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Learning About Design 9

Using layers and masks can be pretty confusing at first! I thought I had it down, but then the results were never what I pictured. After rewatching our class about layers and checking out some YouTube tutorials, I was reminded of that saying: "If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again." Solid advice for sure!

So, here’s what I’ve picked up:

**Layers** are awesome for stacking and organizing stuff in your projects. They work like transparent sheets, so you can make edits without messing up the rest. To create a new layer, just hit up the Layers panel—go to Window and click on Layers or smash that `+` icon at the bottom. You can also press `Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + N` for the shortcut. Want to change the order? Just drag layers around in the panel.

When it comes to layer properties, you can easily adjust the **opacity** and **blend modes** for effects like transparency or mixing layers together. And if you’re looking to tidy things up, just select multiple layers, right-click, and choose `Group Layers`.

Now onto **Masks**! They let you hide or show parts of a layer without deleting anything, which is super helpful. There are two main types: **Layer Masks**, which control a layer's visibility, and **Clipping Masks**, which limit a layer’s visibility to the shape of another.

To use a layer mask, select the layer first, then click the `Add Layer Mask` button (the rectangle with a circle in it) in the Layers panel. When you’re ready to paint on the mask, grab the Brush Tool (`B`). Just keep in mind: black hides, white reveals, and gray gives you transparency! Make sure the mask thumbnail next to the layer is selected before you start painting. If you want to refine the mask, right-click it and choose `Select and Mask` to smooth out the edges.

For **Clipping Masks**, place the layer you want to clip above the base layer, right-click the top one, and select `Create Clipping Mask`. This way, the top layer only shows where the base layer has pixels. You can even stack multiple layers with masks to create some really cool stuff. Adjusting opacity and blend modes for each layer opens up a lot of creative options, and using gradients or selections on masks can give you those smooth transitions!

And don’t forget the shortcuts like `Ctrl/Cmd + J` to duplicate layers or masks and `Ctrl/Cmd + G` to group them. Naming your layers is a great way to keep everything organized too!

Have fun with layers and masks! 

Emotional Piece

One of my favorite artists is the Deftones their music can be hard and angry to peaceful and serene. One of my favorite songs by this group is called Passenger. 

 When ever i hear this song plays i feel relaxed like  i  think of the night air hitting my face and the headlights on a long stretch of road as it disapears into the horizon . complete tranquility.

The target audience would be anyone who loves music and is looking for something that helps the consumer decided if the song is something they should listen to  or purchase. 

The intention is convey the emotion i feel when i  hear this song in a series of images and text in hopes that it helps pursude someone to wana hear the song.

 I initially picked an image of a woman who had a  look on her face that i felt matched the way the song makes me feel. I then used the quick selection tool and selected the subject and made it a mask on a new layer. I then duplicated the layer and added a layer to the the subject mask and the copy of the subject mask i  chose  black and white as my forground and backround color.  i inverted the color of the layer on the original subject mask  and chose the filter liquify then used the brush to stretch the edges of the subject out to the edges of the frame.  I used the explosion brush in black on the white layer and then used the explosion brush in white on the black layer to create the effect that she was disolving into the night lost in the music i created the night sky image with the road traveling into the distance behind the subject using the AI generator feature in photoshop and then found an image of music notes  and lowered the transparancy a little more then  halfway down and placed that layer on top of the back round image but not over the subject. i then chose the oil painting and wind filters to give the effect i  felt worked well  together . Last i used the pen tool to create a path and typed the name of the artist and song title along the path i made to flow  with the image  and    used colors i felt  worked complimented the colors used through out the image i then chose outer glow and used the color that worked well with the colors used in the image.

I. strugled the most with  getting the splatter effect it seemed that finding the right brush size in relation to the size of the subject and chose the right angle to acheive the effect i desired was not as easy as it seemed when i first watched the tutorials. I  had alot of trial and error and came a long way but plan on working on it  till   i get it perfect.. practice makes perfect or well close to it ;-)

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One of my favorite artists is the Deftones. Their music ranges from hard and angry to peaceful and serene. One of my favorite songs by this group is called "Passenger." Whenever I hear this song, I feel relaxed; I think of the night air hitting my face and the headlights on a long stretch of road as it disappears into the horizon—complete tranquility.

The target audience for this piece would be anyone who loves music and is looking for something that helps them decide if the song is worth listening to or purchasing.

My intention is to convey the emotions I feel when I hear this song through a series of images and text, hoping to persuade someone to want to listen to it.

