AAST Junior Blogging

Blogging on a Monday is an unusual phenomenon, but that’s because we were spending Friday reflecting. Regardless, let’s still review the week.
We presented last week. Our presentations were about our experiences job shadowing. I found them all to be enjoyable for some reason or another – I was never good at picking favorites.
I think I did not half bad, myself.
Now, on Friday, we also had advisory videos regarding kindness and compassion. In these videos, they took all sorts of people and had them talk about their own experiences on this earth. I enjoyed this video.
I left my old school for a number of reasons, many being due to discrimination. All sorts of things made my stomach churn daily – Maybe it was my “friends” calling me disrespectful terminology used for Japanese people. Maybe it was jabs being made at my sexuality or gender. Maybe it was how I dressed, maybe it was how I looked. I grinned and rolled with the punches, and sometimes I shot some back.
I think respect is important. For everyone, yes, but equality is not yet a universal thing. Marginalized groups are still just that – Marginalized. I know there are many LGBT students in this school. I bet many considered being on that video. I bet many backed out because of the fear of being harassed. After all, there was only one in the video talking about being LGBT. More power to them.
And my point further stands that in the face of people coming out to ask for basic respect, a majority laughed at the video. My whole class did. They claimed it was for other reasons, but I’m nearly certain I know exactly why they did laugh.
I think respect is important. I implore those who think otherwise to put themselves in other’s shoes.
I also very much appreciate people of color and an autistic person for being on the video and being courageous enough to say something against descrimination. My respect to them.
On a more positive note – Thanksgiving is coming up! I’m excited – I love food, even if my siblings are loud.
This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful that I no longer am TOO hindered by my old food allergies. I’m also thankful for my closest friends (the ones who were there for me even when things were really rough, and just all my friends in general), my dog, my birds, and dusk. I’m thankful for the afternoon sun glancing off the magnolia leaves (it looks like an ocean), the trees and how they sound when moved by the breeze, the smell of smoke carried aloft by a crisp fall breeze, and most importantly, that I am able to know of what the Native Americans were forced to give up for us. My apologies to them. I am in their debt.
I hope you all have good Thanksgivings. I also hope you all have good weeks as well.
Catch you on the flip side.

Another week already gone by. Let’s review.
This week felt like it was barely even here! We started it off with Adobe Photoshop tutorials. I spent some of my time first attempting to recreate a piece of art I drew in one of my drawing pads by scanning it and then painting over it on another layer. I never finished it, sadly, but I hope to work on it again soon.
Aside from that, I focused mostly on learning how to do a polygonal effect on photos. This is where I take a reference image and make it look like it’s composed of triangles. I do this by outlining my image using only straight lines on a separate layer (with the help of the grid and the snap-to effect, of course), and then average-blending the selection on a duplicate copy of the original image. It’s really nice looking, but I’m not that good at it yet. I’m going to continue making images like this, though, so I can get used to it.
I tried this effect first on an image of a hand, one that had very unique colors. I’m now trying to do it on half of a ram’s skull.
Aside from new Photoshop techniques, job shadowing happened! I scheduled mine for the ninth of November, which is the date Miss Desimone chose as the default date. I decided to shadow at Subproto, which is a makerspace here in Myrtle Beach. It’s got a very nice atmosphere there.
I shadowed a very nice lady named Annie. She’s a freelance graphic designer. It wasn’t the most exciting thing ever, but I did learn some things. While I didn’t do much, I did get to see her interact with a client on how to make a site look a specific way. She ended up redoing it in front of me – I also watched her work on a few other projects she has at the moment. She actually used something somewhat similar to Illustrator, which was interesting to watch.
The experience was overall very calm, which is something I greatly appreciate. It was a rather decent job shadowing, I would say.
Anyway, that was my week. I hope everyone else had a good week as well.
Catch you on the flip side.

