closing remarks. aka blog 5

a. What is the most significant accomplishment in looking at your Midterm or Final?

if Photoshop (PH) could be distilled down to a main feature for the sake of argument, i would argue that the use of layers is crucial and core to the program. before this class i hadn't used PH at all, much less did i understand the concept of layers. learning to use layers--especially labeling, color coding them, arranging them in groups--proved to be the one feature that no matter what i was doing or will do with the program in the future, will remai

n central to all i do. by the final i had separate folders named and colored with active images in the document, and inactive source material (for the professor). that's not to mention the final animation i did, which involved activating and deactivating 4 different layer effects so as to create a gradual change to an image over 200 animation frames. none of this would have succeeded were it not for the base understanding of layers.

b. project and most challenging learning experience?

my fourth quiz was by far the most frustrating project. the use of selections and masks was excruciating throughout the quarter, but reassigning the essence of that project for part of my final was much easier than it had been when i first manipulated the image. during the quiz i was attempting to make the final product as simple as possible, but i had a small portion of the image to remove. the best way i knew how at the time was to essentially delete that section of the base image. this left a square hole

in several layers that was covered in the final product. i accomplished my goal but it was ugly.

using the same base concept i was able to make the final animation accomplish the same end result as the quiz, but i avoided several steps and did not have to use such a base workaround. the result was much more fluid and clean.

c. compare meaning made in two projects.

the one thing i fought against in creating meaning in art was the challenge of being too overt. i value clear communication and was pleasantly surprised to learn more about the level of connotation in art and how powerful it can be. it was still a tension to work with, as i wanted to create meaning but do so in a way which would be received and still open to reception and processing by different viewers.

the earlier work to contrast against too-overt communication would be one that potentially was too complex or ambiguous (and received critiques along those lines as well). i sought to combine elements that are very specific mathematical and historical works that while they hold meaning on their own, combined they risk being washed of actual meaning. the previous video was the latter work and i think accomplished a better balance even though it uses actual words.