This assignment had three parts, with this bison image as the second part. This was my favorite part of the assignment, as I felt it was the most cohesive of the three images I created, and the most visually interesting. I learned a lot about blend modes and gradient masks in this assignment, as my previous experiences had different ways of creating gradient effects on images. 

For this image, I created two layers: one layer, the bison, as the background; the second layer, or foreground, being a public domain image of a sunset. The bison was provided through the assignment, and the sunset was one I found on my own that I thought would look cool overlaid on the bison. 

To create the effect displayed in the image, I first created a layer mask with the “foreground.” I then set the sunset layer's blend mode to "Screen" and lowered the opacity. I didn’t lower the opacity as much as I expected to, as the sunset began fading away quickly once I went past the 90% mark. I then brought out the features of the bison's face and limbs using layer masks on the foreground. I used a black brush on the layer mask, specifically on areas of the bison's face and limbs that I wanted to enhance. These areas were then darker than the sunset layer, making them more visible. I then created a gradient overlay effect on the foreground layer, with a two-toned orange-yellow gradient. The result was this image, which I cropped to remove unnecessary white space.