What's Next?
Now the Paris exhibition is finished with it's time to continue on with my fairy tale themed personal study and look into the future and try to plan what I'm going to do next.My work on fairy tales is based upon the idea of discovering the truth about fairy tales. I have a strong focus on Walt Disney and Brother's Grimm as these are two very inspirational figures which have explored the world of fairytales in contrasting ways. Walt Disney developed the idea of fairy tales being beautiful and for children, whereas the Brother's Grimm based their stories upon folk and fable tales depicting a dark and in their eyes truthful exposure of fairytales. I wanted to see how these figures and other elements have inspired different artists into presenting fairytales through art using this theme. Therefore throughout my personal study I am looking at a variety of artists who present fairy tales in unique and interesting ways.
I am most interested in focusing on photography and illustrations and presenting my work in a magazine/book format. I like this as I personally have a strong love in journalism and magazines and I feel presenting images in this way makes them look beautiful and classic. I have already started explore photography, magazines and illustrations. Below is a mood board which explores these things, it consists of my own work, inspirational artists work (artists which i have chosen to discuss in my Personal Study) and magazines which I feel present pages of photographs and information in stunning ways.
Research
For my Personal Study I am analysing certain artist which explore the theme of fairy tales within their artwork. One of these artists was Annie Leibovitz, she was the first artist I started to explore when I first began looking at this concept. I wanted to explore her work as a whole so have produced a mood board of her work.
Annie Leibovitz is a editorial photographer who captures images for magazines and campaigns. She creates bizarre situations and captures the photo in a stunning way. Her work which I focus on within my personal study is about Disney's representation of fairy tales, however in a interview she did talk about using Brother's Grimm as inspiration when capturing images for the Disney campaign. Her work uses celebrities and places them in fairy tales situations, for example she uses Beyonce as Alice in Wonderland. She has inspired me to look more at capturing photographs in a editorial style and presenting them in a magazine format. Also she communicates a narrative within her work and I feel I could do this by capturing a series of photographs. For more detailed analysis of this artist and detailed analysis of her photograph Cinderella please read my Chapter 2 personal study draft.
One photograph which Annie Leibovitz captured was based on the classic tale of Alice in Wonderland. I have analysed this image below. I chose this image to analyse as it is inspirational in it's context but also it's a stunning example of Annie Leibovitz bizarre photography with an editorial style.
The next step is to create a response to this artist, hence why I produced a brief amount of research on her. Looking at the ideas from my What Next? brainstorm I decided to pick out 3 ideas which I could alter to create as a response piece. I have placed these ideas into a visual brainstorm using Prezi.com and decided on a final piece idea which I will further in another blog post. You can navigate around this brainstorm by using pressing the Start Prezi icon then using the side arrow keys on your key board to go around and please continue looking at it until you see my slide about Final Idea.
Although within my brainstorm above I have stated a final idea I wanted to explore the other ideas on my brainstorm. Therefore I have created quick mock ups of two other ideas so that I can see how they work then adapt what I learn from them towards my final idea creation.
As this was a trial I decided to use images from Google but edit them so it wasn't copyright. Also I am planning on illustrating over the images therefore you won't be able to tell the original image. I used a dress makers mannequin as a base then pulled images from Google of fairy tale dress and an Alice in Wonderland style clothes. Below are the images I edited and put together before illustrating over them.
Next I need to take them into illustrator. I wanted to create a sketch effect but kept the brush bold and used a 1pt brush stroke and 0.5 stroke for the detailing. I did this on both pieces then took them into Photoshop again to add colour. Below is how they looked in illustrator.
Idea 2: Capture a series of photographs of a girl running e.g. as Red Riding Hood and using Photoshop software alter the colours so there is a use of colour splash. The combination of black and white will reflect the darkness of fairytales and some of her work has dark elements and the main model within the piece stands out by the use of colour.
To start experimenting with this idea I went online and looked at some more of Annie Leibovitz's work and found these two photographs inspirational:
Using a teenage model I plan to re create these photos then develop them by using colour splash. I used a model in basic clothing and plan to enhance the colours more in Photoshop. Below are my photographs reflecting the two above:
Next I need to make these images black and white and add a colour splash. I did this by enhancing the levels and curves firstly then making the whole photograph black and white. Lastly I copied the image of the girl and using the rubber tool rubbed out the girls outfit so it was fully of colour.
I like both these responses. I feel the use of natural lighting helps illuminate the model beautifully. In the second photo I like the contrast of the black and white with the strong red dress which makes the piece look happier rather the sad. Also her facial expression in both these images is light and shows a slight smile which I feel emits a far more positive emotion to the piece. When I go on to create my response I will work with the idea of natural lighting and placing it close to her face so it illuminates her well. Also the strong colours work well which is something I will use when creating my response. Additionally the photographic response relates back to her work much better than the illustrated version.
Creating the Response
As I stated in my Final Idea I plan to present all this as a magazine, therefore I needed to research magazines, for me this was easy as I had many magazines already. My two favourite magazines are Company and Glamour popular womens fashion and editorial magazines. Below I have created two mood boards, one which looks at contents pages and another which looks at photography within these magazines which I liked.
