my character is a water elemental, I decided that if I was going to use it, I had to change the colour of it, so I changed the colour to blue in photoshop. I did this by opening the purple version in photoshop, then creating a new layer which I painted blue. I then used blending modes to create the blue effect. I believe this turned out well, though I don't know if I'll be using it on my avatar. I am also experimenting with a few tutorials at the moment that are teaching me how to create bubbles from scratch in photoshop. The one I have found is very helpful so far. I will post the completed result of my bubbles when I have finished.

My Avatar 5

In todays lesson, I continued work on colouring the face of my avatar. I worked on colouring her face today. I kept experimenting with different colours that I thought would go well on her face. I ended up choosing this blue colour and using blending modes to blend the colour in with her face. I coloured the face on a new layer and then turned the opacity down and added a layer mask, which I then used to rub out all the blue I did not need in the picture. Today I also spent some time on flickr, trying to find a good texture to use on my face. I am still yet to find one, I have decided that I am going to use a photoshop tutorial to make my own bubbles, that I may use to put on her face. I also spent some time experimenting with a few tutorials to get the hang of it.

My Avatar 4

In todays class, I finished off the hair of my character and moved onto the face. I have been experimenting with colours that will go well on her face and I have been trying to find one that I am happy with. At the moment, I have this colour on her face which I am currently trying to rub out and blend into her face, I am quite happy with this colour so far. I experimented with colours for half of the lesson, and for the other half, I was on flickr. On flickr, I searched for photos of textures that I could put on her face and that could be blended in well. So far, I have not found one that I am happy with, but I am getting there. I am very happy with my avatar so far, and next lesson, I am planning on completing the colour of her face and adding a texture onto her face, and I am also planning to start trying to get rid of the school uniform.

My Avatar 3

Today in class, I continued working on the hair, which again, took most of the lesson. I continued to rub out the bits of blue that are not needed there and I had to add in a lot of bits as well, I had to zoom in very close to get the thin strands of hair painted in. Whilst I was doing this, I turned the opacity right back up and blended the colour in with a blending mode, which turned out to be hue. I really liked the colour this made, as it was a very nice blue and it suited my character very well. Once I had blended the colour, I went back to trying to rub out and add in the hair. Whilst I was doing this, I also began to think about how I am going to get rid of the school uniform and what texture I am going to put on her face.

My Avatar 2

Today in class, I started changing the colour of the tips of Georgina's hair. In my character profile, I stated that her hair colour changes with her mood, but as she is happy in this particular image, her hair colour will stay blue at the tips. At the moment I am trying to colour the tips of her hair. I created a new layer and painted a blue colour over her hair and turned the opacity down and added a mask so I could start getting rid of all the blue parts that I don't need. This is taking awhile. I need to zoom in a lot to get rid of tiny parts of blue that I don't need on there. I will continue working on this next lesson. I have also been putting all my layers into folders, as I am starting to get a lot of them, this is helping me keep them organised and easy to find.

My Avatar 1

In todays lesson, I worked on putting a background behind Georgina and changing her eyes. First off, I deleted the green screen behind her, and replaced it with an image of a reef that I found on flickr. I used a mask and brush to do this. It took a while but I finally got there! After

I had done this, I started on her eyes. I searched

for some water textures on flickr and I found a good one that I could place inside her eyes so that it had the image of water in them. To do this, I firstly had to change her eye colour. Georgina's eye colour was originally brown, so first off, I had to change them to blue. I created a new layer and painted a blue colour over her eyes. I then turned the opacity down and used a mask to get rid of the excess colour. After I had done this, I turned the opacity right back up and played with the blending modes. I ended up using Hue to blend the blue colour in with her eyes. Once I had finished changing her eye colour to blue, it was time to put the water texture in them. I opened the water texture image in photoshop and used a selection tool to select part of it, which I then copied and pasted over onto my avater. I placed this piece of texture over Geo's eye and turned the opacity down and used a mask once again to get rid of the excess picture. I then used a blending mode to make the water look like it was really inside her eye. I then repeated all this with the other eye. Today was a productive lesson and I'm very happy with what I have done so far with my character.