The name of my site is the groovy cat. I have a boutique by that name and I sell my art work on it. I want a link to all my different areas of work and also a spot just for custom orders because I do get a lot of requests for them.

So......what issue should I bring up first??? I worked very hard on this project as I know everyone did. I tried the cat but could not get the detail required for this project. So....I worked hard at creating one using a woman as a model. Back and forth I went from video, to my project, to the video, to the written instruction offered.....so....after doing 2 basically, I thought I pretty much could possibly manage to put one together without having to keep referring to the tutorials. Fast track this....as I was working to post my work, my computer (my new one) pooped out on me and the picture of the woman had not been saved to my drive yet..... Anywasy,,,, this is not my best work. But I did learn so much about masks and layers. Even without the perfection of my piece, I leave this assignment satisfied that I learned a huge amount about the features of PS. Now off to post my next work.....that I had to put together this week along with this one.......

Ok...so I am going to attempt a cat avatar.  The assignment said wife, husband, child, etc. Since I have no wife, husband, or children (by choice) I do have etc. I have a lot of etc's!!!  I have a back up plan just in case this does not work. The background is a picture I took at Letchworth Park. I plan on having a little fun with that too! Wish me LUCK!!!  Meow!

The artist I chose was Ani Difranco. The church is a 19th century cathedral located in Buffalo, NY. Ani purchased it in 1997 to save from demolition.  The black and white picture is Ani's logo for her Righteous Babe Records, a company she  started when she was 18.

Ani Difranco Book Cover

 The artist I chose is Ani Difranco.  This was an easy choice. This amazing woman not only creates beautiful, empowering music, she also built her own empire with her talent, ambition, and drive to do it on her own.  She started her own label, Righteous Babe, when she was 19 and has hosted a number of underground artists major labels shy away from.  Ani's lyrics are politically and socially profound, but also emotionally geared through past relationships and experiences. I have been listening to Ani for 20 years, and her music never fails to amaze me. She has never let the system eat her alive, she is commander in chief of her one woman army. She has something to say, and you can't help but listen

 

  For my book cover, I want to put Ani on the front. I am keeping it simple, with a matching background of the picture I am using. I believe she is a powerful being and that picture says everything about Ani that I want to portray. For the spine, I will put the symbol of her record label with the title of the book. The back cover I want to opaque the background of her studio, and layer the Righteous Babe label on top with the words inside of the label with a short description.

 



Social Awareness......STOP BUYING STUFF!!

So... here it is. Again, I am finding how much there is to learn, even about the basics of Ps.  It's an ever evolving process and I am trying really hard to take what I learn and apply it to my project. I truly feel we are killing Mother Nature, filling her with garbage and waste. Once the bag of garbage and recyclables leave our sight, who really thinks about where it's going as long as it's gone. With the growing population, and a world full of plastics, we have pretty much screwed ourselves out of habitats, extinction of species, and killing the place where our food source, our life force grows. I personally am not a consumer unless it is from the thrift store. My apartment is decorated with things that have packed and moved for almost 20 years. I am not about matching curtains, and keeping up with decorating trends. I like what I have, so I keep it. I go by the rule that if it doesn't feed me, keep me warm, or keep a roof over my head, I don't need it. We are killing our planet, our future, and ourselves.

  I still feel like an amateur, with Ps but the more I use it, the better I will become. It's hard when I want to spend time playing around with it but I have 4 more assignments due 4 days ago! As I continue on these modules, I hope that I can grow along with my projects.

social awareness sketch

I apologize for not posting this sooner. I thought that I had posted it last week, and when I went to post the final copy, I saw that the post of the sketch never went up. Anyway, my poster is about the world being littered with garbage, garbage from all over the world.  My concept is to have Mother Nature throwing up garbage all onto the Earth and have it surrounded by piles of more garbage.  I am passionate about the overconsumption and waste we are conditioned to become a part of. Do we really need that new tv, dvd, plastic crap molded knick knack?  Do we need to buy little plastic bottles of water? Where do we think it all goes? And why do so many seem to not care after they throw it out?  Products such as cars, electronics, toys, and so much more used to be made and built to last.  In today's world, it seems to be the complete opposite.  Everything seems to have a shelf life, made to last just long enough to pay for it, and then it's time to buy another one...another one of anything. I wish the world was not driven by the almighty dollar and we could go back to growing our own food, and trading and bartering for goods and services!

OK. So, this looks nothing like the sketches I put on here. The original pictures I picked, I had a hard time working with them. So I found different images and did the best I could. I stressed a lot about this project, because with all the information we have been given, I felt like I should know just what to do. Not true. I became overwhelmed but talked myself down when I realized that I am in an introduction to digital art class. I have never used Photoshop and so it does get a little scary but as I was working, I knew the more I use it, the more comfortable I will become with it. So, here you go, my first photomontage from Ps. Don't judge....lol...

The background is original image. I then cut the 100 dollar bill out of the picture and added a filter, changed the opacity over the background. I added the big mask, which I wish I had cut the eyes out of it and the little ones too. I took the paparazzi layer, changed the filter and layered over the masks. The two small masks I added. I used the same image, just flipping it. I wished that I had added more, all in a line overlapping, but I am happy I got this done!  I had a hard time with the text. I went back and watched the videos but still need to do some practicing with that. I used the color sample taking the reddish hue from the background. I wanted to make it as translucent as possible to give it more of an illusion look.  This was a tough project, but when I look at it, it's not too bad for my first time!
                                                                                                                                                            
                                                           royalmugshots.com

                                          courtesy of hdwallpapers.com

statueofryanne.com

uncoopted.com

oogeewoogee.com

 

Masquerade

photo credit to come with
finished project.

The name of my band is Masquerade. They are actually a rotating group of well known musicians that collaborated to form this band. The name comes from the fact that no one knows who the members are. They all remain anonymous. Being famous and recognizable from their craft, they wanted to make the music the forefront and not all the personal publicity that goes with it. Fed up with the industry's marketing the music with photo shoots, appearances, and corporate profit mongers. Masquerade engages their fans with their sound, and not their image. The first album, Listen, is a collection of songs written by each member, giving the album a range of styles and sounds.

Their thought process behind this project came after one of the member's band were approached to do a corporate sponsor ad while promoting their new album. “The promoting and marketing of today's music relies heavily on posing us in clothes we don't wear in front of a green screen with all of us looking far off in all directions. We wanted our music to be appreciated, not the image of what they want it to be perceived as. Music should sell itself...leave the lipstick and jean commercials to the actors and models.”

Part of the allure of this band is not knowing who the members are and trying to fgue it out. The music itself is strong and worth listening to again and again, but the mystery of the artist's identities makes ou want to keep listening just to try and figure it out. Masquerade is a rotation of artists that for at least a brief moment in their career, the can make music they love, without the pressure of the industry's demands.

The images I chose were masquerade masks, a woman saying shh, money, and paparazzi. The oversize picture of money I would use either on the background or a floor, sort of speak. Going to get creative and see what I can do!