Cartography is the practice and study of making maps, unifying science, aesthetics and technique, cartography communicates spatial information. In light of this practice I used an analog drawing as the foundation to map out an invented comprehension of light in Photoshop. I used photography to better comprehend, explore and manipulate value, light logic and surface textures digitally. Although I did not create a map in the traditional sense, I applied the concepts/science of light, aesthetics and technique to communicate the way light falls upon objects and how we translate that to the viewer upon a two dimensional surface.
Adobe Photoshop
Process
The first step towards creating the digital grisaille was creating an analog drawing on paper with charcoal. After sketching the general proportions, I identified each shadow and light mass within my reference model and used compressed charcoal to fill in the shadows. We had freedom with the background, so I chose to incorporate both light and shadows to elevate the pragnanz/closure within my figures. In this practice of developing such a high contrast drawing, I realized how visually important the Gestalt principles can be in a body of work, while still paying attention to the hardness and softness of certain lines and shadows.
Creating the digital version of my drawing was the most challenging part of the project for me. Using the lines that I drew from the vanishing points, I filled in individual rectangles with varying shades of grey to add a sense of depth and realistically portray the lights and shadows. We had to ensure that each piece of the blocks fit together using tools like transform, distort, mask, lasso, magic wand, etc. It was a meticulous process of filling shapes, distorting them, and adding feathered shadows. Through this part, I was able to further explore Gestalt principles and the way light and shadow interacts in digital drawing.
Utilizing masks to add texture and different surfaces was the last step before creating a digital layout to present our piece. Our professor Daina told us to take 30 pictures of interesting surfaces around us and choose 3 out of those 30. I chose to play with tree bark, a Rimowa exhibition, and the inside of the elevator within my final Photoshop file. I explored three types of masking: quick mask, clip masks, and layer masks, and then played with the filters to produce the most realistic looking figure. After finishing my digital grisaille, I explored with composition and typography within Photoshop to produce the final layout that I was satisfied with, which is shown below. Overall, this project was challenging yet very effective in teaching me how to use Photoshop in a variety of ways, and I can definitely see myself utilizing everything I learned here in future projects.