Final Process, Creating ‘The Sirens’
Taking my initial mermaid designs from responsive was something i decided to do, because for that project i had spent a large amount of time developing and refining these characters, and i felt that if adapted appropriately i could use them to inform my final ‘siren’ piece for 505.
- To change their appearance and adapt the style i was working in for 505, i selected the outlining layer of black and created a new layer with this - removing all of the coloured textured background. I then cut out sections of the new lack and white texture (example, left) and positioned behind my mermaid outline.
‘Sirens’ - adapted for greek mythology final piece - added texture and shading & refined bold black outline
‘Sirens’ - adapted for greek mythology final piece added texture and shading & refined bold black outline i really liked my new and improved mermaid designs, i think the texture and thickened lined really works well and fits with the visual quality of my completed ‘Charybdis’ design.
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Using the wacom tablet really allowed me to create small details such as highlights on the boat and sails
creating the background. selecting the black from the background and creating it as a separate layer to allow me to position texture behind. started off by inserting the background, and building up with the light to mid grey tones of texture.
I continued to build up layers - using some more interesting and varied textures - like the lines in this - provides movement and an underwater effect! - adding the sea (- above) - The details at the bottom of the sea took longer to cut out because there are lots of small objects. However as this is my last final piece, i have become a lot quicker with the process compared to the other two! I am actually really enjoying working digitally and feel more confident in my photoshop skills than i have before.
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(above) - adding details of shading and highlight are really helping to break up the image! The split perspective was something that previously didn't really work - but adding depth to the waves had helped to create a stronger perspective! i kept the under the sea section at the front lighter, whilst the waves gradually got darker and darker as they move into the distance.
Adding the mermaids.
 Initially i felt that this would be the easiest stage of the process, but it actually took quite a lot of time to get right. I found that detail on the mermaids perhaps clashed a little with the detail under the sea. I also wanted the mermaids to stand out, but it looked strange when they were supposed to appear as though they are underwater.
 i realised i needed another layer of blue to go over the mermaids, with a low opacity so as to not hide them completely. I also softened the surrounding underwater scene to make it more faded and distant looking.
My final ‘Sirens’ design. Overall i am pleased with how this piece turned out. I was nervous about the split perspective to begin with but i think this composition works, with the inclusion of shading depth is created and it makes sense. I do feel that in areas perhaps there is too much line detail, and in reflecting on my design i feel that reducing the detail and using thicker line in areas perhaps would have worked better. I also feel that in editing my mermaids separately, i wasn't able to judge how well the details contrasted with the background. - so in future it would be wise to keep checking that my components work together earlier, before reaching the end of the editing process.