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SECOND UNIT
Name: Oscar Landgren
Class: 9KAL
My hand-drawn Mandala | My Digital Mandala |
I experimented with my |
Introduction:
During this second unit, we learned a different digital tool called Adobe Photoshop where you could take an image or several, and change everything about it from the saturation to the brightness to even the filters and tones. It is a huge application with lots of windows and menus to choose from. We started by looking at the different tools (although only the basic) to change a particular image. We then tried these new tools to create a sort of Mandala, to begin with, so we can see how we could use these tools to create a Mandala. Finally, we then explored more menus, windows and tools to start experimenting with our digital Mandala.
This unit links with our first Global Perspectives (GPers) unit where we learned about our personal culture. We conducted research into sexuality, gender, stereotypes, identities, cultures and the debate of nature versus nurture. For our reflection and summative task, we were asked to create a Mandala in which one side was our sun side and the other the shadow. Similar to the concept of the Yin and Yang in which there are two components that represent a whole, the sun side represents what’s visible and projected while on the other hand, the shadow represents the side that’s hidden and may be deeper in meaning. This unit is very similar to that unit as we were also asked to create a Mandala, although a digital one, and show in a unique way our 6 symbols that represent us as a whole. Furthermore, I have used Photoshop in the past at my previous, previous school (Western Academy of Beijing or WAB) where I used it for educational purpose in a Design Technology unit.
Selection of images:
In order to ensure that I was not breaking copyright, I had to do two very crucial things. Firstly, for some images such as the one with the Earth:
I had to use a tool in google images called “Labeled for non-commercial reuse with modification,” meaning that the images I chose could be modified as long as I don’t make money off of it. Furthermore, I also had to follow 4 points of ‘Fair Use’ which are:
- New meaning to the work, therefore, making it original
- Only use a part of the image
- Use it in a totally different way and rework it.
- I do not make money off it (nonprofit purposes)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth
http://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/owl
As you can see, my image looks slightly similar but it follows the four points of ‘Fair Use’. Firstly, this is for educational purposes and I am using it to create a digital Mandala for school work. This photo was at first, nature photographic image whose purpose was for a zoo in San Diego. Furthermore, I am only using a part of the image and have modified it a lot by using brightness, saturation and filters. Finally, this work is definitely not for profit purposes, therefore, following all the points of ‘Fair Use’.
My Digital Mandala:
Critical Understanding:
Although the process of the hand-drawn Mandala took a really long time, the actual creating process took only one night as all I needed to do was to draw the six symbols thus making the digital Mandala the longest to create (2 weeks). The digital Mandal took the longest as I really wanted to follow the four points of ‘Fair Use’ and so I tweaked a lot of the images to make follow the rules. In addition to that, there was a lot of work to keep editing the Mandala (even though there is no end and an end to a digital work is where the creator says stop) to look clean rather than a bunch of images distorted in a way that would look extremely abstract (although the creation itself is a type of abstract art). Therefore it was quite a challenge to achieve a decent creation that followed copyright laws. However, the hand-drawn Mandala was very difficult to draw but it was much quicker. Furthermore, I used it to represent symbols and ideas that uncover my identity. The sun and shadow sides are actually on separate sides and are meant to seem unified instead of separated as this represents the struggle but also the unification of two or more sides. To represent this, the seed on the sun side eventually grows into a plant on the shadow side. Even though there are a variety of aspects that make up my and your identity, there is usually opposite to that similar to the concept of the Yin and Yang. I wanted to also express that our identities are made up of many components. I also I tried the same thing on my digital one where my shadow side was darker to explicitly show the sun and shadow side. The seed grows into a plant and although the other images on the shadow side are dark, the plant is slightly lighter in order to show the unification. In other words, this hand-drawn Mandala was much more symbolic and reflected more of my personality both because I did everything myself and the process I went was really inspiring. Therefore I like the symbolic element of my hand-drawn one but I definitely like the look of the digital one. With the huge resource and potential of a digital created Mandala, I have been able to create a work of art that to most people would think is a decent one. They do not look that similar but you can see where I got the elements from and how I was influenced by my hand-drawn Mandala. Moreover, most people I asked would say that (like me) the digital one looks better. The digital one blends the elements really well while the hand-drawn one is quite separated as drawing something similar and in comparison to the digital would be too difficult and too much to draw. Finally, although the hand-drawn Mandala has enabled me to reflect on the ideas about identity, the digital mandala is a more elegant and an attractive piece.