Introduction
This unit was about exploring and reflecting on ourselves. A main part of all of our projects this unit used our core values as a way to come up with ideas for the projects. Using the core values of creativity, fun, passion, inspiration, adaptation, risk, humility, criticism, and working with others, I was able to create some super cool works of art that also have a deeper meaning behind them.
Mandala
In Digital Media, we used Adobe Illustrator to create mandalas. These mandalas reflected our core values, or represented some of our interests. At first, I didn’t know how to start with the mandala. I just started doodling and trying out different things and then settled on a space theme, since the mandala would be turned into a night light. I struggled a little bit with filling the empty space. I decided on doodling little stars. I don’t think I would change it. I think it looks pretty good right now. For the image of the Mandala, I wanted to take a close up of it, but just far enough away to see a whole section from the middle to the top. I turned the light to a blueish color, and brightened it up with Photoshop.
For the colored mandala, I wanted to do a Nightmare Before Christmas theme. The center and the shape was based off of the scene when Jack tries to make a paper snowflake, but it ends up looking like a spider. I tried to include more elements from the movie, but I couldn’t stuff them all in there. From the beginning, I knew I wanted to put Jack and Sally on the curly hill at the top section of the mandala. Then I added the Lock, Shock, and Barrel masks, and the mayor. I wanted to fit in a silhouette of Halloween Town in between the masks and the mayor, but I eventually settled on just drawing Jacks house. And, of course, It wouldn’t be complete without Oogie Boogie. I mainly focused on the Halloween part of the movie, but I added in some green and red in the borders to add a little hint of Christmas. I had a bit of trouble coloring the mandala – especially the backgrounds. I also had trouble with the mayor’s face, because his eyes and nose are not symmetrical. So I added a separate layer just for his eyes and nose and had them repeat around the mandala. If I could change something, I think I would add the doctor or a more detailed drawing of Jack and Sally. I am most proud of how the mayor turned out. He’s one of my favorite characters, so I’m glad he looks good.
College Personal Essay
The Personal Essay was a chance to write a Collage Essay in our English Class. We used the help of [a book] to write this essay, which was very helpful. especially for the brainstorming part of the essay. To begin the process of brainstorming ideas for my Personal Essay, I used the core values I wrote down and described how I learned them and how I would use them in my future.The core values I included were creativity, fun, passion, inspiration, adaptability, risk, humility, criticism, and working with others. I took the core values of risk and humility and decided to expand on that. Starting to write the draft, I chose to write more about risk and humility, and the idea that I would hide my artwork from people. During the beginning of my first draft, I had trouble trying to find a story or specific moment to write about. My “Zero” draft is just some word vomit of my core values, how I learned them and how I will use them. My most current version of my essay is expanding more on two specific core values. The most challenging thing about revising my essay was expanding on stories, but also not going over the word limit. I found sentences that did not need to be there, and words I could smush together or find a different word for the same meaning of a couple words. I tried to expand on some stories, and used more specific examples, using the feedback I got from my peers and teachers. I chose two specific core values to write more about, and hinted at other core values along the way. When editing my essay, I made sure to look for words I would never use, and make it seem like it’s something that I would actually write, and not written by someone else. I don’t think it improved my essay much, I didn’t find any super fancy words or excessive description. Looking at my final essay, it is much different than my original vision for the piece. I think I’m mostly proud of how I was able to show how I grew with my art.
Design
PSA
The Public Service Announcement poster we made in Design was of an issue in our society. I decided to make my PSA about deaf awareness and having ASL being taught in high schools. I am currently taking an ASL course outside of school, and I believe It would be easier to learn if it was at my school, in person, instead of it being online, at a college located across the country. I also thought it would be appropriate to make the PSA during September, Deaf Awareness Month. At the very top of the poster, there are large letters spelling “ASL” and underneath are hands fingerspelling “ASL”. Under that, it says, “is a real language,” making the whole sentence, “ASL is a real language.” At the very bottom of the poster are some characters signing to each other. I chose the tagline, “ASL is a real language,” because, surprisingly, some people believe it is not a real language. If it is considered a real language, then it should be taught in schools, like French or Spanish, or other languages. The colors, yellow and blue, were chosen because I thought they gave off a sense of warmth and security. The contrast between the yellow background and the blue text makes the message stand out more.
Aboriginal Art
The Aboriginal Art project in Design was a very fun project. We used Photoshop to mimic how the Aborigines in Australia would do cave paintings. We were tasked to make an art piece depicting ourselves. To do so, we included our Zodiac sign, our Zodiac’s constellation, our spirit animal, and at least two Aboriginal symbols that represent us. The symbols in this art piece mean many different things. The main symbol is the one in the middle, representing my family sitting around a table. I am at the top of the circle, represented by the Aboriginal symbol for a person, my sister and my mom are on the sides, represented by the Aboriginal symbol for a woman, and my dad is at the bottom of the table, represented by the Aboriginal symbol for a man. I decided to make it sort of like a map of my backyard, with a creek around the back and trees surrounding it. I also used the Aboriginal symbol for rain, to represent myself being a water sign, but also because I like the rain. I added the Scorpio symbol and had the arrow at the end of the ‘m’ shape pointing at me. I also included the Scorpio constellation, as well. To represent myself in this piece further, I added turtles to the image. I feel that the turtles represent me because I am shy and quiet, but I have also found myself coming out of my shell more.
Watercolor Name
UNFINISHED PROJECT