Initially, I chose an image of a woman whose expression matched the way the song makes me feel. I used the quick selection tool to select the subject and created a mask on a new layer. I then duplicated the layer and applied a mask to both the original and copied subject layers, choosing black and white as my foreground and background colors. I inverted the colors on the original subject mask and applied the Liquify filter, using the brush to stretch the edges of the subject to the edges of the frame. 

I used the explosion brush in black on the white layer and then the explosion brush in white on the black layer to create the effect of her dissolving into the night, lost in the music. I created the night sky image, with the road stretching into the distance behind the subject, using the AI generator feature in Photoshop. Then, I found an image of music notes, lowered the transparency a little more than halfway down, and placed that layer on top of the background image, but not over the subject. I applied the oil painting and wind filters to enhance the visuals.

Lastly, I used the pen tool to create a path and typed the artist's name and song title along that path to complement the flow of the image. I chose colors that matched the overall color scheme and added an outer glow that harmonized with the tones used in the image.

I struggled the most with achieving the splatter effect. Finding the right brush size in relation to the subject and selecting the appropriate angle to achieve my desired effect proved to be more challenging than I initially anticipated. I went through a lot of trial and error and made significant progress, but I plan to keep working on it until I get it just right—practice makes perfect, or at least close to it! 😉

Creative Challenge 19

Hello! I’m glad you stopped by! Are you ready for another creative challenge? I have recently finished reading *Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain*, and I found it incredibly helpful and inspirational. I highly recommend it! However, I believe it's time for me to explore other creative challenges and resources outside of this book, so this will be the last exercise I share from it. Today, I’d like to introduce you to a fun challenge that helped me get my creative juices flowing. It’s called  "What's Next?"

The challenge is designed to encourage us to examine patterns and disrupt the automatic flow our brains tend to follow. This involves taking two given sentences that establish a pattern and then introducing a third sentence that diverges from our assumptions about what should happen next.

The following five examples each provide an initial line and a second line. The challenge is to create a third line that is unexpected and breaks the pattern our brains try to complete. Ready? Here we go!

1) A man walks into a bar.

2 An angry woman with a bat follows behind.

3) The woman asks the man " Would you like to play baseball with my friends and me?"

1) A kid gets on the bus to school one morning.

2) The door closes when he realizes there's a grizzly bear in the back of the bus.

3) The kid approaches the bear pointing at the seat next to the bear and asks" Is this seat saved?"

1) A man finds an iPod in the streets.

2) It has a note attached that says "Play me".

3) The man hits the play button  and hears this message will self-destruct in 3, 2, ....." BOOM!.

1) A Woman. is preparing a TV dinner one night.

2) The woman opens the dessert portion of her dinner.

3) The woman reveals a black hole and was never seen again.

1) A man stumbles across a convenience store robbery.

2) He sees the man about to run out the door carrying a large duffel bag that is very full.

3) He asks the man with the duffel bag " Do you need help with your bags?"

Creative Challenge 18

Hello, hello :)! We meet again for another creative challenge. This week, I found one that I decided to include my nephew in. I found this challenge in what is becoming one of my favorite books, Caffeine For The Creative Mind: 250 Exercises For The Creative Mind. This creative exercise is called Where's This Going?

In this challenge you are to begin writing a story but just the introduction. Then you pass the paper to the other person ( it works even better if you get two or three people in on the action ;). ) Each person is to write two sentences. The person you pass the paper to then reads the last sentence and adds two more sentences. You take turns back and forth until you fill-up the entire page. The only rule is no leading or hinting at what the person should write after you pass the story to the next person.

My nephew and I had a lot of fun. We even decided to make the story rhyme, which made it a bit more challenging and fun simultaneously. We found it incredibly challenging not to say anything while the other was writing haha. We were bursting at the seams trying to contain ourselves.

This is so silly but here is what we came up with.

The White Knight By Charity and Lee

It was a beautiful night. The stars are shown bright. There was a white knight, reaching new heights. As he climbed to the summit he felt sick to his stomach. The raunchy feeling, made him look to the ceiling. He dropped to his knees; begging god, please!? The Lord said, "Put on a jacket or you will Freeze!" But the princess; fair of face, attacked him with a can of mace! The knight then looked at the woman with red in his eyes and said "Woman, you have met your demise!" The knight then rose to his feet; drawing his sword without missing a beat. He then shouted "Wench you don't know my keep, you don't know my streets. I'll kill you right now and not lose sleep. The princess pleaded for her life. The knight felt sorry and lowered his knife.

The End.