Another week past. Let’s review.
Well, this week, we mostly focused on working on a big project, one in which we create labels for hot sauce of some kind.
While the type we create the labels for is ultimately up to us, the brand is fixated – Less work for me to do, but at least I have creative freedom with what type I’m branding.
I’m actually going to be basing my label off a recipe I found, which my friend, an aspiring chef, has offered to make for me! It’s a simple thing, but I think it’ll be nice to try what I’m creating for. The sauce I picked is, in case one should wonder, a rather simple one made with red jalapeño peppers.
We started the project out with a few thumbnail sketches – 5, actually – But none of them really made the cut for me. When we got to the rough drafts, actually, I started out on one with a shape similar to one of my sketches, but ended up doing something else entirely. On my other rough draft, I got hit with an idea right in the middle of it, and I hurried to make it – That’s the one I liked best, so I ran with it for my final draft.
I feel like something is missing from it, though. It might be the colors, but I just can’t be sure – I do like the colors from my first draft, but the design is maybe… Too simple. It’s definitely missing something, which is part of the reason why I went with my other design.
It needs polishing, but every artist is their own critic, I suppose.
Aside from working on our labels, our class worked on Trunk or Treat for the school, which was loads of fun! I was a little nervous, but it went really well – We decorated, joked around, and handed out candy. It felt really good to see happy smiles from kids, and it felt nice to be out and about. Not only was it enjoyable from a personal point of view, but it was also really nice to see so many other of my fellow students enjoying themselves as well.
Overall, this week has been a lot of fun. I’ve enjoyed myself. I hope you all have too.
Catch you on the flip side.

Another week gone by. Let’s review.
We’re so close to being done with the textbook we use to learn about Illustrator with in this class! We focused mostly on text and logo making this week, which was interesting.. I feel like it’s also something I could improve on. I’ve definitely got my work cut out for me.
I feel like acquiring a skill for feeling out the proper spacing for text to object would be quite useful. An eye for color, too, which I like to believe I somewhat have already… It would seem the graphic designer of today has quite a bit to think about.
Something I enjoyed learning about was clipping layers, but that’s mostly because I already know something about them already. Of course, I typically use them in a slightly different way when drawing digitally, but the concept remains the same. I appreciate something I can comprehend easily.
Aside from clipping layers, we learned about image tracing. I really like the way a limited color tracing looks. It’s a really really neat effect that reminds me of the way a friend of mine does art, and I want to make something with it in the future. I also feel like perhaps there’s a way I can use it to create color palettes, which excites me.
I’m hoping to create a limited color trace of something simple and recolor parts of it.. I feel like I could make some really interesting art and designs in that way.
The shear tool is something we also learned about recently. I’m unsure how to feel about it, because the way it handles is quite odd to me. It’s probably just something I need to practice more. The function it has is quite useful, though, so I hope I can learn to use it more efficiently in the near future.
Perspective grid feature… Ah. I can’t stand it. I don’t understand in the slightest how to get it to move artboards, I don’t understand its full range of capabilities, and I don’t understand how to apply it to things. It’s just so interesting, though – Curses! I’ll have to set aside some time at home to read about it.
We were also showed how to create a sphere. I’m not sure what I’ll use this for, but I’m positive I’ll find something to use it for.
Aside from simple assignments, we’re starting a project in which we design a hot sauce label. I’m absolutely petrified, but I’m going to try my best. Best of luck to the rest of my class in this assignment.
And that’s my week! I missed a blog entry last Friday due to State Fair, but now I’ll be keeping up again.
Catch you on the flip side.

Another week in the rear view mirror. Let’s review.
This week, we went over a few chapters on things like symbols, shapes, and gradients.
I have to say, it was a lot easier than I anticipated. My computer (Who, by the way, I’ve decided to call Samuel) didn’t seem to want to work with me when it came to smooth shapes, but with a little bit of coaxing, I managed to work it out. Symbols were relatively easy – Combining symbols with smooth shapes was interesting. I hope I can play around with that more in the future. Gradient shapes was a bit puzzling at first, but that also ended up being quite entertaining.
As for symbols themselves – They’re alright. I feel like I don’t know them very well yet, so I may need to review that section. The symbol I made was a lollipop, because I felt it’d be relatively simple while having enough of a need for color that creating a color palette for it would be fun. I was right! Simple to create, fun to look at. I don’t know if I’ll use it in any future designs, but I suppose time will tell.
There was also an assignment to work on a logo for a middle school, as they don’t have a vector image for their logo, which I’ve started, and soon enough here, I’m going to work on some more. I put a rough draft of mine in my drive folder, but it’s pretty far from done. The shading on the lettering is throwing me off…? I’m not.. Quite sure how to go about.. Doing it. So.. It’s something I’ll have to look into.
I’m such a perfectionist, though, and I’m bad with the pen tool, so this whole thing is kind of killing me, just a little bit.
What else? Well, we started working on the door for a door decorating competition. The seniors get one door and us juniors get the other. I actually forgot what the design is supposed to be, but I tried to help somewhat anyway by cutting some of the ribbons for it. I’m sure it’ll look good, though, since some of our most artsy students are working on it. I’m cheering for them.
Well, that’s another week down. Time seems to go by so fast.
Catch you on the flip side.

