Adobe Illustrator

So...to those who follow this blog because they actually want to and not because they're my teacher checking to make sure I do my reflection assignments....we took pictures and traced over the lines in Adobe Illustrator to turn the pictures, rastor images, in to vector images. Then we created three different backgrounds for them: one with vector shapes from Illustrator, one with a gradient background (also in Illustrator), and one with "custom shapes" in Photoshop. Here they are in that order:

  

And now the response questions:

1) Reflect on your persistence throughout the project. Were you able to maintain focus and care while working through challenges?

Well, at first I had a challenge with painting the thing because I made all the lines into one big Live Paint group instead of the individual layers, but I soon remedied that. Really the only challenges were getting a plaid design on the shirt because it was a plaid shirt in the original picture and trying different brushes for the lines because the brushes made all the lines the same line weight, but yeah, I kept a cool head and worked through it as best as I could. I must say, I'm pretty happy with the result.

2) Reflect on composition design, line weight, brush choice, color harmonies, and background design.

I like how the composition came out...there's a focus point right behind my head....so yeah...As for line weight, I dealt with that as I made the lines. For brush stroke, after I experimented with different brushes, I discovered that it made all of my lines the same line weight. I didn't want to have to repeat all of my previous work, so I forwent a fancy brush and just kept the regular lines. Color harmonies, I tried to match the colors to the color of my clothes in the original picture. I used colors in the background and on the railing I'm holding in the picture that were supposed to be harmonious with the dark blue of my shirt. For background design, I used what I thought looked good, colors that were close to the color harmony with the dark blue, and things that represented me, such as the "heart" on my pocket in the last picture that's made out of a treble and bass clef because I love music.

3) Discuss successes and recommendations (if you were to complete the project again).

I like how the backgrounds and the plaid shirt came out. I'm proud of how the hair came out as well. The eyes could've been done better, along with the ears. I like the hands and how they line up with the railing.