Blogs

Over the weekend of Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th February we are offering five, Taster courses which provide an opportunity to explore a new discipline or have concentrated time in a subject which is familiar. The courses will be relevant to newcomers and both Foundation and Intermediate students. Places range from 12 – 20 depending on the course. The course fee includes the key materials required.
Note: we require a minimum of 11 students to run each of the courses.

This weeks we took time to review what we had covered in class and start to
use multiple tools to create different effects.

We covered creating brushes and patterns from our own images and combine
this with the use of filters to create multi layered images which
incorporated photographic imagery and emulated drawings.

We also looked at using and creating our own textures within our images.

Further to this we also looked at rendering a background, quick mask and
using half tone pixilation to create a different look to our objects.

Next week we will be covering the vector too

This week we looked at the impact, options and limitations that are
available for text within your website.

As with imagery you will appreciate that the shape, form, style, colour,
weight and typeface all effect the mood and feel of the page. The obviously
needs to be in line with the overall objective of the website.

This week we looked at using the editing tools such as brushes and erasers
to create more dynamic images.

We also looked at creating you own brushes and patterns which could be used
within the designs.

Regards
Bill King

Tel.

This week we looked at the importance and the option that are available when
producing Images for the Web.

The main points were..

* Create maximum visual impact.
* The various image formats
* Points to watch such as .. download time and bandwidth limitations
* Importance of colour and shape in creating a mood and harmony within
the site
* The effect of transparency in the imagery
* Tools available to create effective images.

Regards
Bill King

Tel.

This week we looked at the editing tools in Photoshop and also had another
Studio Photography session for those who were interested.

As mentioned in the class the editing tools can work on two levels. Firstly,
as a simple editing function which can be used to correct or enhance
photographs. Secondly the tools can also be used as a creative medium.

We looked at each tool in turn and while the healing tools could make
corrections to an image we also found some innovative uses for the Patch
healing tool.

This week we consolidated on what we covered in previous classes.

We used the example files to create a new site based on a Popeye cartoon
theme.

We also used Photoshop to create a background. We will be covering more of
this in future classes.

Along with this we also produced a drop down menu system in a very simple
manner using Dreamweaver.

We will be covering this again in future classes but one point that I would
like to highlight was the speed of production.

This week we looked at Smart filters and adjustment layers. Hopefully you
will have seen that this provides a non destructive way to modify your
images.
This also means that you are able to apply and modify your filters
independently of each other. All round a much better approach to filters and
adjustments.

Bill King
Powershock Ltd

This week we concentrated on site navigation and the importance of how the information is presented to the site viewer.

We also created a multi-page site and began uploading our sites to our web server.

Links to user space...

http://st0.parallel-art-school.org.uk/ - Demo

http://st1.parallel-art-school.org.uk/ - Chris

http://st2.parallel-art-school.org.uk/ - Payal

http://st3.parallel-art-school.org.uk/ - Donna

http://st4.parallel-art-school.org.uk/ - Anna

http://st5.parallel-art-school.org.uk/ - Leticia

We are scheduled to cover Layers tonight, which is quite a fundamental and necessary part of Photoshop. We are also going to have the photography studio open for anyone who wants to have a go in the studio.

The plan is that I will go through the presentation and demonstration of Layers starting at 7pm sharp and then you can start applying the techniques to your work. At around 7:30, anyone who wants can come through to the studio and we can have a play with the equipment. Steve will be in the computer lab all night to provide help and support to any one who wants.