Dylan Cole

For a very long time my idol in the realm of digital imagery has been Dylan Cole. Cole is a matte painter working out of the U.S and has done work on a large number of blockbuster films including Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Pirates of the Carribean and 2012.


Dylan Cole

I find Cole's work to be so inspiring. While matte painting is traditionally used as backing imagery for films, the still image presented in these instances can still show us so much. I often find myself staring at an image of Cole's, exploring the nuances of each image.

I love the idea of an image that makes me want to be there. I know this desire has fueled my interest in landscape photography, and it drives my interest in matte painting type work because I know that these locations dont really exist, but I often can't help but think how interesting it would be to see these places with my own eyes.

Cole has stated on many occasions that his primary influence for his style is the work of artists of the Hudson River School, primarily Albert Bierstadt and Frederic Edwin Church (Blog entires on these will follow, I highly respect the work of these artists)

Here are a few examples of Coles work

Research Methodology

Section 1: Folio Development

1.1 Background

- Brief outline of my photographic interests.
- Outline of the work i chose to do this semester, and what led me to choose it.
- Discussion of where I think I will end up career wise.
- Establishing my Photoshop tutoring business.
- Benefits of being an A.C.E for my future career.

1.2 The Semester's Work

- Keep a record of shoots undertaken, document successes and failures
- Keep copies of in-progress Photoshop work, including unused versions of images
- Planning vs improvising and its effects.
- Adapatation and revision based on comments, advice and research.

1.3 Final Work

- Evidence of influences on my work.
- Self critique and evaluation processes.
- Evaluation of perceived skill with actual skill.

Section 2: Context

- Blogging of research undertaken. (inspiring photographers, artists, styles etc)
- Evidence of personal inspiration, factors in my life that have influenced my work.
- Compare and contrast my favourite artists, what I like about their work and what I dont.
- Blogging of any additional sources of inspiration - music, video games, movies etc.

Section 3: Industry

- Research photographers/artists who do this type of work.
- Summarise/discuss the outcomes of my work experience.
- Recap on interesting outcomes and discussions from workshops.
- Contact as many relevant photographers/artists as possible. This will include non-local photographers/artists to give scope to the potential for work.
- Reflect on the time spent at CIT and how prepared I feel to enter the industry.

Semester Goals

At the beginning of 1st year, I must say my photographic passion lay with landscapes, macros and composite work. My idea of great photography lay with the works of photographers like Ansel Adams, Ken Duncan and Peter Dombrovskis. As time has gone on, I have found myself more and more drawn to composite style work over all others, specifically the work of artists like Alexia Sinclair. I have also been strongly influenced by digital matte painters like Dylan Cole, Yannick Dusseault and Chris Stoski.

Having had a keen interest in Photoshop since I was about 12 years old, I am setting out to make composite work my number one priority. Having the freedom in 3rd year to make more choices about the work we do is allowing me to pursue this avid interest.

For a long time, i have had a strong interest in imagery that cannot simply be photographed, it must be created. Making choices about what to put into an image, take out of it, or simply refine and modify is a great tool for creative expression.

Goals for this semester

- Become an A.C.E. (Adobe Certified Expert) in Photoshop.
This is my number one goal, and a goal I will also most likely achieve very soon.
(I have now achieved this goal, I have passed the ACE test and am now a Certified Expert in Photoshop, very proud of this achievment.)

- Establish a Photoshop tutoring business
This is currently in the works, and will be launching in the near future.

- Expand my Photoshop skill set.
- I really see my future lying somewhere in the realm of extensive Photoshop usage. I want to expand on my current capabilities and knowledge to further my creative vision.

When we finally close the curtain on 3rd year, ideally I would like to work in any area that involves doing large scale composite work, i.e designing book covers, DVD covers, advertising work etc. I will also continue tutoring depending on time.

Alexia Sinclair

Amongst my all time favourite digital artists, Alexia Sinclair is a digital photographic artist based in Sydney, NSW. Highly regarded for her photomanipulation work, Sinclair takes a very holistic approach to her work, prefering to do as much of the work as she can. This involves travelling to exotic locations to photograph background plates, designing costumes, finding props and doing all the post production on her images. Sinclair's work is often dark, woven with rich history, and always wonderfully executed. Sinclair combines an absolute myriad of photographic elements into a complex montage of illustrative wonderment and fantasy, blending historical fact with modern concepts of beauty and power.


Alexia Sinclair


First of her most famous and celebrated works is "The Regal Twelve". This series explores and portrays powerful women throughout the centuries, both well known and obscure. This series portrays woman such as Marie Antoinette, Isabella of Spain and Cleopatra. Alexia uses strong symbols of power in these images, be it a weapon such as a sword, or an intimidating animal such as a lion, as a way of expressing the dominance of these figures.


Cleopatra - The Seductress


Catherine the Great - The Enlightened Empress


Elizabeth Báthory – The Countess of Blood

Her most recent series,"The Royal Dozen" (sister series to "The Regal Twelve") explores powerful and influential men throughout history. These lavishly decorated images explore figures such as Vlad Draculea, Alexander the Great and Peter Romanov. Much alike her first series, intricate motifs are woven throughout each meticulousy crafted image, delving deep into the history of each character. Exploring the facets that made each of these men famous, Sinclair tells a detailed and well formulated story with every image in the series.



Napolean Boneaparte - Emperor of the French


Shah Jahan - King of the World


Hannibal - Grace of Baal

References
All images copyright Alexia Sinclair
Sinclair, A 2001, Alexia Sinclair, viewed 27 February 2011