Analysis of light and color in images

Lighting & Color

                                         Alexa Meade - 'Split in two', from 'people painted'

A simple example of lighting and color is the image shown above whereby you can see all the difference in colors, lighting, shadowing in one. Alexa Meade is an artist who depicts these styles perfect and uses them to their highest abilities.

Lighting and Color is something that every artist struggles with, especially when trying to paint a picture. The reason behind this is that lighting and color will change every second, whether something is standing still or even if there's direct light. The reasons for this is because the lighting is something that brings out the color and with it bouncing off objects, materials and things it will always be changing until the light source cannot reach its next object. Take the sun for instance, it can only reach so far and having the Earth rotating 24/7 it cannot shine an exact light onto something all of the time without the shadow, color or even the light itself moving. 

Alexa Meade is someone who is able to capture, lighting and color very well through using humans to move and adjust to whatever lighting is necessary. From the picture shown above 'Split in two' she allows her artist to paint herself and then she would then go and paint her at a the same time to see the difference in color outcomes. She does this so that she can use both an image and a painting to be her reference so that she can have more of a theatrical feel to her work rather than just a 2D piece of work. Although she works a lot like this using colors to brighten areas and not even using some colors at some points she does like to indulge in just using one solid color and going from there to create a painting. 

    Alexa Meade - 'Blueman' or 'Blueprint', again from 'people painted'

As you can see from the above shown painting, Alexa uses just a bland blue color with different shades to give off detail of a man sitting alone in a chair. She starts just by using blue and blue only and then any lighting that needs to be added she uses a much lighter color, but only one. By doing this she is imprisoning the blue color to create detail and shadowing effects. The contrast between the man and the background allows for people to focus on the man in the chair rather than any other part of the image, not only that but by darkening his eyes when not needed just so you'd focus on his face and his posture/emotion. 

I believe Alexa Meade catches light, color & shadowing perfectly in both pieces which is why I wished to use them in this write-up. 

Is Wrestling a game?

Is wrestling a game?

Is wrestling a game?

After reading "The World of Wrestling" by Roland Barthes it is clear that wrestling is both an art-form and a game that mix with each other in more ways than one. 

The idea behind Wrestling is to beat your opponent to the best of your ability whilst being able to avoid being beaten yourself. Not only this but people also bet on the outcome of the fight. This makes it seem to be a game to those who believe games are something to be either won or lost. Respectively that's how games are depicted as now-a-days but some people believe that games can be made different to this, so who are we to say whether or not wrestling is a game. The idea behind wrestling just like Barthe suggests is that the game is based around "Suffering, Defeat and Justice." which leads us to believe that he suggests it's a game. 

Barthes understanding of the 'game' is something unique though, he suggests that peoples morality comes into play by saying things like "cruelties and acts of cowardice" are the "display" or "outcome" of most fights. I believe that he is somewhat correct in his statements, I agree the mind is something that can control the outcome especially if something is on the mind it is very hard to remove it, but to lose a battle due to moral status is somewhat incorrect. I believe dependent on the issue at hand whether it be killing an innocent bug to stealing, one you're defiantly going to remember because it's objectified as something you shouldn't do whereas the other is something that is completely "normal" thus not effecting the mind as much and "morally" not changing a standing in the matter at hand. 

The idea behind Barthes work is brilliant, but also a little crazy.


The photo below shows the idea behind the art in wrestling and how theatrical it can be, but without the idea of winning neither would be doing this thus making it a game in the eyes of most people.

(Credit: Reuters/Toru Hanai)

Concept Jewelry - My steps towards a final idea(s)

Concept Jewelry - My steps towards a final idea(s)

So my idea behind jewelry is something that improves the look of a human. Something that allows the person to be happy with themselves. This was something that I wished to accomplish in this task because it relates to today's society.

These were my initial ideas that I will take you through one by one to show you how I came up with the initial idea and how it could improve the look/feel of people. I've numbered the images so I could easily relate them below.

1. I believed this one to be the so called 'worst' out of the lot just because I didn't really follow my own rules to a degree. I wanted to create a 'super coin' which is a coin that can replace all the coins in today's world and make money a minuscule problem, using these to trade which allowed for cash flow. This coin would transfer the worlds currency into a simple one coin currency, good for any game just like 'Fallout' having their bottle cap trade system.

2. The second one I chose was very basic and I based it around the real life necklaces you see today. This one being bejeweled allowed for it to attract peoples eyes and also be claimed in a game as a 'collectible' as it's main purpose but also can be transferred into some level of 'gear' something the user can equip to enhance their character. This being related to any dungeon crawler game (with the necklace being a item you can wear) or even something along the lines of 'Call Of Duty' with the collectible side of things. Again this is something that can make a user happy because of either stat boosts, a collectible or even just a sense of a step towards completing the game.

3. The crown was something that I believed to resemble a higher power, a high society or even a kingdom ruler. The reason I chose something alone this line is because of its power in society today especially in the UK as we have rulers that use this as a symbol of authenticity. The reason I wanted to use this in a game format was upon completing a game this would be the product you're presented with to prove you've completed it and also as a way of having the AI (Artificial intelligence) know that you're their ruler and that you control them. This being resembled to a game like 'Fable'.

