Project 2 - Kevin Bowman

For this project, I started out by creating the radial gradient in the center and deforming it a little, then surrounded it with the four pillars, and created the indentation underneath it. The latter two features were created using the line tool, adding fills and then deleting the original lines. The desk in the lower left corner is made out of two primitives. I filled in the sides using the same line and fill technique. Inside the portal, I placed a mask that reveals the cave landscape seen inside. Next came the trail on the ground, made with the spray can tool. Finally I used the brush tool to create the shadow in the doorway, and then used the subselection tool to make it look a bit sharper.

I used 8 layers, including the mask, and throughout the project I was experimenting with their order, and moving different features between layers to get everything looking right. Without all the layers I used, getting everything at the right depth would have been almost impossible. Most of the features are grouped together in addition to being on separate layers. I did this so I could edit individual features without having to worry about doing something unintended to another piece, and so they would stay the way I made them while moving them around the stage.