Transformative Portrait - Kimberly B

 

For my project I wanted to depict the idea of the depths that depression can drown you and the fight against the demons that try to pull you in. In this particular version I get pulled in.

I used a Fractal effect for the smoke with multiple layers to create a moving cloudy appearance. I also used masks to create the idea of the hands (these are mine) coming out of the void to grab me. The irony is that it was daylight out and the sunlight was shining in, but I masked it out to the blackness of the void which doesn't allow me to see the sunlight.

Transformative Portrait - Ashton Lucas

 For my project I wanted to play with the idea of imagination and the concept of powers. At the beginning I was planning on basing my project on my interest of food but I decided to go with something that is more interesting to me that relates more to my likes and hobbies. Since I was young I have always been interested in comics and manga, I would act like I had fire powers and imagine myself throwing fireballs and being able to burn objects around the house. I wanted to display the imagination my younger self would have if I were able to gain super powers out of the comics. 

Escapism - Miranda Santana

    For this project I wanted to capture the feeling of being overwhelmed by a depressive outside environment and escaping with an inner world to cope with that. I often use my own interest in fantasy art and writing to cope with reality and how difficult it can be to exist within. I wanted to give that feeling of safety that having that escape gives, while also capturing the darker side of that by showing how it can lead you to close yourself off and not deal with what is actually hurting you. To that end I posed and did makeup in a way to create a depressive, lonely appearance. 

    The moving elements consist of stock video of cloud, nebula, and bokeh light effects layered on each other in a cloud behind the subject, showing it absorbing the person. There is also rain outside the window to add to the depressive mood. The animation is meant to convey moving outside of or escaping one's self into your imagination. I wish I had had more time to work on the animation side of this, because I would have liked to make something a bit more representational, but I think the sketchy animation also lends to the "art as an escape" undertones I tried to imply with the scattered art supplies.

    The photo of myself was taken by me and the person walking animation was also created by me. All other images were obtained from Pixabay and fall under their terms of use.

Transformative Portrait - Liz Garcia

 For my transformative portrait, I wanted to focus on my niece, Emma. She loves all things princess and is absolutely obsessed with my mom's flower garden. My whole family loves visiting my mom's house throughout the year simply to admire the flowers and sometimes, when she's in a surplus, she lets us pick as many flowers as we want. My niece has a very outgoing and energetic personality and I wanted to focus on that for this project. I placed her in a mystical garden and had her "running' through it. I also added images of flowers she's picked from my mom's house all around her, some in a dynamic motion to symbolize her personality and some in a more static motion but growing nonetheless, to show me watching her grow up, but I decided not to make some move to symbolize how no matter how much she grows up, I will still always see her as that little 4-year-old who loves to play princess. I also played around with creating "glitter" or "shimmer" effects to push the narrative of a whimsical garden. 

DesignGenious–Pablo Villanueva

 

This digital poster uses my portrait as a canvas to capture the essence of self-representation in design, mirroring the theme of the DesignGenius event that took place uptown on November 1st. Each segment of my face is crafted with a unique design approach, showing how different styles can come together to create a cohesive whole. This layering reflects the event’s mission: empowering adults to explore how design can help them build and define their personal brands in a future-focused, creative industry. The black foreground is intentional, guiding viewers focus to the designed elements, which represent the various ways we present ourselves in our work. This composition not only pays homage to the event’s goal but also serves as a bold statement on the possibilities of design as a tool for self-discovery and identity-building.

Transformative Portrait-Sara Aftimos

 

For my transformative self-portrait, I decided to focus on the idea of stress and all that there is to do. Everyone can relate to the constant stress whether it is from school, work, or something personal going on in their life. To manage and control my stress, I rely heavily on to-do lists. If I didn't have a to-do list I would be lost without it. Sometimes even with my to-do list, I get overwhelmed and even more stressed about all that I have to do. In my self-portrait, I used an image of me laying down with multiple books around me resembling all the information and stress that is around me. I chose to take this picture in a library setting to feed into my composition idea, with the massive collection of books on the shelves. The viewer can view this as the collection of things to do or the amount of things stressing you that are still present in your life but are pushed away on the shelf. My animation is my to-do list moving closer and closer to me, showing the sense of urgency and the amount that has to be done.

Transformative Portrait - Bryce Locaylocay

 

For my project, I decided to focus on an incident that occurred back in February of this year. My friends and I were involved in a car accident that could have turned fatal. Thankfully, the most severe injury among us was a concussion, but the experience completely changed my perspective on life. Since then, I’ve made a conscious effort not to take a single day for granted. I find myself being more present in the moment and truly appreciating the company of others. Not that I didn’t do so before, but this experience definitely heightened that awareness. 

Background Image.

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/gray-concrete-road-green-trees-cloudy-sky-daytime_13075031.htm

Other images are mine. 

