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SECTION 6 - SURREAL PORTRAIT

SUMMARY

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One of the most enjoyable uses for Photoshop is to distort reality and look at things differently. Whether looking on social media, reading an advertisement, or watching a show with graphics, you can find influences from Photoshop. Exaggerated views of people, places, and things often used for shock value or humor can often tell a story with an exciting twist. This project will inspire you to twist reality and challenge your view of the normal to create a surreal work of art.

PART ONE - THE HISTORY OF SURREALISM

Surrealism & Compositing

Surrealism is an art form that is perfect for Photoshop compositing.

First, let’s take a look at some history….

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What is Surrealism?

"Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.”

-Salvador Dali

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Some facts about Surrealism

  • The 1920s-1930s

  • Surrealism was influenced by psychology

  • Writing, art, and film

  • Surrealism explored the subconscious areas of the mind and tried to depict dreams or random thoughts.

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Features of Surrealistic Art

  • Dream-like scenes and symbolic images.

  • Unexpected, illogical juxtapositions.

  • Bizarre assemblages of ordinary objects.

  • Automatism and a spirit of spontaneity.

  • Games and techniques to create random effects.

  • Personal iconography.

  • Visual puns.

  • Distorted figures and biomorphic shapes.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF SURREALISM

PART TWO - CREATE YOUR SURREAL PORTRAIT

POINTS TO CONSIDER

What is your idea?

  • Start with a well-thought-out creative idea. Throwing two random things together doesn’t necessarily qualify as surreal.

  • Use QUALITY photographic images from magazines- not cartoons or illustrations.

  • Avoid images from popular cultures such as famous people, name brands, and retail products that will distract the viewer.

  • Consider background, middle ground, and foreground.

Ideas for your Surrealist Collage

  • Change the normal scale of objects (ex: a car the size of a living room or bugs the size of people)

  • Turn the accepted order of things upside down (ex: dogs walking people instead of people walking dogs)

  • Mix internal and external space (ex: trees growing in a kitchen, seeing the inside and outside of   an object at the same time)

  • Transform one object into another (ex: a car turning into a fish, an animal turning into a person)

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PROJECT INSTRUCTIONS

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  1. Start by making a New Document. Size: 11"x17" @ 150 DPI

  2. Create an imaginary, dreamlike composition (see examples below)

  3. Must include:

    1. Background

    2. A picture of yourself against the green screen in a "unique" pose. Just don't stand there!

    3. 10 objects (people, animals, props, trees, cars, etc….basically anything that you have to place in the image outside of type)

  4. Place yourself in your surreal landscape with your background objects

  5. Filters and Adjustments

  6. Consider looking up a new Photoshop technique on YouTube to create Surreal effects

  7. Upload your finished project to the assigned page on Schoology

  8. Don't forget to review the rubric to make sure you are meeting all of the project requirements!

SURREAL IMAGE EXAMPLES

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP SURREAL PORTRAIT TUTORIAL PLAYLIST
RESOURCES

Blending Images in Photoshop

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Basics of Photoshop

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Layers in Photoshop

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Creating a Surreal image in Photoshop

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Student Goal:

Whether working in Video, Photography, or Graphic Design, having skills in Adobe Photoshop is a must-have in your digital toolbox. Adobe Photoshop is the industry-standard image editing app and can also create animations and add effects to video and graphic art pieces. This project will introduce students to the basics of this program and how to create artwork with it.

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Student Objective:

After completion of the lecture and the class exercises, the students will develop a poster on the theme of the art movement of Surrealism which began in the 1920s and was made famous by artists like Salvador Dali

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Lesson/Project Overview:

This project will give you an in-depth tutorial on creating an image file in Photoshop and the many imaging formats you can save it as. You will also learn the basic corrections used like levels, white and color balance, selecting and creating layers, and filter effects using the filter gallery

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Lesson/Project Task List:

201 Use graphic software to create, format, and edit documents. 

202 Change application settings and manage files within a graphic software application. 

203 Prepare files for appropriate output.

209 Elements of design (line, shape, texture, mass, form, color etc.).

​404 Apply basic principles of exposure.

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Total Hours To Complete:

(10 Days - 20 Hours)

 

FINISHED STUDENT EXAMPLES

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