Inorder to make this mixed media portrait, I found some textures that I liked and used a portrait of myself. I used a cracked texture for the background, a sunflower and a feather. I opened all of the images and used the lassoo tool on the feather, and selected around the feather, then Desaturated it, by going to Image then Adjustments, then Desaturate, or Ctrl+Shift+U. Once I had Desaturated all of the textures I wanted to use, I copied and pasted them all onto the portrait layer (Ctrl+A), (Ctrl+C), (Ctrl+V). I then used Free Transform (Ctrl+T) on each texture and made them the appropriate size. Then I played about with the Exposure Effects drop down menu, and the opacity on each texture. I also used the eraser to blend in some things, like my hair over the sunflower petals. I really like this piece and I like how this process has endless outcomes.
I made the above image based upon a Galaxy Background, and I added in 3 different images of stars, and a shooting star. I really like this image that I made. Once I had finished adding the layers and making sure they were of a lower opacity, I moved the Curves option in the Adjustments menu, and then I started to change the Brightness and Exposure levels until I was happy with it. I like how the stars and galaxy background blend in with my hair, however I think I could have added something over my face to make it look like I'm blended in with the background, and not infront of it.
I made this image using a portrait of myself, with a floral background. I added a tree which turns into birds across my face, a dreamcatcher in the top left corner, and a crescent moon. Once I had fixed all of the layers and added them all into place, I made the opacity of them all smaller, and then I flattened the image. Then I moved the Curves option, and made the picture more constrasting.
I made the image on the left with an idea for a theme involving a dark forest. I used an image of some trees for the background, and I added a moon into the corner. I desaturated the 3 layers that I used, and made them all black and white, and once I was happy with the composition, I started to move the curves, and altered the exposure levels until I was happy with it. I think that the image of myself being less visible, is a better effect for this theme, since it looks more mysterious and eerie.
I made the image on the right with a theme of Vintage. I used an old fashioned Newspaper as the background, and added a photograph of myself, two butterflies and a bunch of daisies. I really like this image because it's different to the others I have made, in the aspect of the components I added in are a different style. I used difference on them to make them stand out, and it made the newspaper print visible through them, which I think looks very nice.
Existing Images That I Like:
The 3 images that I like are by an artist called Matt Wisniewski. He challenges the saying that photographs are only meant to capture single moments in time. He uses photos of landscapes, and meshes them with an image of a human. I really like the way they have the white background, and the colourful landscape - it really puts the emphasis and attention onto the landscape. I could make my own version of this by taking photographs in the studio, so they would have the white background and the professional look/high quality. And I could either use my own photographs of landscapes, or I could make my own using paint or other medias.
The image to the right was made with a galaxy/space theme. I used a black background with stars for the initial background, and then added in a shooting star and the milky way, and lowered the opacity. I added the moon in the top left corner and did the same with that. I added some blue from another image, and erased around it, and made the opacity lower. I copied that layer, and moved it to the top. I then flattened the layers, and messed about with the Curves; Exposure and Contrast until I was happy with it.