Salutations! My name is Katelyn Bernardo, and I am an Animation student at Freestyle Academy. Over my entire high school career, I’ve been exploring the realm of art through drawing, painting, photography, performance art, design, creative writing, and animation. Art takes up most of my life, but in my free time, I spend my time hanging out with friends, falling down YouTube holes, listening to indie/alternative music, and exploring Mountain View.

For my senior Showcase, I have decided to present what is essentially my art portfolio and my junior Documentary project. I want to showcase my illustration and design skills with my portfolio and my storytelling skills with my documentary about teenage mental health. Although there are improvements I would like to make, I am overall content with the final products and proud of myself for completing these projects independently.

Generally, I would like feedback on my visuals. While technical feedback is appreciated, I specifically want comments on the concepts. Is my portfolio conceptually strong? Do the visuals effectively convey their intended messages? How well do my visuals communicate emotion and create an atmosphere? Finally, what changes can I make to accomplish these goals more effectively?

Next year, I plan to continue my Animation endeavors at Cal State Long Beach. I don’t think I want to be an animator, per se, because animation is difficult, and I have recently discovered a love for illustration during my Zenith project. However, I enjoy the storytelling aspect of animation and video editing, so I don’t want to become an illustrator. Thus, I’m looking into an animation career related to pre-production, so I don’t have to animate, but I can still tell stories. I look forward to professional networking, enriching culture, and inspiring professors and peers that Long Beach offers me.

You can contact me at katelynmab@gmail.com.


“Distortion” – Mental Health Documentary

I decided to create a documentary on teenage mental health because it is a topic that genuinely interests me and one that I personally struggle with. This is my favorite project of junior year and continues to hold a high position in my portfolio, thus why I decided to present this project for Senior showcase. For this project, I would love feedback on my storytelling and visual metaphors.

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I animated in Adobe Animate CC, created my backgrounds in Photoshop, and edited the video in After Effects. I think the most prominent style choice I’ve decided to make is the juxtaposition between digital animation and live action. The animation was intended to represent how my interview subject views the world while live footage represents how a third party may view the world. (ie. her own animated reality vs. our reality). In regards to color, I chose a desaturated color palette in order to reflect my subject’s grim outlook of the world.

Because animating takes a long time, I couldn’t encompass everything that my complementary research paper covered in my documentary, especially since I am the sole creator of this film. Instead, I focused on one person’s mental health experience and made it more of a piece to spread awareness instead of one of intellectual inquiry. I’m glad I was able to go out of my comfort zone in reaching out to potential interviewees and learn a lot of important storytelling techniques I can utilize in future projects. I learned a lot about time management, as we were supposed to create our own schedules and make our own deadlines. Ultimately, this project showed me the importance of telling stories about our community, and I think this is something I want to continue moving forward.


Art Portfolio

The linked book is a compilation of my best illustrative pieces over the past two years at Freestyle. It includes life drawings, concept design, and media exploration. For this project, I would love feedback specifically on the concepts, though advice on composition and aesthetics are also appreciated.

As you can see, I enjoy experimenting with texture, color, and fine detail. Over the past two years, it seems like I improved not only in the technical aspect, but in the creative aspect. I used to be a person who thought drawing was difficult and therefore, would only indulge during big projects. However, doing drawing exercises in class and being forced to fill up our sketchbooks (sorry Ms. A) has ultimately cultivated a genuine enjoyment for drawing. I used to hate life drawing; now, I try to do that as much as I can. I’ve found relaxation in inking techniques and thrill in color. This experience in life drawing has undoubtedly helped me in concept design and overall creativity for I now have a solid foundation to build off of. Nowadays, drawing keeps me grounded, which is much needed for the animation career I’m pursuing.