For my artwork, I used Photoshop to mimic Sascha Braunig's techniques. Many of Braunig's pieces use oil and paint, but appear as if they were created digitally and that is why I chose to use Photoshop for this assignment. Her pieces use human figures and alter them through the use of color, texture and layering to create an unsettling feeling about normal attributes to humans. In a similar way, I used different line patterns to disguise and alter the basic human features of lips, hands, and feet. Braunig does not portray her work in sequence form and connect the pieces. However, I did this to show a new way to counter her work and add progression to it. The colors that I used helped to connect the pieces. As the pieces progress, the colors fade and gradually dull making the human elements less and less obvious and more and more ambiguous. I think that the portrayal that I used to present my pieces in a different way than Braunig typically does, highlights the unsettling feeling that Braunig aims for in her pieces.
I enjoyed working with Photoshop throughout this semester. In high school I took a digital art and design course where I got an introduction to Photoshop. With the work that we did throughout this semester, I was able to build upon the Photoshop skills that I acquired in high school. I have since been able to apply some of those skills to my work study position as a creative assistant for Messina.
I think something that could be approved upon for this class is clarity. There have been times where I was unsure of homework or what we were supposed to do for a specific project. Most notably, I never knew when we had blog postings due. Creating a guideline syllabus that covers the entire semester in the beginning of the year may help to clarify some of these issues as well as reminders at the end of classes.