Another week gone by. I keep finding myself wishing the weeks would go by faster, and then being shocked when they’re over.
Let’s review.
For the most part, we’ve still been going over the book we’ve been given for illustrator. The tutorials can be a little confusing, as they don’t give you much context for things you probably know very little about, but that’s okay. All it takes is a little bit of focus.
We’ve been getting more into drawing territory, which I’m excited about. I’ve been able to create simple doodles from the work I’ve been doing. My favorite thing to draw is people, and I like simplistic, cartoon-y styles, so I think I can find a way to suit Illustrator to my style. I think my favorite is a little doodle of a man, which I might add shading to later. I made him during the live painting section we were going over.
Speaking of which, the live paint tool has definitely been my favorite. It was a little confusing at first, but it’s what I was looking for. Art is definitely going to be a lot easier now.
Aside from the live paint function, we’ve learned about gradients, which was by far the most difficult thing to fathom thus far in my humble opinion just for the reason that I could not find the menu they were talking about in the book. I didn’t even notice they were talking about a menu until I saw the capitalization on the name of it – I know this is probably really vague without in depth explanation, so… It was difficult, let’s just say that. Once I found what I was looking for, though, it was definitely easier.
It’s a fun tool to play around with when you’re making landscapes. It brings a more polished aspect to the final piece that I like, but I do sometimes feel like it’s kind of missing something? So I think I’ll play around with it later until I figure out how I personally like to make gradients. They seem like they’d be good for sunsets. It also seems like a good opportunity to delve into color theory, which I kind of already wanted to do for my own personal art pieces.
I guess I’ll just see where it all takes me.
Catch you guys on the flip side.

Oh man, what a week. Let’s go over it.
We recently started working on illustrator, so the whole class has been learning how to use it recently.
We’ve been given textbooks for it, and for most of the week, we did a chapter per day. It was pretty basic stuff – How to navigate, how to do simple shapes, how to transform them, etc. It’s all good stuff to know. I think the thing I found most handy, though (which wasn’t actually gone over in the books yet, I looked it up), was how to configure shortcuts. What if you need to flip the canvas, huh? You know the shortcut for that? No? You can find out!
I think I’ve decided that Illustrator isn’t gonna be the easiest tool for me to use, considering the way I typically make my art, but I can always find a way for each new program.
Aside from doing a handful of chapters from out textbook, we also chose a couple of tutorials and followed them in illustrator. The experience is good, I think.
I chose to do a simple landscape tutorial, with a textured overlay on photoshop. I think it turned out pretty well. Honestly, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to copy the color palette, because I forgot you can just copy and paste an image the same way you would do text. Whoops. Regardless, I finished it, and any bumps I ran into I was able to get past with the help of Conor. Thanks bro.
I think Illustrator will be fun to create characters with, so I’m excited to see what I can do in this program in the future. I suppose we’ll find out!
I also tried out some of DC’s tablets, and I’m not sure how to work ’em along side the Macs. I’m more familiar with PC, honestly. The pen pressure on Illustrator was weird, but preexisting. I can’t say the same for photoshop. I had to manually set the pen pressure in Photoshop, and even then, it was kinda broken at first. Oh well.
I’m very excited for when we learn more about photoshop. I know the basics of an older version, but I don’t know how well that’ll serve me currently. I hope it’s a good tool to draw with.
Anyway, that was my week. I hope you all have a fantastic week. Catch you on the flip side.

