Adobe Illustrator CS6 Lotus Drawing

Final graphic image in png file format

Original image used

I saved my final file as a png file. I did this because png is a lossless file format. This means that a png file looks for patterns in the image to create algorithms to save file space; instead of saving each individual pixel. The compression that occurs in a png file is reversible so it can be recovered exactly.

The first step I took to create this image was to first find a jpeg image that I felt would be capable of coping in Illustrator. Once I found my image I drag and place it into the first layer of my file. I then locked this layer. I used the pen tool with a gradient colour filter to create the shapes. I then, using the pen tool, I created shapes on top of the image mimicking the actual look of the image the best I can. I used gradient tool to create realistic light and shadow throughout my image. Once I was done I dragged, placed and resized some shapes that I had create on top of my original image to fill in wholes and to make it look more realistic. Lastly I saved as a png. 

Once I had fully completed my image, before saving I noticed there were plank spots in between my created shapes. I noticed this once I took away the original image I was layering everything on top of. This was challenging because I really didn’t know what to do about this except start over. But realizing that I did not have very much time left I felt the best decision t6o make was to resize and position some of my shapes to fill in those gaps.

I am pleased with my final result mainly because I like original image and I felt I copied fairly well’ except now it looks more like a graphic instead of a photograph. 

Pixel Self-Portrait in Adobe Photoshop CS6

Gif. file version 

Png. file version 

After creating this piece I save the psd. (Photoshop file) two times, two different ways. On the left is the gif. file and on the right is the png. file. Both images side by side at their original image size of 100p x 150p look the same without any differences that I can see. When I zoomed in 5 times and compared them side by side again I did not see any change, I think this maybe because while creating this piece I kept my colour pallet to a minimum only using colouring change to show obvious differences in lighting and colour. I felt this was the best choice because the original photograph had very warm lighting and a lot of shadows. An example of this is how my eyes are purple in the pixel portrait yet in real life they are blue. This is the cause and effect of warm light; it turned cool colours such as blue into a deep purple.

Originally while creating this I wanted to accentuate my bright blue eyes, but because of the lighting I was not able to do so without making colour composition looking very out of place. I did not want this effect so half way through production I made the decision to keep my eye colour to the original colour pallet found in the image I was working on.  My hair is pretty much the same colour of a deep and warm brown. When I am in certain lighting you can see red undertones shine through my hair I believe that this happened in this image. Like I had said before the lighting I was in while taking this photo was very warm and it was also coming from my left hand side. I think that because of this lighting the red undertones were picked and displayed in the original photo. The interesting part of this is that while I was examining my photo more closely to be able to choose colours as close a possible to the original photo, I noticed that the red undertones did not come through as red but instead a very deep purple. I find this colour change very interesting.  While creating my pixel portrait my main goal was to accentuate the original and natural colours of the photos while at the same time keeping it simple. I was hoping this would give an interesting effect. I feel I have succeed.

As far as my technical procedure goes I used a photograph that I had previously taken without knowledge of this project. I took the picture my self (selfie) about two weeks before. I created an rbg file in Photoshop with a white background and 100 pixel by 150 pixel perimeters. I dragged the original photo into Photoshop through my desktop, positioned and sized it to my liking and then locked the layer. I worked on top of a single layer from then on applying each pixel using the pencil tool in a one pt. size. (Yes I applied  15,000 pixels; it wasn’t as difficult as one may think) I worked on one layer because then I could go over pixels that I have previously place in to the fastest and most effect way.  I felt time was important because I only has a few days to apply 15,000 pixels. Also because the file was only 15,000 pixels I knew that my file was not going to get overly large or contemplated. I selected my colour by using the eyedropper tool to pull colour from my original photo. I chose the colours by analyzing my photo and pulling the colour that I could see was appearing the most in a particular area.