Another Brick In The Wall

This is one of the latest in my Vortex series of digital art / photo-manipulation.

What I don’t usually reveal is the source material for these digital abstracts. In many cases I have even forgotten the original image I used to create them. On occasion I have to find the master file and examine the metadata to figure it out if and when the topic comes up.

Since this one is fresh in my mind, I thought I would give y’all a little insight into my process.

The original image is from the inner basement area of the old Sears Building, now known as South Side on Lamar in the heart of Dallas. I explored this area back in December of 2008 with the idea of using it for some edgy modeling photography. There are several images from the research trip that I have used, one of which is in my first coffee table book, Texas As I See It.

This is the original unedited, un-retouched image:

Photoshop manipulation is next.

• The original image is cropped to a square that contains the elements I think will achieve the desired effect.
• The square is resized to a pixel count I feel will hold up to printing up to 42″ wide for my largest editions.
• This image is enhanced to bring up detail, color and shadow / highlight detail.
• Multiple layers are created to work from.
• A master layer is twisted to a degree I think is effective for the elements in the image
• A duplicate layer is created from the new master.
• Both new master layers are edited for exposure, saturation and hue.
• Layers are tweaked for blending effects and then a master file is saved with the layers intact.

Square version of Another Brick in the Wall

In the case of square Vortex editions, this version may be further enhanced, tuned and may have adjustment layers created to produce the final image.

In today’s illustration, I have decided I want this one as a diamond-shaped image.

• This version is then rotated 45 degrees
• It is cropped and resized again
• Brightness, exposure, saturation, dodging and burning are finalized at this point
• This is the master used to print from
• I save it as such and name it accordingly
• A new layer is added below the master and filled with white
• The master is rotated back 45 degrees for purposes of producing the preview you see below
• The preview image has its resolution changed to something appropriate for websites and email
• A drop shadow is added
• In Photoshop the Save to Web and Devices option is employed to create the efficient file size needed for web / email use

The final result is this:

Another Brick in the Wall

The most time-consuming part of this was crafting the 3 dimensional brick and blending it to achieve the effect I was after.

There are right around 370 editions of Vortex images in the collection at this time. Most of them are online to be browsed, but the complete collection is not available in one place at this time. It takes a lot of routine maintenance to keep the website up to date and I just haven’t had the time.

If you want to see more of this series, you can find a fairly complete collection at www.vividpixelz.net

You can send me an email, text or just use the old-fashioned method of picking up the phone if you have questions about this or any of my other work.

The Vortexes are in two different styles. The diamond-shape like this one and square versions. Both are designed to be displayed in a grid. They come in 24, 36 and 48 inch sizes for the square style. The diamond shapes measure 34, 48 and 60 inches when hanging.

Vortex Diamond Grid

These are the 34″ diamond vortexes