Blog assignment #2: Sean

Image 3 above
Image 2 above
Image 1 above

Link-http://fx.worth1000.com/tutorials/161025/smoking-with-photoshop
I choose to add smoke to an image. I first uploaded my image, then set my foreground color to black. I then added smoke by going to filter, render, cloud. I then adjusted the color by clicking the fx botton on the layers pallet and changed the gradient degree from 100 to 85. That is what image 1 looks like after doing these steps. Next, I used a brush tool, the instructions said any would work, and I added a mask and removed the excess clouds. That is my image 2. Finally, I added a cigar to the image and a little more smoke to create my final image. If you are unsure on how I was able to achieve any of my steps, please just click the link and it will provide you with step by step details.

Blog #3 Big Idea Freedom

When I think about freedom, there are multiple images that pop into my head. I think of America, soldiers, flags, Toby Keith,the pursuit of happiness, eagles, flight, and having a choice. Things that lack freedom to me are rules, prison, handcuffs, confinement, terrorism, cages, dictators. Freedom does not come free and it can be taken away at any point. Freedom needs to be protected or it will be taken. It is something that can be dependent on one's own perception of themselves. A prisoner can be free if he chooses to.

Blog Assignment #1

I will talk about the dennotations and connotations of the work Stairway to Heaven by Igor Scekic. First the dennotations from Stairway to heaven. Their is a coffin with no body in it. Out of the coffin is an illuminated cloud of smoke that turns into a stairway. The stairway leads to what is thought to be heaven. It is a group of white puffy clouds, with big arches and a man holding his arms wide open. The man is a dark shadowy figure with a bright white light behind him. The background is dark, but there is a light under the coffin that may be a candle.

The connotations of this work are as follows. This piece of art is the representation of one mans journey after death. He has just made it past the stairs and the gates of heaven have been opened for him to walk in. The stairway to heaven is a christian belief of the final journey before entering heaven.