Introduction
The Reflections unit at Freestyle challenged me to explore the question, “who am I?”. Through personal reflection, various media forms of writing, videos, and more, I answered this question and understood more about myself. I developed insights about my identity and made sense of my experiences. I realized what my core values are. Additionally, I learned how to communicate through art to an audience. This unit was difficult because it asked for me to be vulnerable and show my true self. But, in the end, it was rewarding and I feel proud for how far I’ve come.
Core Values Video
For this assignment, I was asked to decide what my core values are. After coming up with about 7 values, I created a video through Adobe After Effects where I introduced each value with a different effect, added a voice over, music, and more.
Behind the scenes of core values video
Here is a screenshot from my After Effects file. I added effects and different time stamps, matching with the music, for each value and my title.
Mandala
The mandala project was for Digital Media. Making a mandala was very new to me but I enjoyed the experience. I had great freedom in this project as I could create whatever design I wanted. I used Adobe Illustrator to draw my mandala. First, I created a black and white mandala which I then got it laser printed and chose to have it printed on a piece of wood. After this, I went back to my black and white mandala and filled in the white parts with different colors and changed the pen stroke color to make a colored mandala.
Before and After Comparison
Mandala Reveal Video
Mandala Engraving Video
Black and white mandala
Artist statement: I really enjoyed this project because I have always enjoyed doodling on random papers and I feel like I was just doodling and drawing different symbols or creative lines in this mandala. I wanted to include aspects of nature like leaves, the moon, sun, and stars because I love nature. I didn’t really ace any challenges except for when I didn’t know what to fill empty space with. I felt very prepared going into this project because of the templates and practice we did in class. I am proud of this artwork and exited to see in physical form.
Colored mandala
Artist statement: For this project I was inspired by nature and bright colors. I didn’t really stick to a color theme, instead I just used different colors I liked. I include yellow for the sun, some different shades of blue to show the sky ad clouds. I also used greens and shades of pink for flowers. I encountered some challenges when coloring my mandala because I was constantly grouping and ungrouping my original art when I shifted from coloring in and changing the stroke color.
Reflection
I valued and appreciated the freedom I had in the Mandala Project and also the new skills I learned in Illustrator and making templates and mask layers for the mandala. Additionally, I appreciated learned a new Adobe app, After Affects which was hard to learn, but in the end very rewarding. I also enjoyed having a physical pice of art from this Mandala project, which is unusual because most of my projects are kept digital.
Personal Essay
For English, I was asked to write a personal essay that told a story about myself and my core values. This essay helped me write my college personal statement.
Film
For my film reflections project, I was asked to create a 2 minute video that allowed my audience to better understand me, especially how I think. This was a very vulnerable project and I spent a lot of time in the begining reflecting about myself, asking questions about my identity and what makes me unique. Then, I start brainstorming and planning ideas on how I can bring this to film. I also had to do a voiceover throughout the video talking about my thoughts and setting the scene for the camera. In the end, I think it all worked out and I really enjoyed this project.
(wait for Mr. T to upload my film on YT)