Assignment #1: Self-Portrait Assignment
Since you are like no other being ever created
since the beginning of time, you are incomparable.
Brenda Ueland, American Writer
There is a great deal of unmapped country within
us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and
storms. George Eliot, English
Writer
Who are
you? There are many answers to this question. For our first assignment in this
class, you will make a digital image with this question as its
inspiration.
Goals of assignment:
1. Begin to get familiar with some of
Photoshop’s functions
2. Create an interesting and rich
self-portrait
3. See self-portraits by other
artists
4. Practice integrating images from different
sources including scanning, negative scanning and the digital camera. Begin to
collect original photographic resources.
5. Match resolutions between your various
digital capture tools.
Making a
Self-Portrait
Step one: Mull, ponder, muse….
What pictures do you see in your mind when I ask
you to tell me about yourself? Student, inventor, creator, lecturer, builder,
compiler, reader, adventurer, researcher, tinkerer, organizer,
teacher? Mom,
sister, dad, brother, friend? Artist, engineer, scientist, baker, shoemaker….
How do you see
yourself? Write a paragraphs or two (or more) on who you
are.
Step two: Find inspiration
Look at artist's self-portraits. Here are two
web resources for this:
There are also many books on this subject.
Choose one as inspiration.
Step Three: Gather digital
resources
This
project will include a minimum of four different types of input of methods.
Choose from the following:
1. Digital Camera Image
2. Film camera image scanned by a photo
service
3. An Object you have scanned
4. A Negative or Slide you have
scanned
5. A Print you have scanned
6. Text entered in Photoshop
You will
begin with an image of yourself. You must appear in your self-portrait! You will
also use objects that are significant to you, negatives with images of you or
things important to you and photographs that are of you or of things important
to you. You may also include a quote or a poem that you like. Our goal will be
to create an image in the digital darkroom incorporating images/text from
different sources. Your imagination is your only other
limitation.
(If you
don’t have a scanner, you might take a pictures of an object that you want to
incorporate into your self-portrait. You might also look around for a place
where you can scan. Never know when it will come in handy!)
Assignment requirements:
You will create an image that can be printed on
8.5x11” paper as well as properly sizing the image to share on the web. You will
save all files to be included on your final CD.
Write a paragraph about the artist that inspired
you as well as about the experience of making a self-portrait. Include a link to
the artist’s work if appropriate.
Submit your printable image, your websized image
and your paragraph to the Assignment section under Assignment #1 by the
deadline.
INCLUDES scanned color negative, scanned black and
white print, text in photoshop, scanned object, digital camera
image.