Dear Ms. Banks

(Not that I couldn't just tell you this in class...but the rubric for the blog in the class synopsis says I can say how the class is going etc.) :]

I really like this class, and I really like Photoshop a lot! If I ever did anything with computers in my life, it would be like this, graphic design and things like that. So, I was wondering if it's still possible for me to change this class from Photoshop and Final Cut Pro to just Photoshop?

...You can answer me in person if you want :]

-Zeph

Toooo Hot to Handle :]

This tutorial's finished product features my boyfriend's band, The Diving Captain, having a super awesome music party inside a vintage diving helmet. And their party is simply so amazing, that the helmet is melting due to the increasing coolness inside of it!
That's what it's supposed to look like, anyways. I really liked this project, it was fun and challenging. The most annoying part of it was that in order to make the drips, I had to make sure that I smudged the entire picture completely, because if I didn't, then the drips would leave these weird shadows of the pictures behind it. It was quite tedious. I really liked playing with making the drips look as realistic as possible, (which didn't exactly work out, but I figured that I had already spent 2 weeks on it, and no more could be spared!), and playing with the brushes palette more. The parts that were the most difficult to create realistically were the glare on the glass, and the engraving. For the glass, I used the Clone Stamp tool, which was interesting, though I'm still not quite sure how it works. And I figured out how to arc text! Which I feel means that, (though I still need and love your guidance, Mrs. Banks-V!), I'm becoming more familiar and savvy with Photoshop!
All in all I'm proud of this work, even though it didn't turn out as perfect as I'd hoped. I'm glad I chose to make a poster/whatever for TDC because it made it more personal for me, though I was originally going to make a cathedral melting, which I'm interested to try someday!

ps. the drip at the bottom is supposed to be going off the page!

Grenouille de Chocolat

This project was very cute, but it was my least favorite so far. In the tutorial, the frog was adorable, and making the drips was fun, allowing me to release all my obsessive compulsive tendencies into creating perfect highlights! However, it was extremely difficult to find or create an image to do for my own something-covered project. I knew I didn't want to make something covered in chocolate, that would be too close to copying the tutorial for me, plus I prefer to use more color in my pictures, and paint was a perfect way to do that. I chose a butterfly because I wanted something that I could picture getting into trouble around a bunch of paints, and a carefree butterfly flitting around seemed perfect. I was not satisfied with my finished project, it wasn't realistic enough for me, although it was cute. I had fun trying different brush tips etc. to create the splatters. One thing that was extremely successful with this project was that I became very familiar and comfortable with with the brushes palette, which I'm sure will be extremely helpful in the future! All in all, regardless of whether or not I enjoyed the subject matter, this tutorial and project were very helpful, and learning all of the new skills was fun!