Handmade VS Photoshop: Clipping Masks

M/M Paris

 Context

The inspiration I used to create my clipping mask was M/M Paris. In 2001 Paris created 26 letters of the alphabet using models to represent certain people. 26 models were selected to represent each of the legends to do with the letter of the alphabet. This alphabet was originally published in V magazine.

Meaning

To understand the further meaning of Paris’s work I have used their website but also an article in Another Mag. The alphabet is to do with their interpretation of the A-Z of beauty, in the example above A for Anne-Catherine. This artist is said to have worked with the letters of the alphabet numerous of times in their work and is something that they are intrigued with. M/M Paris feels that the typefaces in the alphabet represent words and people in an abstract way.

Aesthetic

To create this piece each model had photos taken of them in various poses and expressions. The photos were then handed onto Paris who took the hands on approach to cut away at the photographs to create the letter. Paris has only used the colours black and white so the shape of the person is more defined and the shadows are created in the picture this allows Paris to use these lines in creating the basic shape of the letter. As the tone on this example of the letter A the shadows and tone on the image of the person have been cut away but are still able to tell that this is the shape of a person.

Personal response

I chose to look at this piece as it was a way of presenting a photograph in a more interesting way than just placing it in a shape or just keeping it black and white. When I first saw this piece I could tell that a photograph had been taken but it was hard to tell what letter of the alphabet it was this isn't the same with most of the other letters. I can tell that an abstract look was the key to getting this alphabet to look the way it did but still having the ability to slightly see the model and the letter.

This piece has inspired me to see if I can create another way of using the hands on approach, I also wanted to try a digital way of doing things by using Photoshop. 

This is my digital version of M/M Paris’s alphabet. To create this I found a picture of a celebrity and put it into Photoshop, in this case I used Rihanna. I used this celebrity because of the inspiration which came to me on thinking about her album cover. She uses a certain font to create the letter R and so decided that it would be good to create something based on this. I used effects in Photoshop to desaturate the picture and make it black and white. I then used a bold font so that the face can still clearly be seen. I had to move the picture around slightly so that there was enough of the face showing. I then added black with the paint brush tool on the edges of the R so the letter could clearly be seen.     

These are my handmade versions of the clipping masks; to create this I used two sheets of plain black paper, cut three letters on one and two on the other. I created my own hand drawn font instead of using one on the Mac. I made mine look more interesting by not just creating a block shape. I started off with the letter H in the middle of the first sheet and didn't realise that I was supposed to be doing a whole word. It was supposed to say the word happy as I was thinking of the watercolour pieces I done before but the letters are a bit mixed up. I think this may be one of those good mistakes as you are able to focus more on the shapes of the letters instead of the words. I then added my black and white picture to the background that I made in Photoshop  

Overall I think the best version of the clipping mask was the digitally made one because the picture and the letter are made clear. The most disappointing part of the handmade version had to be the fact that you can’t tell where the picture is going to end up but with practice I'm sure that the picture and the words would both be in exactly the right place. A positive about the handmade version is you are freer on the font that you can create and so are able to create your own quirky designs which may even relate to the image behind it with a theme. With The digitally made version I am able to move the image around so it is placed in the best place to see it; however the person creating a clipping mask is limited on the font and this means that the font may not resemble so much the theme of the picture. I could experiment further with other colour effects in Photoshop to give a different sort of feel to it.

 If I compare my version to Paris’s I have used black and white for both of my versions just like them. There are two differences that I noticed when comparing pieces, one of them was the font that I created on my handmade version is more fun and wavy where as theirs is more formal and serious. I can really tell that mine would not be suitable for the magazine that this alphabet was in because V magazine is a serious fashion magazine. Another element that I spotted was the way that the face has been cut out of Paris’s and mine is more clearly shown. This is because I didn't use the technique of cutting the photograph.