Silkscreen

Here is a picture of Sabrina wearing the giraffe sweater that I silkscreened. I chose to do giraffes because I took this picture at the zoo and thought it was really beautiful. It was ideal for silkscreening because we were supposed to do something using 2 different colours, and giraffes have distinct yellow and black markings. The shades in the picture did not vary too much, so when set with only 2 shades it was still very obvious what animal was on the sweater. I used the traditional colours of a giraffe because I wanted it to be very clear that this was the animal I was silkscreening. It was my first time and was not sure how well it was going to turn out. Thankfully, it turned out very well and I lined up the layers almost perfectly. I really love silkscreening  if I do it again, I think I will do a zebra or maybe a building.

Acrylic Gel Lift

I loved making acrylic gel lifts, so much that I actually made four, but I like this one the best. This is my acrylic gel lift of the Temple of the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto, Japan. This was taken 5 years ago on a family vacation to Japan and Vietnam. This land belonged to a powerful statesman, and when he died a Buddhist temple was erected there by his son. During the Onin war, it was burnt down and rebuilt later. Many claim that it was built an exact replica, but historians doubt that the old one was plated in gold like this one is today. I chose this picture because I remember when we visited there, the whole scene looked just like a postcard. It was so exquisite it didn't even seem real. I wanted to capture that delicate beauty and I thought an acrylic lift would do that. Though it replicates the exact photo, it looks more dreamlike and ghostly, and a bit transparent. Like the temple itself was replicated, I replicated the photo but with a bit of embellishment.

Eucalyptus Oil Print

This is  a eucalyptus oil print that I made of a spider. I took this photo 5 years ago when we went to Vietnam on a family vacation. I chose to do this picture because I know that these prints bleed the ink a bit, and thought that a huge spider could take advantage of that by making it look even more furry and scary. After making the print, I wanted to add some emphasis to the top of the spider because it was quite light so I carefully watercoulored the real colours of the spider into some of the white spaces.I also added a bit of blue to it's legs and face. I think that adding the coulor was a really good way to separate the spider from the backround and define the different parts of it. I was not sure if the colour would even turn out, but when I saw how it turned out I was really pleased with it. 

Breaking the Rules

I took this picture because I was experimenting with different perspectives. People are used to seeing leaves and boots on the ground from  a bird's eye view, so I wanted to show them the way little insects see them: looming, ominous boots and huge leaves displaying every vein. My photo is interesting because it gives a fresh outlook on something ordinary. This is why the fact that it breaks the rules can be excused. It follows rule of thirds but is severely unbalanced. The boot on the right is much bigger and also more focused, and the same for the leaf. The picture is really heavy on the right side of it.

This is Becca showing off her new tattoo and all her belts. I like this picture because I made her hand the focus. Rather than showing off the blingy, detailed belts, it draws attention to a normally smooth, clear and boring surface of skin. You find yourself examining the lines and crevices in her fingers and the cut on her cuticle, which is something that would normally be ignored, especially with the tattoo and belts that could have easily been showcased. This breaks the rule of thirds and is als not balanced. The focus is on the thumb, which is near the middle of the photo, and the belts, though out of focus, tend to make the right side heavy. It is also heavy because the lines do not showcase the object of focus, but actually draw away from it a bit.

I decided to take the photo with the viewpoint from the top of Claire's head.  I like that this photo draws a lot of attention to her hair, and shows off the individual strands. The flyaways help draw your eye around the picture. It breaks rule thirds, and is also extremely off balance. It is much more heavy on the right side. The only thing that balances the head out is her blurry boots, but it is definitely not enough to make it equal.