My pictures usually begin with some notes in my sketchbook, which I always take notes in, but in which I almost never make sketches. Sometimes I have a clear image in my mind of what I want to make, but I have no idea what that image means. Other times I have the title of the picture scribbled on a piece of paper, but no idea how I want it to look. In the case of the image being presented today, I had a clear idea of how I wanted it to look, but I had no idea if it had any intellectual depth. Whenever I come across these situations, I always err on the side of creation, and make the picture anyway. I assume that if the picture looks interesting enough, the meaning will float up from my subconscious through the process of creation.
I want the artwork I make to appeal to the viewer on multiple levels. I don’t just want my work to be interesting to look at; I want it to be thought provoking and/or emotionally moving as well. Held in balance between eye candy and mind candy is where I want my work to live, and my working process is constantly struggling to find that balance.
When I arrive on a scene, the first thing I do is figure out exactly how I want to frame my picture. I then take some test shots with my digital camera; this makes sure I have the correct exposure before I load up the film and begin shooting.
After the shoot, I drop off my film at a lab, where they process and make high-resolution scans of the entire roll for me. I have to scan the entire roll of film, because I never know until I start the collage process which frames I will need. After getting my film back from the lab, I import all the frames into Lightroom and make my initial edits. Lightroom is where I also decide which of the figures have the strongest presence, as well as which background I want to use.
The collage process always begins with the background. Often times, I like to start with a clean background, and remove the people in the frame before I start pasting the different Johnnys in. But, in the case of this picture, there were so many people in the background that I decided to put off that part of the post-production process until the end.
After laying down the background, the next step is to start pasting in the key frames. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I find that the success of these picture oftentimes depends on a clear central figure. I like to call this central figure the "hero," and the hero is sometimes put in opposition to another figure, the "antihero."
After the potential key players are established, I then begin to fill in the rest of the frame with supporting characters. Initially, I like to start with a large supporting cast. Towards the end, I will edit out any unnecessary figures.
I then begin the masking process. This is, by far, the most time-consuming portion in the making of a World of One image. From their original frames, I cut out each figure, along with its shadows and reflections in quick mask mode, and match it with my background. The key is to use as little of the frame as needed, which helps build consistency throughout the illusion.
I like to begin this process from the background to the foreground so I know which parts of the figure I need to trim more closely because it overlaps with another figure. The masking process needs to be done with meticulous attention to detail otherwise the illusion will be less effective.
I generally try to resist the urge to completely edit out any figures before the initial collage is finished. It’s hard to tell which figures are worth keeping until the initial composite is complete. For me, making this distinction is one of the more difficult aspects of the process. I always feel like deleting figures earlier will mean less work, and therefore less pain, in the end. That’s usually not the case, though.
After I have masked in the supporting cast, I then try to remove as many excess figures as I can, while still maintaining the composition that I want. Over the years, I've learned that having more figures can make the frame look overly and unnecessarily crowded. I’ve learned that keeping as few guys in the picture as I can, while still maintaining the original idea and dynamic for the composition, is the key to making a successful picture.
With the final cast in place, I am ready to remove the people from the background.
Lastly, I crop the image so that all the elements will fit in the frame as one cohesive unit. This is also when I give the image a title, if it doesn't have one already. Titling the piece is often either the first or the last thing I do, depending on how the creation process for that particular picture began.
Somnium (from the series World of One)
Somnium is the Latin word for "dream," but, according to Google, it can also mean daydream, fancy, and nonsense. It also happens to be the title of the first science fiction book ever written. I named it as such in part because I look clueless in this picture; but also I feel that art, like life, doesn't always have to make sense to be meaningful. There's a whole universe of stuff out there that we will never get around to understanding in our lifetime. But that’s okay -- we don’t have to completely understand something in order to be inspired by it. Rather, I find that inspiration more often comes from not knowing.
A big thank you to Jenn Boudreau for assisting the button pushing portion of this shoot!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment