“Things are not always as they seem; the first appearance deceives many.” – Phaedrus
Superimposing photographs is a technique used to augment and transform a visual reality. This technique is commonly referred to as “photoshopping” named after the original program that made it possible – Adobe Photoshop. Today, superimposing photographs can be accomplished with other apps, including Sketchbook by Autodesk, which my students have readily available on their iPads. Our students are 1:1 with iPads in our district.
This project is the third of three projects designed to introduce my students to most of the tools in the Sketchbook by Autodesk app. You can read about the first, which was a 3-part project, here: Digital Drawings And the second, here: Painting Over Photos (Rotoscoping)
The Pollinators
I prepared a tutorial video to show the superimposing process. As with everything so far this year, this video documents the process and how to use the tools. It is without foresight and vision, and just came together as I worked. I haven’t time this year to create great artwork for demos, so I’m staying focused on the message and clear delivery of information rather than the aesthetic.
This is a relatively quick project – it is designed for two 45 minute sessions – one live with me over Zoom and the other asynchronous. It doesn’t take long to superimpose a couple of photos, yet as always, students are free to take the project as far as it takes them. Here is an example of a student who had a plan and was willing to put in as much time as was needed to realize his artistic vision. Here is Jack C sharing his artwork and method in a class discussion over Zoom.
Something I’ve come to enjoy is viewing student artwork in either Google Classroom or on Artsonia. I am often amazed by the way students use their artwork to share their views and their voices. Below you’ll see work by a student who used the technique to make a clever political statement:
And a student who chose to represent the emotional impact of bullying as an appeal for more love and less hate:
The student artwork below expresses an imaginative thought and also wins the heart of this art teacher:
Tell us about the photos.: The wood is the background, the cat and the art pallet are together as one to make the cat look like it’s painting.
Tell us about the theme, if there is one.: The theme is an art cat!
Tell us how you feel about it.: I’m very proud of myself for making this.
Tell us if there were any surprises.: I’m surprise how there were pictures of cats with berets on.
Tell us what you would change if you were to do it again.: I wouldn’t change anything! I think it came out nicely.
Enjoy some Doritos with the astronauts having a picnic on the moon:
I hope you like it.
This student, previously a reticent artist, came alive with a depiction of his favorite sport:
And then took it the next step as he pursued his idea:
Proving to be this year’s trend, it seems no assignment this year will be without Among Us CrewMates:
Talk about augmenting reality! This one is pretty terrifying:
Especially in comparison with this pastoral woodland creature piece:
With The Mandalorian streaming a new season on Disney Plus, Star Wars imagery is in a cozy second place for middle school trends this year. I love the effort Jason put in on this one (and the color of the background):
This piece by Ashley is truly lovely, until you notice the spider. Suddenly the tranquil imagery begins to feel a bit threatening:
These are just ten or so pieces of artwork out of a hundred. Please go see the exhibit in the gallery at Artsonia to see the rest. If there was ever a time to question reality, this is it!