Here is a photo I have edited from google. I have live traced using eleven colours in Adobe Illustrator and then used the wand to delete appropriate areas around the fish in Adobe Photoshop. I will be able to use this is a Kurt Schwitters inspired collage.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=fish&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1920&bih=972&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=zlam86gCixJKtM:&imgrefurl=http://www.fishtankpet.com/&docid=YoPxw71LMbUevM&imgurl=http://www.fishtankpet.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/fishtankpet_beta_fish.jpg&w=375&h=300&ei=f8YnT-qqPKW10QXq5vCPBQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=634&vpy=178&dur=633&hovh=201&hovw=251&tx=172&ty=103&sig=108330980947533000352&page=1&tbnh=127&tbnw=153&start=0&ndsp=44&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0

Here is a simple trace of the fish using the same techniques as before yet not editing anything of the threshold or anything else and using the original setting for it.

Here are the two versions of a kurt Schwitters inspired piece of cad work. The second one is the one I printed off for a final version as I believe the reef at the bottom helps create depth to the picture on a whole. I have used a previously scanned in background of yellow paper as a background along with some photographs i took on the college trip to cardiff in December in the National Museum. I used different types of tracing techniques to get the effects of this picture from just tracing in black and white to full colour. I think the pros of this picture are the effects it gives of depth and texture and the cons are of that the hermit crabs just look as if they dont belong there (top left corner).

 Above is a page from the Terry Pratchett book Small gods. It is explaining about a dock in a certain area of the story. I found it fitting to go with the fish project so scanned it in. Below is a scan and clones of a pack of strepsils. I think the can be quite effective as gills or bubbles to a picture.

Fishy

Here is a current idea I am working on. It is a screen shot of me using Adobe Illustrator by using the transparency tool and layering effect. The image is of a stick and ink drawing i have done and scanned in. I hope to achieve a collage effect by the end of the session.

Textiles.

To help myself with producing quality original pieces I have scanned in some of my work into the computer.This is a scanned in felting that I did to resemble a red cabbage

 Underneath are batiks done on fabric and paper , with embellishments, tie dying, bonder-web and recycled paper.

Fishy Kiss

 Here is a screen shot of my final touches. As you can see my layer 2 was the most detailed layer as this was the layer with all of the facial features (bar gills) in the layer. I used a lot of transparency with this layer to create a dreamy effect.

Here is the final image. I believe with the hair coming out of the box creates a three dimensional effect to the mermaid and that the fact each strand has been done separately looks as if she has just come out of the ocean with the sea salted hair look. The womans eye is slightly open giving the effect that she is enticing him into some with the males eye being closed. I am happy with my final design.

Influence numero something!

Here are some screen shots on an idea I am currently working on. I am aiming for a Little Mermaid effect with a traditional Greek mythology siren look. i am doing this by hopefully making the woman into a scaley yet endearing  specimen compared to the man who could represent a sailor falling for the sirens charm. I am a huge fan of greek mythology and especially the stories behind "mermaids".

On this screen shot you can see that I have added a layer of just a blocked colour rectangle. I did this to erase the hair strands to the correct size of my picture. I did the hair strands in separate layers to create the three dimension feel to it by being able to layer the high, the mids and the dark tones to the hair.

As you can see with the colour of the block rectangle some strands are blending in but once hidden or completely removed when I am finished it will all come into place. I have also added a green influenced black. This is to represent the sea weed colour for the woman.

Here is how my image is looking so far. I believe it is looking quite effective and will hopefully carry on going in this direction.

Ive added the scales to the piece and i am now just highlighting and low lighting the areas of the woman's face to create a realistic effect.