Renaissance

The Renaissance era is the time period just after the Middle Ages where lots of things were being newly discovered. The printing press had just been invented, a new system of astronomy, and the discovery and exploration of new continents. All of this new found knowledge was accompanied by a mix of philosophy, literature and of course art. The origins of Renaissance art are from Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Artists in that time were trying to mimic and bring back the style in which artists in the late Medieval time created their pieces with. Renaissance art became popular with the work done by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto di Bondone, Masolino, Raphael, Michelangelo and many more.

The painting I chose as my base layer for this project was Lady with the Ermine by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo is one of the most famous artists from the Renaissance era. Many Historians and scholars reference da Vinci as the "Renaissance Man" because of his influential pieces from that time. da Vinci is credited with some of the most popular pieces of art from that time such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

I chose to use this painting for this project for a few reasons. When I was looking for paintings to use I would always look at how the shadows were used so that I knew if would be able to replicate that same lighting. When I saw this painting I could clearly see how the light source came from the right and cast a shadow on the left side of the subjects face. I knew I could replicate this easily. Another reason I chose this painting is because of how the subject is holding a Ermine. This intrigued me because i came up with the idea of not only photoshopping one person into this photo but using the face of the Ermine to photoshop a second person in. I really enjoyed trying to find the best way to seamlessly integrate a human face onto a Weasel. The process involved a lot of stretching and rearranging of the components of a face. All though the final product isn't exactly what I imagined I am fairly satisfied with my efforts of creating a new hybrid species.