4. I came up with this idea of a symbol or a multi-purpose jewel that allowed the player to equip it to a piece of armor to allow for a 'stat boost' and also to add an more detail appearance to the player. This would allow for minor detail but just like the 'Dibalo' games these jewels were something that was necessary to progress through the game adding certain effects to the players stats. The other idea I had for it would be to have it attached to a crown or a staff to resemble some level of ranking, this being taken from the old Roman centurions using a 'Golden Eagle' on a staff to represent their rank.

5. This one again I slightly came away from the idea of improving a persons appearance which made me unsure whether I should leave it in. This was merely a simple bell which allowed the player to ring it and call in for backup if they were in trouble. This being an idea brought through the game 'World of Warcraft' having it so you can call for assistance when needed using the item. The other factor again I had for this item was to be a collectible because I don't imagine jewelry to be very useful in most games, especially the FPS franchise (First person shooter).

6. This one was the one I picked out of the lot to be something unique and something I wished to develop further, hence why I left it last to be shown. The reason I like this so much is that there was hundreds of different ideas and concepts that I had for it immediately. My first idea was something very basic in-which you used the hat as a sort of telescope using the third eye above the headpiece to see into the distance. This wasn't something that I was going to do because it wasn't unique enough, so I moved on my next concept of it. The second idea I had for it was for it to play in emotion with the character, in certain situations it would cry if the player was upset, be angry when the player is and hold the emotion in a theatrical way so you'd notice it. This was a idea I used to create the next concept but not my final as my ideas changed as I was drawing this out in detail. This also is slightly staying to my original roots of having it improve a persons morality and making them look better, but also to make them more unique in their own way.

These two were the finalized ideas that I came out with. As you can see the concept to the right is similar to number 6 from my previous workings but enhanced in the ways of drawing it out and the size of the head dress. The concept to the left was something that allowed me to come up with my final idea, although it didn't have much to do with the sort of jewelry I was aiming for I thought I'd leave it in because it allowed me to conjure up my final piece. The idea behind it was to allow for the user to plug the item into the characters body to enhance the characters purpose, story and also stats. Making all 3 of the points made me want to continue this further. The picture to the left was something that I designed for a initial idea for the jewelry but decided against because I wished to concentrate on something higher up the body something the player would have to interact with, so again progressing the the head dress.

Here are my final pieces put together, colored and also made into 3D to give a perspective of how it works and how the concept sits on the player. The idea was to have the tassels falling behind the jewel to stab into the players spin, take over his nervous system and allowed him to use it to see out of the third eye. I changed over some of the initial styling of the 2D image because I believe it didn't fit quiet as well, such as the eye being blue I changed it to a open eyelid being red mixed with blue to add a humanistic feel. The color of the actual image itself adding the background color to the head dress instead of it being a 'steel' type color. Not only that having two main veins which controlled the eye to link with the eye and the tassels.


The idea behind this was to create a prince/king styled theme which showed royalty or even a high ranking. The reason I chose this was because of its unique ability to stand out from a crowd, especially with the eye being in such detail. I believe this was the best choice out of all of my concepts because of its ability to be changed and the concept of it to be changed. I wouldn't have chose any other styled head dress because this is very open to interpretation but also when described on how it works it allows for people to get a easy understanding.


These are some more silhouettes that I made, these didn't quiet hit the mark but you can see how they allowed for me to come up with the final concept.

What makes it a game?

What makes it a game?

I believe the definition of a game is something someone is able to enjoy whilst also being challenged, whether it be mentally or physically. Anything from sports to sitting down and testing your mind to the best of its abilities. A player must be able to interact with said game whilst they play it otherwise it isn't a game its more of a film/Television show. Games are something that can be developed even under a finished product with additional aesthetics, rules or even a full revamp.

I believe in the book "I have no words & I must design: towards a critical vocabulary for games" asks questions that makes you think more deeply on this subject. It challenges you with questions such as "How does the player interact with the game?" and "are those interactions meaningful". Personally this isn't how I view games but I believe some people do, I see them as not an interaction but an escape for most people. They may not realize it themselves but that's why most people play games, for it's enjoyment whilst also pushing worries aside and being able to take their minds off the realities and subjective pressures that happen in the real world. This is personally to me what makes a game, both the enjoyment and roles you need to fulfill in a game but also using it as a escape, just like reading, watching films & TV. Other questions are asked in this article but these two are the ones that stand out to me most, although things like aesthetics and effects make games even better visually the beauty behind a game comes from the pleasure it gives someone when either completing it, competing in it or just joining in and socializing with hundreds or even sometimes thousands of people.

"What kind of goals does the game support?"
This is something that makes a game unique whether it be something from as minor as a simple task all the way to how the game changes around your makings in the game.

"Is the music great?"
Music is something that allows emotions to be shared through sound, putting this into a game will certainly bring out emotions, enjoyment and even make the game playable. Some games rely completely on the soundtrack (Such as audiosurf) to play the game. Also it is used for memorabilia.

"Where does the struggle lie?"
A game dependent on the difficulty is something that relies on people being challenged, if there is no challenge is it a game or is it a interactive movie?