'Record' Project: Working With Text In Photoshop Again...

Another extension of previous work, looking at combining the text with the images.

I think the text really works with the image here, however because I put the print in negative to get the colours I wanted, I think it lost some of the quality, but I didn't want to block in the characters because then I'd lose the texture! So I was a little stuck.

I really love this image. I like that the colours are slightly visible and it's not just black and white. I replaced what was the speech arrows with the text and used the same green to emphasize certain words. I'm really happy with this image, moving towards creating final imagery I think this is more like what I'm looking to put together.

'Record' Project: Working With Text In Photoshop

I started using my first scans, and working over images I've created previously, editing them here and there to fit with the text.

My first image, I clean up the text a little and decided on white, it's still a little messy but I quite like it! however if I could fix something I think I'd make the text smaller, I didn't adjust the size at all and I think it takes up a little too much of the image.

My second, using the stamps was a good idea, it hardly needed cleaning up at all! I love the style and consistency of the font but I regret the colour choice. I think it looks flat and forced, I'm worried this type will only work in black. 

My favourite of the three. I think this type works really well, particularly with the quite bold imagery and colour. I reckon it's also quiet enough to handle any colours. I'll need to try this out with busier images and see what happens.

'Record' Project: Text.

I've been thinking about using text in my images, to decide I looked through all the type in my journal so far, evaluating and picking my favourites.

I like most of these, I think they could be really interesting drawn up with conversation.

A few of these are very similar to what I like to use normally, I'd like to try quite a few of these though, it won't do any harm to have choice.

I tried out several in my sketchbook, and finally drew up a few I liked to be scanned in.

All the phrases were taken from conversations I've recorded in my sketchbook, I thought they were interesting and can also be used together.

I'm planning to use these in Photoshop, and I think my final decisions were the right ones. There is actually a fair amount of variation and I think I'll be able to work with all of them.

'Record' Project: Conversation Collage.

I'd been wanting to experiment with collage for a while, and so I thought I'd try to convey the idea of conversation and communication through found imagery. I was using figures I cut out from some old dress patterns, I thought they were perfect as they were quite cartoon like but still aged. I'd drawn up some ideas beforehand and then started working with thread.

My first image using a thinner thread, this works really well. I think the black/white and colour combination is very complimentry. I want to try something busier though and see if I can build it up.

Built up with more characters and thread, I was thinking about old and new conversations. I now wanted to try using coloured figures instead of coloured thread.

I don't think this works as well, you lose the significance of the thread. The textures work quite nicely but I think I'm losing what the image is supposed to represent.

This image was a complete accident, I was trying to begin working with black space, and scanning on top of a piece I did in my sketchbook where I followed conversations as they were happening around me. Instead i got this. I think it's quite interesting and I love that you can see the lettering coming through in all shapes and sizes. It's made me think more about using black space and cut outs instead of the figures themselves, moving forward I think that is what I need to experiment with next.

'Make your Mark' Brief: Habits/Independent Study.

At the beginning of the week, we spent the day focusing on one possible theme. From my mind map I decided to start looking at the idea of my habits, specifically the rather bad habit of cracking my fingers and wrists. I started off doing some observational drawings and A3 pieces (using varied drawing techniques and media) focusing on my hands in pushed and strange positions. I also began experimenting with type, referencing the sounds my wrists/fingers make when I crack them: 'snap' 'pop' 'crack' 'click'. My initial experiments were okay but needed more research and exploration, they looked a little messy. I liked the idea of incorporating type though!

After this, we made our own paper to work on out of different pieces left over, or from the collage box. I tried to keep the colour really quiet with a few bits of print. However, not all my materials worked, as one of them had a resistant layer so I couldn't use ink over it properly! I finished all three pieces and they didn't look quite right, they were too busy. Our tutor suggested using block/negative space areas to quieten down the busier areas. This really helped, and I'm pretty pleased with how these turned out.

After this, I looked into more areas of type, I went through magazines and cut out appropriate letters in many different styles, settling on a few that I liked. For our first day of independent study we were to round up our work on this theme. I tried using the scanner and bypass printing to overlap my hands. It worked once, but the colour was too dark and I was wasting ink, so I used the failed ones for collage material.

To finish off this theme, I kept trying things out with the scanner and bypass printing, using my previous work to create new pieces. I wanted to refine and simplify what I'd done and create some more graphic spreads. My first one was more simple, I quite like it but I'm not sure it properly works as a spread. I'm still unsure about how busy it is! 

I prefer my second one, for this I scanned some elements of type over the previous work, and also included some bold block shapes, and more white space to calm it down a little. I think the colours flow better, and it's generally nicer to look at! I really enjoyed exploring this theme, I need to stop focusing so much on hands though, time to move on to another few ideas. It was nice to start having a go with type too, as I've not really done that yet. I'm pleased with my outcomes, however I think I should try something a little different for my next theme.