Get right back up after the fall.

// FINAL PROJECT //

Artist Statement:

For my final project, I wanted to expand on my earlier experimentation of digital painting. My earlier experimentation was of mostly just learning how each brush worked and how it presented marks on a PS canvas, along with experimentation in color choice. In this project, I wanted to evolve from just laying marks on a digital canvas, to actually blending and shading the piece to attain a more realistic and detailed appearance. 

I chose to paint a tiger for I wanted to see how far I could go in terms of attaining a more realistic and detailed appearance, while still being seen as a photoshop painting and not a photograph. I love tigers, for they are not only beautiful creatures, but their fur and eyes present such detail and vivid coloration; thus, I wanted to see if I could capture their beauty within a photoshop painting composition. While still maintaining high detail, I also wanted the viewer to be able to see the brushstrokes and painterly detail that I put upon the canvas, which was probably the biggest challenge I faced in this work.

Coming from an artistic background of painting and drawing is what inspired this final work of mine. Photoshop is an amazing tool that allows artists to work in countless formats. My previous experience with painting and capturing detail from life is what inspired me to see if I could do the same through the Photoshop format, which I hope viewers see as successful.

  For this project I found myself thinking of several topics to investigate and one that was close to me was the issue of immigration. I say it is close to me, only because I have been racially profiled before. This is a kind of ironic reminder to those who racially profile people that in fact “Americans” are also illegalimmigrants. It should serve as a reminder of America’s upbringing and how it was claimed and fought over although it was technically already claimed by Native Americans.

The aesthetic choices I made were just to show the juxtaposition of how our country really is and it was also inspired by the several political cartoons I had found while searching for more information and photos. I chose to juxtapose the figures within the image with a mash of drawings and photographs to show a more whimsical side  to this image, because it does show how silly it is to use an excuse such as illegal immigrants aren’t true Americans. I have also chosen to give this image a more of a vintage feel to show that this was in the past and in fact is history to us all. This image is not meant to hostile but to be taken as a kind of joke or sarcastic retort to what people normally perceive as illegalimmigrants.

I agree 100% with your basis for this image.  The only reason "True Americans" aren't considered illegal anymore is because they came and conquered the original Americans.  We took their homes from them and oppressed them, and now we say we can oppress anyone who attempts to come into "our" home simply because we're the "true" owners.

Calling the iPad mini the same as an iPad is something I agree with entirely.  It's so crazy when I hear about people who won both the mini and the regular iPads when they're the same thing, the only difference being size.

Then with the background picture on the mini, it looks perfectly done.  Showing the assembly proccess of the machines was a wonderful idea at showing what's "behind the curtain" as you put it.

My Life in Art: Past, Present, and Future