xXLaceyLuckerXx: February 2015

Memories On My Skin
Lacey Reid
Feb 19 '15

Lacey Reid

Memories on My Skin

Adobe Photoshop Elements

Feb 19 ‘15

TECHNICAL

For this project I used burning, dodging, and layer blending. I used burning and dodging to fix up the photos of Brandon (left side) and David (right side) to make them look more professional and I used layer blending to make the puppy in the top right corner not stand out as much. I also used layer blending to make Brandon (left side), fit better into the piece as a whole.

IDEA OR CONCEPT

The idea behind the piece to show my experience at the Vans Warped Tour. I wanted to include photos of the bands I saw and other music related pictures to emphasis the fact that Warped Tour is a music festival. I used other cute pictures, ex: the puppy in the top right corner and the sleeping star in the bottom right corner, to show how I was feeling throughout the day. Happy, tired and excited!

The one idea that changed while I was putting the piece together was the idea of having only one actual band member included, which was going to be Brandon (left side). As I continued to work I felt the right side needed someone as well so I added David. I really liked the way it looked with him in it so I decided to keep it that way. By doing this I had to change where I was going to place the puppy and I also had to mess with the opacity of the sleeping star until it looked right.

Another idea I had was to liquefy the background image and make a new layer out of it. This added a wavy effect to the background and helped to complete the motion of the piece as a whole.

INFLUENCES

When it comes to art I only have a few major influences, they’re not famous artists or anything but they still create some awesome and unique pieces as a hobby. These people are Angelo Parente, a tattoo artist and the former drummer of one of my favorite bands called Motionless in White, I really like his work, he designs clothing and tattoos, I don’t know what it is about his work that I like but everything he does has something there that just screams “Angelo!” Another person that influences my art is Davey Suicide. He’s the lead singer of his band, Davey Suicide, he paints as a side project and like Angelo all of Davey’s work has something that screams “Davey!” He likes to take famous people and paint them in his own way, you can still tell who he’s painting but it’s always somewhere between realistic and cartoony. Other people who influence my work are Andy Biersack, Brandi Annette and Michael Kuza.

All of these people influence my work. I’s hard to say exactly how they influence me though, I always have these people in mind when I’m working on something new but I think the way they influence me the most is through motivation. They’re all amazing at what they do and that motivates me to do better so one day I might be as good as they are.

MOTIVATION

Like I said before there are a lot of things that influence me and most are members of the bands I like or even their girlfriends, like Brandi who is the girlfriend of James Cassells drummer of Asking Alexandria. My motivation for this particular piece was how going to Warped Tour and meeting some of my favorite bands in person affected me. I can’t remember a time that I’ve ever been as happy as I was when I was at Warped. I felt at home and accepted, everyone there was like me in a way we all bonded over the fact that we liked the same music and that none of us were easily accepted by our peers or the people around us. At Warped Tour we all accepted each other no matter what we wore or how we looked, it was like you were suddenly part of this big family of outcasts that actually understood you! It was an amazing feeling! By using Warped Tour as my main focus of the piece I got to relive that experience and I also get to share it with others who see my work.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

I really like the way the liquefied background layer looks and how it added to the flow of the piece I feel like it worked out really well even though I was only messing around and trying out the liquefication tool. I also feel like the music notes on the ledger lines ties the whole thing together and just completes the flow of the piece as a whole.

I was surprised to find how much changing one little aspect of a photo could affect it! In some cases you don’t have to do much to make a photo look professional or more put together than it originally was.

With additional time I think I might have played with the colors a bit more and tried to use mostly red, yellow, and blue seeing as those are the Vans Warped Tour official colors. It would have just added to the emphasis I was putting on the idea of being at Warped.

Media Arts Skins Feb 06 '15

Brainstorming

-Warped Tour

-Meeting the bands

-Watching the sets

-Talking to band members

-Getting pictures and signatures

Photos

1. Me and Get Scared

2. Mercedes from Courage My Love (Taken by me during their set)

3. Brandon from Courage My Love (Taken by me during their set)

4. Inflatable Schedule

5. Warped Tour Logo

First Time Warped Tour Experience

This past summer, (2014) I went to the Vans Warped Tour for the first time. My mom got me tickets for my birthday, and I couldn't wait to go! The drive down to Toronto was long and boring, but I occupied myself with making little vlogs (Video Logs) to post on Twitter later.

When we got there, we dropped off our donation at the “Feed the Children” tent and received our "skip the line" bracelets. After we were in we went straight to main stage to see Motionless in White's set. Due to problems at the border, the schedule was a little messed up so they only had time for 3 songs. After seeing them preform I dragged my mom to their merch tent where I got a "meet and greet" pass from their merch girl, Allie. After meeting Motionless in White, my mom and I went to the other side of the venue where the "Ernie Ball" stage was set up and there I met, Kevin Ghost and Alix Monster from Ghost Town and Mercedes Arn-Horn and Brandon Lockwood of Courage My Love. The next set we watched was, A Skylit Drive, and after that, Courage My Love. We took a quick lunch break before going back to the main stage to see, Breathe Carolina. Unfortunately we had to leave before Breathe Carolina finished their set in order to make it to the "Kevin Says" stage to see, Get Scared and Beartooth.