hadn’t changed my icon for 4 years so like..... rip august <3

Europe’s Eclipsing Sensation

Ta-da! This is the infamous school project I was working on a while ago. Funnily enough, it took about three weeks to complete, and it took about three weeks after before I could post it, partially due to me wanting to wait until it was graded so it wouldn't look like I stole it from myself, and also because I just haven't had the time to give this description the attention I think it deserves. And so, here we are. So who and what exactly is this? The Master of Mystery before you, if you don't recognize him, is none other than Harry Houdini, the famed magician. And here I have recreated this photo of him completely out of text, and photoshop brushes made from individual letters and characters to speed up the process once I realized how slow-going typing out words and them using the warp tool to shape them was going to be. (Mostly because I've been having some lag issues with Photoshop I have no explanation for.) Now, loyal watchers of mine will likely notice this is pretty far outside the realm of things I normally make. Firstly, it's photo-realistic. Secondly, since when have I ever made images out of text like this? The reason this thing is so abnormal is that I was given certain projects to choose from and re-creating an image out of text, among those options, was the one that appealed to me the most. It was also the only project on the list that was digital, which I thought would really play into my strengths, give me a chance to use my drawing tablet (which was still pretty new to me back in August) and would be a good option to ease me into working in the classroom environment with a project close to what I'm used to doing. As they say, it's better to set yourself up for success, so that's what I tried to do. The funny thing is that while this project is pretty different from Painting, I actually ended up listening to a lot of advice the teacher was giving. For context: There are three levels of Painting and my Design class going on in the same classroom at the same time. Which sounds like a nightmare, but it's actually kind of nice. I'm not much of a painter, but I believe the advice I'm overhearing to be very solid, and the overall environment...Let me tell you guys, more than once already I've wanted to cry tears of joy because compared to the high school art classes I'm coming from, this is so much better and more helpful. It's made me realize just how toxic those previous classes really were; that it wasn't just me dragging my feet in the mud when I didn't like them or saw problems. This class is so much healthier a learning habitat for an artist! Anyway. When I inquired about the project, the teacher told me to pick someone iconic, and then proceeded to tell me that people like Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga are not what she considers iconic. I will agree to disagree on that, at least as far as Lady Gaga is concerned. This was mildly disappointing because I knew my choices were going to be limited, and I did not want to pick someone I had no interest in spending a lot of time studying. Already I was traveling outside of my comfort zone in a few ways, and I know it shows when I'm not passionate about or remotely interested in a project. Other "icons" I tried before landing on Houdini include; Pharaoh Tutankhamen's funeral mask, Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Elphaba from Wicked, and Edgar Allen Poe. Because things that I consider iconic and also actually like are not two categories that overlap terribly. And I wanted to do something a little unexpected or unconventional. Something I could have fun with. I forget how exactly I thought to try Houdini, though I think I was thinking of things I had an interest in and magic (both as in shows and as in fictional) came up, and Harry Houdini is arguably one of if not the most famous magicians of all time. And while I won't bore you with all the details here, if you look him up he turns out to be a pretty interesting character in general. So as far as constructing this thing went, I started by using the original photo to create a general outline, then had it and my working canvas set up side-by-side in Photoshop pretty much the entire time I was working, so I was never without the visual aid. Then I started with a rough layer of words to get a general idea of where different shades of gray would go and to get a rather unsteady feel of how the whole process was going to work. (Fun fact: The words I used were words I thought you could association with either Houdini himself or magicians in general, including Spectacle, Magic, Illusion, Escape Artist, Facade, etc.) It didn't take long for me to realize that going about it that way, while an interesting idea, was going to require more time and patience than I really had to give. So I pulled an old Photoshop trick out of my sleeve. I typed out certain letters and characters like (), T, o, i, H, and then made brushes out of those letters so that I could still have the textured look of the, uh, text, while getting a feel closer to normal brushes that I'm more used to using, and it sped up the process dramatically. After I figured that out, it was pretty much a back and forth of adding layers of black, then adding layers of white until the area looked how I wanted it to look. I focused on smaller sections at a time, and out of the different sections, the face is probably the one I spent the most time and effort on. There are layers, upon layers, upon layers that were built up all over this thing, but the face got three primary major alterations in the hopes of making it look like the original, because the first time around it was very, very off. And speaking of things that were very, very off...Hands in art, in general, are not my strong suit and are generally agreed upon as one of the more difficult parts of basic anatomy, at least from what I've seen. However, in my defense, the hands in the original photo are...strange...And even after a lot of contemplation, I'm still not quite sure why, beyond the simple answer of it being an awkward position because of the handcuffs. The experienced students in the art class and the teacher had the same general consensus. So, if you were wondering, here is your explanation as to why the hands look so queer. Take it or leave it. There are some minor differences between what I've done here and the original image, namely the texture (which is a product of how this was made, so I don't count it and actually really like the visual interest it adds) and a few small differences in shading. Most of that was done at the teacher's suggestion because anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to a recreation of this nature, I am usually a stickler for accuracy first and foremost. But I can't say it's a bad thing here. It works, and it adds more than it outright changes to the look of the original. Overall, though it is still very outside my normal scope of artwork, I am satisfied with how it turned out. And hey, I got a 99 on it, so at the very least I can be happy I got a good grade for it. I do wish it hadn't taken me so long to get around to posting it, but given that Inktober has come and gone and I'm struggling with this year's NaNoWriMo big-time, it is kind of a good thing I have a few things in reserve to post while fresh content is a little sparse. Oh, and a fun little tidbit about where the title for this came from: Turns out there's a poster for one of Houdini's shows that features the same pose as my reference photo, and that's the headline at the top. But I was stuck between that and what appears to be the most common phrase in his advertising, "the Master of Mystery." What made my decision for me is the interesting part. There's this book I read in grade school called "Hocus Pocus," which is told by a sort-of real-life magician who worked on some of the Harry Potter movies, Paul Kieve. In the story, Paul meets a lot of famous magicians from the past (they literally pop out of the posters he has!) because they want to help him be a better magician. It's really fun and you can actually learn a few tricks along the way.  I ended up with my own personal copy (I originally read the school library's copy sometime after I ran through all the Goosebumps books they had) and there's a little folder stuck inside the back cover, which I remembered having not only a few cards for some fun visual tricks but also a few postcard prints of the magician posters. On a whim, I decided to check and see if there was a Houdini in there. And wouldn't you know it! The poster with this pose was one of them! And thus, my decision was made for me.  (I'm tempted to bring the card to class tomorrow to show the teacher, but she's usually pretty busy as it is, so...) It sure is funny how life works out sometimes. Next up: Likely another colored pencil review I've been meaning to post, I need to update my Meet the Artist picture, and I have a couple of text-oriented ideas I need to figure out what to do with. And also probably a commission I finished the concepts for today. (And maybe maybe maybe some NaNo stuff? I have an idea to get back on track...but we'll see.) ____ Artwork (c) me, MysticSparkleWings I do not own the original reference image. ____ Where to find me & my artwork: My Website | Commission Info + Prices | Ko-Fi | dA Print Shop | RedBubble |   Twitter | Tumblr | Instagram