Course Goal Statement:
Initial Statement: (Made at the start of term)
I have always been interested in art, but have never really gotten the chance to take a course in it. Doodling characters and clothing designs are my favorite hobbies, so I would like to be able to learn some new skills that help to make me a better designer and be able to digitize my work.
My goal for this course is to walk away with a better set of illustration skills that I can use to more fully develop my ideas and designs. I also really want to see if art/graphic design is a possible career for me.
After reading over what this course has to offer skill-wise, I am optimistic that I will be able to build up better communication skills. I feel like I communicate pretty well with people now, but I figure it can't hurt to learn new ways of connecting and sharing information, especially if it can help in my career. Also, being able to improve my critical thinking skills would be a real plus. I tend to to be able to get an initial glimpse of what I want to create in my head, but I often am unable to fully develop it before I move on to something else. I intend to leave this class with the ability to fully develop an idea and be able to completely express what I want visually.
Midterm Statement: (Updated mid semester)
I have made a fair amount of progress in building my digital skill set. I struggled a bit with Photoshop for the first few weeks of the semester. I thought I would be able to just start using Photoshop and be good at it, this was not the case. I found that I was able to learn a lot by doing some of the in-class exercises again at home. I did not relish the extra bit of work, but it ended up making Photoshop a lot easier to use when I went on to work on projects.
After looking at some of my sketches and doodles, the professor recommended I begin using the Wacom drawing tablet and stylus and paint over my scanned designs. I thought this would be tedious, but I ended up really loving it. I am realizing more and more that art takes a lot longer than I thought it would, at least to get my drawings to look how I want them to, but I have found that if I listen to music and work that it is actually really enjoyable.
I have been working to better develop my communication skills. Having to speak in front of the class was and is really nerve-wracking, however I have slowly grown to be more comfortable talking about my ideas with others. The first project really threw my for a loop at first. I wasn't sure how to develop my idea. When I looked through the student examples and the professor explained more about the project, I finally saw what I wanted to create. I was able to use the Project Strategy Sheet to better flesh out my idea so that when i started working I could really visualize what it is I wanted to create and how I would do it.
I feel like I am well on my way to building up better conceptual design skills and communication skills. Each project is a new challenge, but the end result has been something I am really pleased with.
I have always been interested in art, but have never really gotten the chance to take a course in it. Doodling characters and clothing designs are my favorite hobbies, so I would like to be able to learn some new skills that help to make me a better designer and be able to digitize my work.
My goal for this course is to walk away with a better set of illustration skills that I can use to more fully develop my ideas and designs. I also really want to see if art/graphic design is a possible career for me.
After reading over what this course has to offer skill-wise, I am optimistic that I will be able to build up better communication skills. I feel like I communicate pretty well with people now, but I figure it can't hurt to learn new ways of connecting and sharing information, especially if it can help in my career. Also, being able to improve my critical thinking skills would be a real plus. I tend to to be able to get an initial glimpse of what I want to create in my head, but I often am unable to fully develop it before I move on to something else. I intend to leave this class with the ability to fully develop an idea and be able to completely express what I want visually.
Midterm Statement: (Updated mid semester)
I have made a fair amount of progress in building my digital skill set. I struggled a bit with Photoshop for the first few weeks of the semester. I thought I would be able to just start using Photoshop and be good at it, this was not the case. I found that I was able to learn a lot by doing some of the in-class exercises again at home. I did not relish the extra bit of work, but it ended up making Photoshop a lot easier to use when I went on to work on projects.
After looking at some of my sketches and doodles, the professor recommended I begin using the Wacom drawing tablet and stylus and paint over my scanned designs. I thought this would be tedious, but I ended up really loving it. I am realizing more and more that art takes a lot longer than I thought it would, at least to get my drawings to look how I want them to, but I have found that if I listen to music and work that it is actually really enjoyable.
I have been working to better develop my communication skills. Having to speak in front of the class was and is really nerve-wracking, however I have slowly grown to be more comfortable talking about my ideas with others. The first project really threw my for a loop at first. I wasn't sure how to develop my idea. When I looked through the student examples and the professor explained more about the project, I finally saw what I wanted to create. I was able to use the Project Strategy Sheet to better flesh out my idea so that when i started working I could really visualize what it is I wanted to create and how I would do it.
I feel like I am well on my way to building up better conceptual design skills and communication skills. Each project is a new challenge, but the end result has been something I am really pleased with.
Project Goals:
Project #1 Irrational Being
My goal for the irrational being project is to create a being by merging two very different animals that would seem to not blend well at all, a bat and a frog, (an amphibian and a mammal). I want to have more than one creature and show these creatures interacting as this will show how they live and interact with on another. I intend to make these creatures seem like they belong in their world as much as possible. I hope that the audience will feel like my irrational beings and the world they live in actually exists somewhere even if it is a little goofy.
My goal for the irrational being project is to create a being by merging two very different animals that would seem to not blend well at all, a bat and a frog, (an amphibian and a mammal). I want to have more than one creature and show these creatures interacting as this will show how they live and interact with on another. I intend to make these creatures seem like they belong in their world as much as possible. I hope that the audience will feel like my irrational beings and the world they live in actually exists somewhere even if it is a little goofy.