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Media Arts Reflection

Media Arts Reflection                                                                                               February 19, 2015

The assignment was called, "Memories in My Skin". The focus of the assignment was to create a collage of photo's that related to a significant event that happened in our life. The significant event I chose was when my grandpa had a heart attack because, I will never forget that event where I could have lost someone I really care about. The medium I used was my grandpa's Facebook photo, various brushes I created using photo's and various photo's from Google images.

Technical
Some of the tools I used in the photo were, dodge/burn tool, layer blends, and colour balancing. Also I used a variety of opacity's to emphasize certain parts of the photo.  Furthermore I repeated some brushes so it was easier for the eye to move around the photo.

Idea/Concept
My idea for the photo was to show how his heart attack had affected me. When I first found out about it I was extremely upset and, later once other people started to find out about it, they began to try and help everyone else out who was taking the news hard. It allowed my family to become closer together and they prayed that he would recover from the heart attack. So, in the photo I tried to show that by, having faces crying, a father comforting his children and hands praying. I also included a picture of a doctor because of all the work he did to help my grandpa so he could live to see another day.

Influences
There was no particular artist that influenced me on how I designed this assignment.

Composition
I balanced the composition symmetrically by having around the same amount of dark and light pictures on each side. I emphasized the movement of the photo by having solid images "boarder" the photo. The movement that was intended was you start at his face in the bottom left, then move across the horizon line to the right, next you would go up the heart rate lines, continuing across the butterflies at the top and flow down the tears from the faces in the top left. made the movement path clear by making all of the objects darker than the rest of the photo so they would capture the eyes attention better.

Motivation
My personal motivation to complete this assignment was that my grandpa means a lot to me and since it was about him I wanted to make sure it was finished to the best of my ability. Also I planned on showing him the photo so he would know what I did with it. He knew I was doing it about him but he hasn't seen what it looks like.

Critical Assessment
The most elements that I think are the most successful are the layering, repetitive images/shapes and the eye movement. Some parts of the process that surprised me was how hard it was to find the right pictures that showed what I was trying to convey through the picture.

Significant Events In My Life

Significant Events In My Life:

• Grandpa's heart surgery after he had a heart attack.
• Going camping at Manitoulin Island
• Going to a Blue Jays Game for my birthday (lasted 18 innings)
• Traveling every winter with my grandparents since I was 8
• Watching my cousin grow up (from a baby - one year old)
• My brother getting the game winning puck (in a shoot out) from a Toronto Maple Leafs game

Last year, my grandpa's life was about to change drastically, but he didn't even know it. He was having chest/stomach pains so he went to the Walkerton hospital. Once he was there and saw the doctor, the doctor told him that it was just gas. A couple weeks later, he was working out at the Knights of Columbus Hall. He was there for 30 minutes and then his arms went numb and he started sweating badly. He left the Hall and went home to my grandma. She immediately took him up to the hospital. While he was in the hospital he had a small heart attack. Once they got him stabilized they air lifted him to St. Mary's hospital in Kitchener. 

A few days after he got to St. Mary's, my grandma brought me up to go see him. When I first saw him, I would never have thought that the man in that bed was my grandpa. His positive energy was drained right out of him, his face was droopy, but he still smiled once he saw me. They found out he had at least 3 clogged arteries in his heart and they may find more when they do the surgery. I didn't get to see him again until after the surgery was done. He had to get a quad bypass done so, they took arteries out of his leg and arms.  My grandma went up to see him the day after the surgery and she said he was back to his happy and cheerful self since he knew the problem was on it's way from being gone. I got to see him two days after the surgery but, when I was there, he wasn't how my grandma had told me he was the day before. He was in a lot of pain and didn't want to move at all, so we didn't stay as long as we usually did so he could rest. We found out later that day they mixed up his pain medication. They gave him the medication for at night during the day and that was the reason he was in so much pain because the night medication was weaker than the day time medication because he wouldn't be moving much while he was sleeping. He recovered quickly from the operation and the rehab they had him do at the hospital became easy for him to do. Once he was allowed to go home he had to take this pillow with him all the time. If he had to cough he needed to press the pillow against his chest so the stitches wouldn't pop open. Also he couldn't sleep in the bed for at least 6 months after the operation. He had to sleep out in the living room in his lazy boy chair.

I will never forget this event because I could have lost my grandpa and he means a lot to me. I see him as a roll model because he is kind and enjoys giving to the community.Also he has been there to help me when ever I needed it. I've done so many things with him since he had the surgery. Now he has changed is diet to make sure this doesn't happen again.

Eraser Art

Photoshop Brush Art

Ice Cube Filter