'Oil' political posters

My senior year of college I created a three part poster series involving the political issues of oil, or more specifically, the U.S. dependency on foreign oil. I will provide a brief explanation for what each poster describes and then explain some things you may not have seen as you viewed each one...

#1 of 3 - SP'OIL'ED?: Started out the series by just representing some facts about oil that I had researched surrounding oil consumption within the U.S. and how it compared to other nations.

#2 of 3 - TERM'OIL': Things start getting a little more interesting now, as I present some controversial facts surrounding the idea that the war in Iraq is/isn't not a "war over oil".

#3 of 3 - B'OIL'ING POINT.: Projections of our use of oil in the future produce some scary numbers.

You will notice that as the posters progress, the hand (which once started out as a clean and nearly perfect print) smears more and more until in poster #3 there lacks any resemblance of a hand. Look closely in poster #2...you will even see some evil faces (in the left and right palm), which surprisingly wasn't manipulated manually by me. It was just how the filter operated, but I think it's a nice touch, despite how evil it looks.

All handprints and oil production was done by yours truly! I had a fun time smearing oil on my hands and making prints on paper. It reminded me of finger painting in grade school, for sure! After much experimentation, I then photographed the prints and then manipulated everything digitally after that point.

(Designs created: 2005)

The face behind the waterfall

This was one of my favorite creations. Two separate photos created to become one. A gigantic Mt. Rainier waterfall used in conjunction with my own tormented face. My face was applied to a layer above the waterfall picture, and then a simple opacity reduction was applied, so the two separate features would blend. And blend they did. I think this picture worked out so beautifully and easily, and I think that's why it's one of my favorites I've ever done. Everyone feels enormous frustration at times, or wants to cry out with foolish anger from time to time - and I think this image is my release of those emotions - or what it would look like if I did.

Looking at the contours of my face and the reaction of the water within the waterfall - it matches up quite nicely. Take a look at my left eye. Take a look how the water rushes down the bridge of my nose. And look at how the water encapsulates and traces the outside of my head. I just like how the composition looks as a whole. Hope you enjoy too, and aren't afraid - that's definitely not the intention :)

Emotions

At times we all feel pain, anguish, anger, lost, frustrated and minuscule in this giant world we are a part of. This was my reasoning behind this creation. The photograph of me stays the same, but different filters and backgrounds are used to intensify my emotions, sometimes making me look more furious, sad, broken or faded. (Design created: 2004)

Baloon warp

This project helped discover how to warp images to make them match the perspective of a totally different object, and to try the best you could to make it look natural. So in this case, you have the balloons (with water spraying) as one image, and then another separate image (of goofy ol' me). Then, the picture of me if duplicated multiple times and then warped to look like there is a design on the balloon and following its contours, or inside the balloon itself possibly. (Design created: 2003)

Cyborg

I took a Digital Imaging class that helped stretch my imagination in design and sharpen my Photoshop skills. This particular project involved first taking a photograph of the subjects and presenting them as they are in their original state, and then displaying a 'cyborg-like' combination of the two beings. I chose to showcase the final product as a show-down/stare down on opposite sides, with the final masterpiece in the background centered. That's one ugly mug... (Design created: 2003)