The week is almost gone! I barely noticed it!
Well, to recap… We recently started working with Adobe Illustrator, which is interesting. I was excited for the different brush types, but I think it might not be the best tool for the kind of art I typically make. Good thing I’m an artist in more than one way! I’m sure I’ll find a comfortable way to make art with Illustrator soon.
Aside from that, I played around with the stamps a bit. There’s some ones there that probably weren’t meant to be funny, but they gave me a good laugh. I think I might have to turn in proof of my work, so I might have to make that up, but aside from that, I think I’ve got this down so far.
I like that this class tackles it in bite-sized bits. It makes all of this a lot easier for me to do.
I finished up my entry for the state fair as well! I’m decently proud of it, but I’m kind of tired of seeing it, if I’m perfectly honest. People keep complimenting it, too.. Aw, shucks.
I’m sure the test print will find a home somewhere in a frame in my house.
Back on the topic of Illustrator, I think my favorite part of it so far is the way you can navigate. I’m used to Sai’s and Krita’s method of adjusting the zoom level with my mouse and then scrolling using bars at the side and bottom, but the command plus or minus is.. Surprisingly handy. Of course, the bars are still there, but there’s also the drag function, which is pretty smooth. I think one of the biggest thing art software developers could improve on is how you navigate a canvas. It makes doing this so much easier and fluid if the interface is simple.
The biggest issue I’ve had this far is was with fixing up my entry – It originally started as a drawing of a character of mine, and then I figured I’d put it to the side, and if I wanted to make any changes to it later – Give her pupils, fix some of the lighting – I would. I never did, though. She’s one of my best pieces, though, so when the State Fair was brought up I figured I could touch up on it a bit and submit it. It was recommended to me that I give her some shoulders and touch up on the highlights, though, so I decided I would, right, shouldn’t be too hard, right?
Wrong!
I didn’t have a .sai file for the version I intended to turn in!
That means no layers, no erasing, no nothing. All of my fixes were done on one layer on a computer screen that never shows the colors quite right months after I made the original. Needless to say, I was a little bit turned around by it.
In the end, though, it came out fine! I’m happy with the end result. I hope it gets in!
Anyway, that was my week – I hope everyone in the class had a good week, too.
Catch you on the flip side.

Alright, let’s get settled in, shall we?
I’m S. Mitsuko Stack, but that’s a mouthful, so Stack works fine. This is my first year at this school, so it’s all very new to me. It’s bright, hopeful, and freeing to be in. The people in my major are incredibly kind. The setup is nothing short of incredible. We get to do our work on a desktop Mac. How cool is that?
So far, Digital Communications, my major (Of course), is very nice. Sure, the presentation we had to do pretty early on was a little bit intimidating, but I did mine on digital painting, a subject I’m rather passionate about, which made the whole ordeal much easier. I spent a lot of time talking about pricing, which I hope didn’t bore anyone too much. My presenting skills are rather shoddy, though – Luckily for me, no one judged me too hard. So nice of them!
I think my favorite presentation would be Tally’s; She went above and beyond with hers. It was enjoyable to watch.
It’s interesting to see what everyone is interested in here. Everyone brought something slightly different to the table. I think we have a good mix in here. I’m excited to learn more about my classmates as time goes on.
I’ve been finding the assignment we’ve been given – Making a Pinterest account – surprisingly challenging, but I think that’s just because it feels rather relative to me, and I prefer to work in definite terms. It’s just an exercise for my creativity, I suppose.
For instance, making an avatar for the account? That’s straight-forward. I can do that. Making a board for something “directly related to DC” is a little more… vague. I think. Oh well.
Regardless, I’ve created an avatar and a board for around ten or eleven subjects by now, I think. I hope to try out some new techniques soon. I have one for Photoshop techniques, which is very interesting. I believe we’ll be using illustrator a lot, so perhaps I should start a board for that, too. That’s not a bad idea, actually.
Also, I really don’t know what After Effects is.
I’m not quite sure what I’m doing yet, but I’ll get the hang of it.
I hope anyone reading this has a phenomenal weekend. Catch you on the flip side.