The first unit Seniors will face is the Reflections Unit. Based on the name, seniors are required to reflect into their personal interests and use that to create art. In Digital Media, we use Photoshop to create multiple pieces of artwork while learning important techniques to fully create that vision. In my elective Film, we interpret our journeys in our life and why colleges should value those journeys we choose to tell. In English, we analyze worlds that were created and use that knowledge to create our own worlds. All of these experiences in this unit will ultimately decide pr at least dig deeper into the question, “Who am I?”

At the beginning of the year, there was a major focus on values that we hold dearly and that explain our personality. We called them “essence objects”. This was one of the more harder units for me because I couldn’t just give sub-labels to my personality that explains my core-values. Also, there was just so much I wanted to include but of course, we were limited to only a couple. Every passing week, we kept on expanding these ideals and transforming them into stories and art. Most of my work is mostly inspirational which you can tell by my artwork, the style of my films, and the stories I’ve created. The reasoning for this isn’t to copy other people’s work but to expand on their techniques and create the same effect.

Mandala

For the Mandala project, we were assigned to use Illustrator and create a circle of visual drawings to represent our values. The thing is that students are required to only draw a fraction of the circle. By drawing on that fraction, it will multiply across the circle repeating the drawing. This is visually interesting and can take many hours if one chooses to add much detail.

The inspiration for my project was expressing my thoughts on something physical. I chose the pizza board because I wanted to actually use it to cut pizza and more instead of placing it somewhere and forgetting about it. I am mostly proud of how I connected myself to this piece and it can definitely be noticeable to the audience. The most difficult thing about this was accepting that this was my work because when comparing this to my classmates’ mandalas, mine isn’t the best, but that is ok since it is my work and I put effort into what I want it to be. I will use this experience to trust the process more and stop stressing about comparing myself to other people. I will respect other people’s art more since I’ve somewhat experienced the process.

Photoshop Art

After finishing the mandala, there was a major focus on using photoshop to create various images. We were taught many different techniques and practices that professional artists use in order to put our imagination into something physical. I value the many assignments that keeps on building up my knowledge of photoshop.

Pastel Painting

Watercolor Painting

Title: He Is Not Your Savior

The main inspiration for this project is the latest Kendrick Lamar album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. I wanted to capture the essence of his album artwork because it represents many things that not only he’s been through, but also represents the growth. This gives a relatability to the audience because growth is what makes us human. It it the very focus of many stories that we all know and love. This project was difficult not only because of the limited amount of time we had before the deadline, but I wanted to include as much detail as possible. I had to remove some things such as the gun in Kendrick Lamar’s pants and the faces of the other characters but that itself can leave many interpretations to the audience. As you can also notice, I’ve added a shadow surrounding the main focus which I believe can represent different things to the people. In the future, I would like to add more things to the artwork to represent his growth such as his previous albums on the wall and possibly even more details. I am most proud of how everything works well together. The audience will focus on many different things of this piece but the main focus will be the man himself, Kendrick Lamar and even more specifically, the crown. Also, notice how I use the title, “He Is Not Your Savior”. I will leave this to the audience for their own interpretation. I will definitely use the various techniques I’ve used for other projects such as portraits of family and friends, other album covers, etc. This can be very useful. I now better understand the process of what it takes to create art so I will make sure to notice every single detail of artwork and try to decipher it based on my knowledge and experience. Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy this artwork.

Watercolor Painting Effect

Title: The Watercolor Effect

The main inspiration for my project is my experience of being a senior. All of the images I’ve used are from my senior year of high school. The first image is halloween at FreeStyle where a dinosaur is eating a banana. The second image is the field trip to the SF Museum. The third image is my football experience. All of these images do not include me because I want to reflect on my friends and experiences rather than my own which may seem weird now that I am writing this. I grew with this project because during the creating of this project, I’ve reminisced of these experiences and I know that once I grow older, I will miss these experiences so I try to make the most out of it. I learned that I have accomplished what I always wanted to do in high school. Have fun. I’ve made friends, lost friends, have unforgettable experiences, and have moments where I wished were forgettable. I wouldn’t change a thing for these experiences define who I am.

Some struggles I’ve faced through this project is how do I best represent my friends with this project. I wanted everything to be perfect in terms of highlights, outlines, shading, etc. In the future, I would like the experiment more with the techniques I’ve learnt to make new kinds of artwork. I am most proud of how everything works well together. The images have the best visual colors to best represent the feelings the audience will experience when viewing them. I=

I will use the ideas I’ve leant to best visualize photos in one way or another. Maybe some family portraits, maybe some pet photos, landscapes, etc. Photoshop is a powerful tool to create what I visualize. I will definitely use it more to explore my creativity. When viewing other pieces of artwork, I will actually see them as easier. Before this project, I was surprised of how these artworks look so real. Now after completing this project, I’ve realized that all it takes is a filter, outlines, and brushing. This project really opened my eyes and I am excited for what I will create next with what I’ve learnt.

Film

For this unit, we produced a short film for the purpose of explaining our life to the audience. Most of my footage was in Oakland using my little brother as the camera guy. We filmed at multiple locations which took time but was worth it because I explored the possibilities of our brand new cameras. I took a lot of care into this film and I wished we had more time so I can improve but the overall product reached my satisfactory.