 

 

Transformative Portrait - Ashley Legassie

For my transformative self-portrait, I aimed to reveal aspects of myself that aren’t always visible to others. Recently, I discovered that ADHD plays a significant role in the challenges I face with anxiety and keeping on track. To manage the many responsibilities of student life and multiple jobs, I rely heavily on sticky notes and to-do lists to stay organized. However, ADHD often leads to spiraling thoughts—small tasks like laundry can trigger a chain reaction of other things I feel I should do first, sometimes resulting in what’s known as ADHD paralysis. In my self-portrait, I’ve used a black screen to symbolize the overwhelming moments when things shut down. Through this piece, I hope to raise awareness of the less visible symptoms of ADHD while sharing a part of my experience.

Transformative Portrait - Jennie Keophaphone

 

The idea behind my portrait was to transform myself into something mystical and imaginative. This led me to think about different fairytale characters or myths, which made me think towards the direction of mermaids. When I was younger, I was always curious to see how it would be to live under water with a bunch of different see animals (especially since I can barely swim). So this was an opportunity to reimagine myself into a completely different scenario, surrounded by aquatic life and bright blue water. I also wanted to incorporate an out-of-the-box element of a crowd of people looking up at me. I wanted it to reflect that if mermaids were real, the scenario of them being contained for people to view or enjoy is quite a likely reality.

Mermaid Tail: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-wearing-mermaid-costume-3656206/

Bubbles: https://www.freepik.com/free-psd/realistic-bubbles-isolated_49681149.htm#fromView=keyword&page=1&position=10&uuid=fd8aae55-9221-4f4e-92e4-6567917be974

All other images are from me

Transformative Portrait- Cassie Eberle

 My idea behind this transformative portrait was to create a new image of Icarus, an ancient greek myth where Icarus was using wings made of wax and feathers to escape and island. Unfortunately he flew too close to the sun and the wax on his wings began to melt, and he fell into the sea and drowned. This story is one of my favorite for the imagery that has come from it, so I decided to create my own. 

Transformative Portrait - Emily B

  For the transformative portrait project, I decided to develop a composition based on dreams. Growing up I have always had pretty vivid dreams so I thought it would be cool to dive into my head and physically show them. Every night before sleep I try to calm my mind down and drown out the sound of my partners snoring by visualizing sights of nature. In this specific project, I am showing a scene where I am in the clouds, away from everything except one hot air balloon. The hot air balloon quickly moves along the screen and is shown in the perspective in which I experience my dreams. In reality if I were in a hot air balloon, I wouldn't be able to physically see it floating in the sky, I'd just see the ground or the large balloon above me, however, since this was in a dream, I was able to actually witness myself flying. Dreams are also cool because from the outside you appear still and frozen, but on the inside there is a whole other world.  

Transformative Portrait - Ximena Alvarado

 The idea behind my concept is to tie it back to childhood and the idea of fairytales. I choose petter pan because it ties to the idea of not growing up and saying a child forever. This ties back to what my future contains for me because I graduate in December which means I practically have to go through changes in my life. I have to get a "adult" job and won't be dealing with my regular routine of classes and school. In my eyes, I'm growing up, so through my portrait, I wanted to tie it back to the idea of holding on to my childhood and not growing up for a second. 

Meg Neal - Transformative Portrait + Motion

For this project I wanted to focus on the idea of a personal history, and how everyone is made up of experiences that they have throughout their life that build on top of each other. I created a base image of my face by layering three different images to create a blurred image that wasn't totally clear. Then I took parts of my face from recent photos and photos from my childhood and imposed them on top. Along with the photos I included colored bars to mimic a glitching effect in a stylized way that matched the composition. At the end I put a layer on top that is an filtered picture of a maple tree as seen from below, this layer changes opacity as the image changes. I chose this photo to go on top since the street I grew up on was lined with maple trees. 

 

Hunter Iler - Transformative Composite Portrait + Motion Layer

 My concept was to live out my childhood dream of being the first man to step on the face of Mars. I've always been interested in space and thought I could depict what it may have looked like if my life went in that direction. Surrounded by dust and fog with an American flag next to me to represent this huge accomplishment. I feel the difference in gravity while enjoying the view of orbiting satellites and its neighboring planet Jupiter.

Ashley Dinning - Transformative Composite Portrait + Motion Layer

 In the image I created, I aim to capture a moment of deep reflection and awe as a young woman stands on the edge of a cliff, looking out over an autumn landscape enveloped in fog. Set in the fall, this piece highlights feelings of solitude, change, and introspection as she gazes into the vast, misty expanse ahead of her. The combination of natural elements like drifting fog, moving clouds, and falling autumn leaves represents the transition of seasons, highlighting both the beauty and the fleeting nature of change.

Flowing Tunes (Transformative Portrait) - Aliyah Valcin

For this project I took inspiration from my love of music, When I listen to music, I can imagine music flowing around me. That's where I got the idea to bring the music notes to life. After critique, I implemented music and utilized motion marks differently rather than focusing on the subject. I also synchronized the music to match the music notes better. Rather than the harsh lighting in the original image I edited the lighting and created a more dramatic scene. The motion marks are one common element in music videos, and I felt that it would make the portrait more eye-catching. I added a glow effect on the motion marks as well. To add depth to the composition I manipulated the scale to show the music notes moving throughout the composition. Movement from the foreground to the middle ground to the background helped to make this composition more interactive with the surrounding environment. The main idea I wanted to convey was bringing music to life and flowing out the headphones into the atmosphere.