Mood Boards
This mood board explores contents pages. I found all the contents pages were incredibly similar. They used a main photograph in the background with a list on the contents on the side. However I want my magazine to stand out so want to try something different. Due to this I also wanted to look at contents pages from other magazines. I looked on Google Images to see what other contents pages looked like.
This is a secondary mood board I produce. I cut out images from my favourite magazine Company which I feel compile stunning photography into it's magazine. On the left are a selection of images I found useful. I have annotated around them as well as picking my favourite image.
So now I need to begin creating each section. I will come back to the title page later once I know what'll be on each page as well as possibly adding a contents page. The above work and my Chapter are the first few pages, therefore I am going to build these magazine pages first. I am trying a minimalism style with this magazine therefore am only using the colours black and white and will use a basic text. Below are my first few pages, the order they are placed in below are the order they will appear in within the magazine.
Bibliography:
http://www.berlinista.com/en/article/annie-leibovitz-disney-images-of-beyonce-david-beckham/2167
Photographing a Backdrop
As part of my response to Annie Leibovitz I am creating a photograph which reflects her own. As part of her own work she uses natural backdrops. Therefore I have taken a trip to Oxford to capture natural photographs reflecting her work.
As a gift I was given the opportunity to further my photographic knowledge and go around Oxford with a small group and a professional photographer capturing interesting images. I learnt a few new photographic techniques during the course and to do with aperture, exposure and shutter speed below are some notes I made based on this in my busy book.
"In the 1850s a shy and retiring Oxford professor, Lewis Carroll (Rev. Charles Dodgson), wrote a story for Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church College, which he illustrated himself. This original manuscript is now in the British Library. Carroll was encouraged to publish the story and it became an instant success throughout the world. It represented a revolution in children’s story writing and is the most translated work of English literature after Shakespeare. The original edition was illustrated by Sir John Tenniel, chief illustrator of the Punch magazine."
"Oxford is the birthplace of “Alice in Wonderland”. Lewis Carroll lived in Oxford most of his life as a student and then as a don at the college of Christ Church. Alice Liddell, for whom the stories were written, was the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church. There are many places of significance to Alice and Lewis Carroll in Oxford and many ways in which Oxford influenced and inspired Carroll's writings."
Working with the photographer and off my previous photography work I captured many images from this iconic city. I captured many images and the ones below are my favourite ones edited through Photoshop.
Planning
The next step was to start creating and planning my response to Annie Leibovitz. Following a conversation with my teacher I began planning how I would create my final response. Below are some notes I made:
Following on with my magazine theme below is my magazine page based on this planning page from my busy book, however I typed it up in a written format rather than using the image from my busy book.
Photographing
Now I needed to capture the photographs, as I am going to capture three separate images then place them together I have separately photographed each element. As the background is taken in a outdoor environment I didn't worry too much about the lighting on this as this could be edited quickly. However with the girl and the teacup I went into the school studio and worked with lights, reflectors and green screens to capture my photographs. Below are images of how I put together my set for the photographs:
I also took some test shots experimental shots working with the aperture, exposure, lighting, reflector and angles to discover what shots worked best. Below is a contact strip which shows all of my testing shots.
Following on from my test shots I captured my actual shots which I will use in my final response piece. I placed all the photographs into contact sheets which can be viewed below:
Girl:
For some of the images she is holding an umbrella as I will cut it so it looks like she is holding the edge of the teapot.
Teapot:
I decided to change and use a teapot as it still resembled Alice in Wonderland but it was a bit different than the ordinary teacup which I have used often when photographing things resembling Alice in Wonderland.
Backdrop:
Following a trip to Oxford (which was the birth place of Alice in Wonderland) I captured photographs which I could use as a backdrop for my response piece.
From the images above I decided on these three to use in my final response.
Girl:
This is my chosen image of Alice to use within my response. I chose this image as I like the lighting of it as it is slightly dark which links to my idea of fairy tales being dark stories. Also she is coming towards the camera but looking another way which gives the impression there is more to the photograph which I hope will interest observers to look at my work. I have positioned her so she is smiling as although I want it to be dark the childhood tale is very happy and light and I am trying to reflect this in her facial expression. Additionally she is holding the umbrella as if it were the edge of the teapot and she is climbing out of it which is a part of the original story as the Mad Hatter hides Alice within the teapot at the tea party. The use of soft lighting within this image meant that it made her look young and innocent which is what I wanted to convey as this is a element of Alice in Wonderland which is key. Once I begin editing the photograph their are a few alterations I want to make, firstly I will sharpen the image as when you zoom into her face it's slightly blurred. Also I don't like the pink within her hair so I will content aware this out in the same way I will content aware the umbrella out of the image. I need to remove the background so she is alone within the image in order from my to place her in the teapot effectively.
