Photoshop Pains

My Photoshop class final project: a photograph collage to represent the city you're from.

Since February of this year I've been taking this outstanding Photoshop class that has broadened my horizons to unprecedented proportions. Sounds dramatic, but, honestly, the improvements I've made in the span of a semester can be compared to a jump from 1st grade to 5th grade reading comprehension. It's a little sad that all these years of having Photoshop CS4 I never attempted to understand even the simplest of its tools. I really couldn't be bothered. It takes a real push for me to self learn anything technologically based.

But now, I've come to realize that it doesn't have to be seen as something to replace your freehand creative skills. For me, I see it as a way to enhance or compliment them. My instructor Hugh D'Andrade (check out his website) is an illustrator by trade--a really awesome one. He's been generous enough to even show us how he goes about creating his illustrations--a process that begins with an original drawing/painting/sketch and ends up either colored in digitally or just ever so slightly tweaked on Photoshop. The drawing is what makes the entire composition however--despite the capabilities that Photoshop has to offer, the original drawing or painting is still the secret ingredient. He wouldn't have such great illustration if he didn't have his freehand drawing skills and his natural artistic talent. Photoshop cannot make you an artist if you weren't one to begin with. I know this comes out a little fascist, but it's true! It's just a tool, nothing more. If you have great ideas and a natural flair for style, composition, color, anything artistic--then it will help you realize them. It's an aid--an incredible one at that; not an end all be all.

Above is a work in progress for our final project in this class. It does not have any original drawings in it but the project parameters have more to do with testing what we've learned by creating a collage using photographs only (and only those we've taken ourselves): a collage to represent the city we're from. Compositionally, it's a little heavy for me, but since the point was to go all out with what we've learned, I wanted to apply almost ever major technique I've picked up on. Et voila!