Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Exercise 12 - Due November 3 Photo Masks

Class,
Exercise 12 will teach you about "Clipping Masks".  Masks are a way that we can change an image without destroying the original image.

Go to Mr. Komar Shared Folder (2nd Quarter > Exercise 12) to see the instructional powerpoint and supplemental video.

Exercise 12 is due November 3.

Turn in exercise 12 to Mr. Komar Dropbox as:
period#_lastname_firstname_12x

Before

After


How to submit Exercise 11 -- THS Courtyard Design Project

To Receive Credit for Exercise 11:

Save your file to the drop box with the following name:

period#_lastname_firstname_11x


Your folder must contain:

1.  2 images that you made in Photoshop and/or Illustrator of the courtyard with your design.

2.  1 hand drawing of the courtyard which will have to be scanned.  
(If you did not come out and make one then you will have to get a paper, draw one using the photos I took in the Mr. Komar Shared folder, scan it and turn it in with this folder.)

3.  1 paragraph describing your design in your own words.  

Extra credit:  If you include an additional scan of any design work you drew by hand.

Projects turned in after November 1 will be marked down.

Projects turned in after November 1 will not be part of the jury competition.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Learn how to Scan -- Scan Your Courtyard Drawing

Today I will have a scanner set up at the teacher desk.  If you have your hand drawing of the courtyard, I will bring up students one at a time to show you how to scan, save the scan, and return it to your desktop (I hope).

We can also look at what assignments you have completed and which ones you have not.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Exercise 11 - Presentation 1 : Perspective, color range selection and the paint bucket



Class,
Look in the Mr. Komar Shared folder (Look inside Q2 > Exercise 11) and you will find Presentation 1.  Open the presentation to find out how to make images you bring into your design have perspective, how to select color ranges and how to use the paint bucket tool.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Exercise 11 - Architecture Competing: Redesign THS Courtyard, due November 1

An architecture competition has been announced!


You have been chosen to design a new courtyard for Tucson High School.  The school is in need of a new landscape to be created inside the property between the school buildings.  You must come up with a design that not only creates a more welcoming space for students, faculty and staff but one that pleasingly displays the natural beauty Tucson has to offer.  The courtyard or courtyards that you design can include art works, fountains, flora, (animals?), and anything else you think the school needs to elevate the experience of going to school.  Your design might include areas for students to find peace and quiet, areas to congregate, and areas that tie into the natural surrounding (or at least try).  You are also encouraged to design a space that the neighborhood might be able to also enjoy when school is not in session.

Due November 1, 2012.  The top entries will be reviewed by an independent jury.  

For Graphic Design (1/2):  You will present your design, your sketches and a brief description (in english or spanish) of at least one paragraph.

You must have:
1.  2 hand drawn pages, one of your perspective drawing and one of your initial designs.  One of those pages may include your designs drawn on top of the map (the plan) of the courtyards which will be provided in the Mr. Komar Shared Folder.
2.  At 2 pages 8.5" x 11" with your designs created using the existing photos found in Mr. Komar Shared folder.  Use Photoshop or Illustrator or both to create your design.
3.  At least 1 paragraph written that talks about your design, who will use it, if it will have special areas for faculty/staff or will the neighborhood be able to share the space.

For Graphic Arts (2nd Period):  You will present your design as a two page document, one with your design and the other with your sketch work at description.

You must have:
1.  2 hand drawn pages, one of your perspective drawing and one of your initial designs.
2.  1 page 8.5" x 11" with your designs created using the existing photos found in Mr. Komar Shared folder.  Use Photoshop or Illustrator or both to create your design.

Your teacher will printout your pages when you are complete.

On October 22/23, class is to be outdoors sketching the courtyard areas to better familiarize themselves with the dimensions, dream of their designs and practice perspective drawing.

On October 24/25, classes will create a second hand drawing page with their original sketch ideas.  Next, classes will then start to bring in their concepts to Photoshop, Illustrator and any other program you want to incorporate.  Remember that you can always draw your ideas by hand, scan in the hand drawing and bring that scan into your images in Photoshop!

Your teacher will present some examples of how to use Photoshop and/or Illustrator to demonstrate an architectural design.

Also, use the Plan view of the courtyard

From October 25 to November 1,  continue on your designs and your description.

Remember, that your final presentation is also part of the "design" and will be graded as well.  You need to think about how your initial design drawings, design images and description page are presented to make it a well designed presentation.

Good Luck!

To see great interior courtyards from a Mexican modernist, Luis Barragan:
http://www.barragan-foundation.org/

To see modern architecture and how projects use Photoshop to present their designs:
http://archinect.com/news

To see a local modern architect projects:
http://robpaulus.com/projects/timeline/

To see a great Landscape architect, Peter Hargraves, visit:
http://www.hargreaves.com/projects/Academic/


Friday, October 19, 2012

Preparing for Exercise 11 -- Perspective Drawing

Class,

Let us begin to prepare for our next exercise which will be introduced next week.  In order to have some success with the project you need to have some understanding of PERSPECTIVE DRAWING.

PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITE FOR A GOOD LESSON:
http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/tools-tips/establishing-perspective-in-your-drawings-basix/

Open Adobe Illustrator to practice drawing with Perspective (You can even use the perspective tool) or open Adobe Photoshop and experiment with perspective photo adjustments (Edit > Transform > Perspective)
....
Next week we become architects!

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Exercise 10 Due 10/22 -- Adjustment panel in Photoshop (Part 2 of 3)


Class,
Well it looks like my "Uncle" came back from his trip to Europe and Maine with photos that once again need to be fixed.  

Go to the following site and read Sections 4 (Exposure) through Section 10 (Channel Mixer):

For Exercise 10, just like exercise 9, open each "before" photo and make it look EXACTLY like the "after" photo.  Each photo only needs one change to fix.  The name of the photo will give you a clue what to change!

Find the before and after photos at Mr. Komar Shared folder.

When you have changed the file, save it as a JPEG, put all 7 files into a folder named 
period#_lastname_firstname_10x and place into Mr. Komar Dropbox.

In Summary:
1.  Read website listed above for how to use Adjustment Panel, this time from the part about "Curves" to the end.
2.  Find the files to fix in Mr. Komar Shared Folder.
3.  Fix the files, only one piece needs to be changed on each file.
4.  Save the file as a JPEG.
5.  Put fixed files into a new folder called "period#_lastname_firstname_10x"
6.  Put folder into Mr. Komar Dropbox.

Exercise 10 is due October 22

Monday, October 15, 2012

Exercise 9 Due 10/19 -- Adjustment panel in Photoshop

Class,
Our next step through Photoshop is to dig into the "Adjustment Panel".  This is the area most often used when you are asked to clean up a photo or improve a photo that is not up to good quality, for example faded or too dark.

Read up though "Curves" section (section 3) at the following site:
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/techniques/a-basic-guide-to-photoshop-cs4-adjustment-layers/

For Exercise 9, I would like you to decide how to fix the following 3 photos.  You are given the beginning file and your goal is the ending photo.  Decide if you should use contrast/brightness, levels or curves to fix the photo.  Each photo only needs one change to fix.

Find the original photos at Mr. Komar Shared folder.

Or download the 3 files here:
1.  cesky_krumlov_before_c.psd
2.  df_cathedral_before_l.psd
3.  nascar_before_bc.psd


Turn this photo...


...into this

When you have changed the file, save it as a JPEG, put all 3 files into a folder named 
period#_lastname_firstname_9x and place into Mr. Komar Dropbox.


In Summary:
1.  Read website listed above for how to use Adjustment Panel, just through the part about "Curves".
2.  Find the files to fix in Mr. Komar Shared Folder.
3.  Fix the files, only one piece needs to be changed on each file.
4.  Save the file as a JPEG.
5.  Put fixed files into a new folder called "period#_lastname_firstname_9x"
6.  Put folder into Mr. Komar Dropbox.

Exercise 9 is due October 19

The final picture was taken in Český Krumlov which is part of the Slovak Republic.  Click here to see where it is located.  This site was a stopping point in travels for the Austrian empire.

Grading for Exercise 7 and 8 (and other exercises...a reminder)

Exercise 7 and other exercises are graded according to a Rubric as seen below:


You can also download a copy of the Rubric in the Quicklinks area of the blog.
Letter grading was presented in the Class Outline which you can open any time from this blog in the "Quicklinks" section to the upper right.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Exercise 8 - Due October 16 - Animated GIFs

Click on the graphic to watch the Beatles come to life!!!   Ooooh AAAAhhhh  Rock out!
Exercise 8 Due October 16

So you want to make your graphics move?

Now you can use Photoshop to make your graphics "animated" just like you see on the web.

Download the Presentation for Exercise 8, or go to Mr. Komar Shared Folder to find the presentation and source files.

I am looking for an animation that is not too complicated but has a simple and clear design.  At least two objects must move in your animation.  Have fun with it!

Save your file to the drop box with the following name:
period#_lastname_firstname_8x


CAUTION!!!
If you want your graphic to ROTATE then you cannot use the above procedure!
You have to make layers, one layer at a time with a small change in each layer.  Then click on the upper right corner of the "Animation" box and you can "Make Frames from Layers..."

Sunday, October 7, 2012

2nd Quarter - Begin with Photoshop and Exercise 7 Due October 12

Welcome back classes,

We begin the 2nd Quarter with Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is the industry-standard image editing software, used worldwide by professional photographers, amateur photographers, and designers who want to perfect their digital images.  

Exercise 7 Due October 12


The idea is to change history. Alter an instantly recognizable photograph so that the context has been significantly changed. The appearance of the original photograph must remain intact. The new situation must still look believable.

 *DISCLAIMER* This project is not intended to make light of some very serious and often tragic situations. Rather, it is an effort to teach Photoshop skills in a manner which turns tragedy into creativity. The idea is to change the historical context of very famous photographs.


Step one: Choose six different photos and change the context of the photo using photoshop.  You will find the photos to use in the Mr. Komar Shared Folder under Quarter 2 > Exercise 7.  For one of the photos, you may choose a site from around the world and put yourself there.

Follow my step by step instructions in the initial presentation to get started.  You will find the presentation in the same folder.  Or you can click here to download the presentation.

Step two: Make sure the photo still has its realistic look to it


TOTAL POINTS:100