Add, Subtract, Substitute, Superimpose

The very first 4D assignment! To be honest, inspiration had started to hit me when the professor was going through the project brief. Initially, my plan was to find a female model holding and spreading her skirt, then apply the techniques. I wanted to have raindrops falling from her skirt, but then realized that the emotive quality of the image was lost. So, I changed to a different model.

TOOLS USED: Photoshop CS6, Paint Tool SAI

RAW IMAGE

I took the model off the Uniqlo Styling Book:

raw image

ADDITION

I added watercoloured raindrops and clouds to the image. I wanted to achieve a sense of melancholy.

add

SUBTRACTION

I removed the eyes of the model and blended the area with a skin tone. I felt that the finished product had a sense of “numbness” to it.

subtraction

 

SUBSTITUTION

Searched up a picture of a watercoloured white tiger and substituted the model’s face with the tiger’s face. Looks pretty calm-angry.

substitution

 

SUPERIMPOSITION

For this, I looked for metal and shattered glass textures. Used a clipping mask and edited the layers so that the textures would be a screen over the model.

superimposition

 

SUMMARY

  • The overall theme is mixed emotions – sadness/gloom, melancholy/cold, anger/irritation and fragility. However, the last image shows a contrast: strength and fragility.
  • The series of images are to express the negative emotions that a person may have bottled up inside.
  • Thoughts and emotions cannot be read by another; one must vocalize their thoughts to get others to understand them. (the manipulation of one’s appearance is up to imagination, while the lady’s face, in reality, is constant).
  • Regarding the last image: emotions of a person cannot be seen as black and white. One can be fragile in some situations while be strong in another.

 

PERSONALLY…

As an INFJ-A (a pretty emotionally stable person), I find it tough to relate when someone gets extremely angry or sad when it comes to small matters. So this project is in my view — a lens in where the emotions of a person is perceived and imagined by me.

Doing this project was fun! I really liked how the substitution image turned out.

[TIME TAKEN: approx. 1 hour]