Teapot:
This is my chosen teapot image to use within my response. I chose this image as I felt it was the strongest of them all as it was sharp and clearly showed the theme. I will need to work on it however as there are paint marks on the teapot which reduces it's quality but that can easily be altered. Also as I used the same lighting as the girl images I can place the girl inside the teapot and it will look realistic. I will need to adjust the levels the same amount in both images and will need to cut the teapot out from the background. Additionally for some unknown reason the picture quality online seems to be slightly reduced but when I take it into Photoshop it looks better so once edited the quality should be better.
Backdrop:
This is the base of my response image which I will use when producing my final response. I feel the pattern over the gates is very fairy tale styled through its delicate pattern and the gates open up onto a bright world which could be conveyed as wonderland. I would situation the teapot to sit on the pavement just before the grass area and just after the gates. I used Oxford as it's the birth place of Alice in Wonderland so links to the classic story. However, when I start editing I need to content aware the people in the bottom right corner so they are removed and will position the teapot so you can't see all the bicycles. I chose this image due to the progressive lights as the opens into a bright scene and using level alterations will enhance this.
As overall I want to produce a magazine which displays my development of my response to Annie Leibovitz I have put the above work into a magazine format similar to the ones I have already produced. As I have shown all my images above in contact sheets I have chosen 3 of my favourite images and the best image and copied the above writing.
Development
As I had taken three separate images for my final response I needed to mould them together. Below are the steps I took to conduct this.
I wanted to remove the people in the bottom right corner so I began doing this by using the content aware tool. However, this didn't work very well and I ended up getting smudges over the image and it didn't look as clean as I hoped. Therefore using the lasso tool I selected areas of the brick work and gravel and repeated it so it covered the people. Below are these three stages:
Then I copied the image of the girl over onto the image of the teapot and shrunk her down so she fit into the teapot. Then I used the lasso tool and cut around the edge of the teapot and removed the bottom of the girl so it looked more like she was inside the teapot. Then I adjusted it so where she was holding the umbrella looked like she was holding the side of the teapot.
I then wanted to see if it would work before I began fully editing the image. Therefore I copied over the teapot and girl merged together onto the backdrop. In order for it too look real I applied a drop shadow on the teapot and then used the burn tool around the base so it looked like it was meant to sit there.
After adjusting the colour balance I placed the teapot and girl back over into the backdrop image. Yet it still seemed to bright so going back onto the colour balance I unticked the preserve luminosity However, it still didn't look right. The teapot and girl where too white and looked bad. This meant I knew what I needed to work on within the editing process. I want to experiment with the levels and see if this will work.
The next step was to blend it. Using the overlay and opacity tools to merge the image together as well as the rubber tool to take away the harsh edges. However once all this was done it didn't look as prominent as I wanted it too. Therefore I copied the layer so it was more sharp and obvious but had the same rubbed edges in order to look more realistic.
I liked this response because I felt it linked well to my original brief. I clearly links to Annie Leibovitz work although it may not be of the same magnitude as her pieces I fell it is a good piece overall. However there are some more thing I could work on for next time. On point would be to shoot at a better image depending on my background and ensure all the lighting is the same for all the images. As well as this I will need to ensure I shoot all my parts of the image in the same lighting e.g. natural or studio that way it looks more real.
In keeping with my magazine idea below are two final magazine pages which reflect this post.
Experimentation
After putting the final piece together I wanted to experiment with it and see how I could create something a bit different rather than a simply photographic response.
- Black and White
One way, I feel, to make a image look completely different is to make it black and white, this simply desaturation of colour can change the mood and emotion behind the piece. However, to make it more interesting i have included the concept of colour splash. By which I mean I have kept the blue top of 'Alice' in colour but the rest of the entire image has been desaturated. I did this all simply in Photoshop by using the vibrancy setting and removing all saturation but keeping the vibrancy high and then using the magic wand tool to select the top of 'Alice' and then kept this part the same colour.
- Illustration
Another way I can change it is through converting it from a photograph to an illustration. I often produce illustrations as I feel they look very dynamic. I have chosen to produce a basic illustration for this piece and similar to the black and white response I am removing all colour from this illustration and basing it simply on lines. I did this in Illustrator using a variety of line pen points from 2 to 0.05 and a constant dry brush.
- Layering over text
Continuing my magazine theme below is the magazine pages for these images.
Final Response
From the past pages and development work I have done below is my final magazine response to Annie Leibovitz. It includes work I have showcased on my blog but less writing so please do view my other posts.
Evaluation
I enjoyed creating a more visual response piece which would allow viewers to interact with my artwork, this way they could become more involved in the piece and understand the core meanings behind it. There are, however a few things I would change about the response, firstly would be the front cover. Although I was going for a minimalism theme I feel it needed something more on the front cover to try and spark interest more. Additionally, the chapter itself needs more work, there are grammatical errors which may defer a reader from continuing to look at it as they feel it's poor quality. However, the minimalism theme does although readers to easily read the text without getting confused e.g. if it was columnised. The final pieces themselves still need more work. Although the teapot looked better it was still at an awkward angle which didn't work as well with the piece. Overall, this project allowed me to experiment more with photographic manipulation and creating a digital magazine which is something I want to do further so this step allowed me to experiment and see how I would do something like this for future references.
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