Assignment 1 - Hello Card finished

Final Hello Design

This was the final design, it is a sort of dreamscape, incorporating things that make me feel positive, things that inspire me daily and also some examples of previous work. The envirionment is something I feel passionately about,  and can get lost in colours,  living things, the sand, sunshine and waterfalls, the elements at work. We grow vegetables at an allotment, and watching things grow from seed is constantly amazing if not always succesful. But there is so much man made stuff that should be incorportated... music (hence the dancing self), books (far too many to be specific), and I've also included some paints, pencils etc. I referenced Children's Laureate, Anthony Browne in this picture with fried egg plants, pencils and butterflies growing out of the ground, and icecream trees.  In an interview for the Lightbox at Woking Browne talks about Children as Natural Surrealists, - and hearing this interview gave me the idea of presenting the Card as a sort of Dreamscape which gave me the freedom to incorporate all these influences into one image . I chose my previous work based on styles I enjoy and materials I am confortable using but I was slightly hampered by needing the colours and textures to contrast with the main image, so anthying too bright or too detailed didn't work. I put the images together using Adobe Photoshop Elements, by cutting holes in the main picture and laying layers of images behind the holes. These are the ones that I chose...

My son at 18 months - pencil, charcoal pencil and chalk

Prague street in the ice - Oils

pencil and chalk on grey textured paper

Photo of Santa Monica Arches from UCLA photography course

Portrait - pencil, and smudging eraser

2 brothers, conte crayon and chalk

self portrait - monotype

Conclusions: I am happy that the final image actually communicates the cluttered nature of my brain!! I'm also happy that it shows the exuberance and enthusiasm that I feel for this course. I could have done it so many other ways, with darker undertones and some of the other ideas would have been pleasingly simple, and some showed a better sense of ambition. Most of these are detailed in the other Hello Post. I found this exercise a challenge but feel that I just about cracked it, in the end.