As of this current moment, I have yet to do my first practice. However, I do believe it will go pretty well and pretty fast. I’ve made serious progress on my presentation, and am already 3/4th of the way done with the script I have to make sure I cover all the information I have to cover. I have a good feeling about this, and can’t wait to show everyone what I’ve been working on all year.

But, I am missing a few things that I need to do before being fully prepared to show off everything. For one, I need to print out my pieces and finish my portfolio cover. I also need to actually finish the script, and finish my annotated bibs. Finally, I need to finalize everything on my website and also record my process. None of this should be incredibly hard, so I have no doubt I’ll be prepared by then. I guess I also should see if I could find something space themed to wear, that isn’t super tacky. Want to stick to the whole theme I’ve set up, ya know? Would be neat to also wear something that ties into it.

As far as internship goes, I finally finished doing the holidays she had wanted me to do, and have moved on to work on finding a way to download some of the videos on their youtube so that I can take clips of them to use for their social media. I’m excited to be so close to finishing up my internship, and can’t wait to talk about everything I’ve done.

The main setback for me right now, is the fact it seems we lost a lot of the work we had done for the game. No big deal, I guess. I can always get back everything that was done via working hard. Hopefully I can surpass what we already had by the time the presentation rolls around. I do believe I can get as far as we were before though, so I’m not incredibly worried. Probably should be more worried than I am though. That’s a problem of mine – I don’t worry enough until it’s really close to the end. I need to beat that out before college.

For senior mastery, I’ve been working on making more pieces to include in my portfolio. Currently, I don’t have too much recent ones (or at least, ones that I really like), and want more to illustrate how much my style has improved and grown in the past couple of years I’ve had to develop it further. I also worked on some pixel enemies to include in our game, though it looks like it may have been unnecessary in the long run. Why? You’ll find out later on.

For my internship, I’ve been working on images and GIFs for the holidays. Started out a bit rough, as she didn’t really like my first iteration of the Easter holiday one, but has vastly improved since then as she has enjoyed the ones I’ve made since. I’ll soon be working on a new project, from my understanding, and it seems to be YouTube related due to some questions she has asked. I’m excited to do so – I have no doubt it will be fun and a interesting experience.

For my website, I’ve been exploring different ideas for my resume page, and ways to better format how my senior mastery page appears. Otherwise, I think I’m almost done. I just need to update the images I have included in my galleries, as some of the pieces are old and are images I’m not too happy with and have been wanting to replace for a long while.

For spring break, it was pretty fun. Went up to Canada to hang out with my dad’s fiance’s family, getting more used to the new people who will be part of my life and getting to know my future siblings a little better. We had something called a stag and doe party – which was to raise money for the wedding – which was interesting, especially meeting some friends of my dad’s fiance’s, but also kinda boring because it was more adult oriented. I think the highlight, for me, was hanging out and playing with my future younger siblings and cousins. I know I don’t seem the type, but I love playing and hanging out with younger kids. Definitely wouldn’t want to work with them full time (occasionally I could do), or give birth (adoption is on the table in my future), but I certainly enjoy hanging with them.

Wasn’t able to do much last week as far as mastery or internship. All I did was fix what needed to be fix for my internship, and couldn’t meet with them again due to issues popping up on both sides. My laptop has recently been stupid, so I haven’t been able to do much at home anymore. All in all? Not the best week I’ve ever had work wise. I did learn how to add a video onto my website, which will be helpful later on when I do more animations and want to host them somewhere that isn’t YouTube.

I only have one other class that isn’t the major, and that would be government and economics. It’s a very easy class for me, although I’ve managed to miss every single test on the day it was assigned. My luck and timing is a mess haha.

I really don’t have much to say for this blog? Had practically nothing to do this entire week. I guess I’ll talk about a story I’ve been creating? For a few years now. It’s gonna be a big game.

The premise of my game is this: It’s 3 different kingdoms, all having different issues. There’s your standard human, magical humans, a animal species I call Faenjorn (or something like that) that has two versions: Feral and Domestic. Then there is the magical ones for Faenjorn as well. There’s also the ‘half-breed’ species, which are human but with Faenjorn traits (also magical and non-magic). Lastly, there’s the mutant species that recently popped up in the kingdoms – who are the focus of the game.

The game itself is supposed to be in a incredibly gray moral area – no one is in the right, but no one is exactly in the wrong. No matter what side you choose, it won’t be a ‘heroic’ cause. I want to tell a story that explores the parts that stories don’t typically want to. Stories like to have a solid evil and a solid good, and I don’t want to do your typical story. I have mechanics figured out, and a rough draft of a story. This isn’t a game I want to do quick and easy, I want this to be well developed and well received. That’s all for this blog I guess.

This week, I focused more on my art piece for B&C, so my mastery hasn’t made much headway just yet. I’ve been researching pixel art while at home, though, so hopefully I’l soon be designing the enemies I want to, and want to at least implement one boss fight into the game we’ve created. We’ve got quite a bit created already, which pleases me. I hope it’s enjoyable once we decide to release it.

For my internship, we went over some work I had finished earlier, and talked about how I should fix it (I need to change the body text is really all there is to it, so I’m not stressed about it. I’m glad she enjoyed the majority of the images I had used.) We also talked a little about how the rebranding for the company she works for is coming along, which I found interesting. The idea’s for the logo is really cool, and I can’t wait to see what they end up doing. I do enjoy my internship, though it does leave me a bit frustrated because I do feel like I could be doing more than I am. Oh well, all I can really say is at least I have my internship and it’s still fun.

For my annotated bibs, I think the most interesting thing I’ve learned about while researching is just how much research has gone into the effects of video games. I knew that research had been done, but I never expected the sheer amount of research I had encountered. I guess it just goes to show you just how uncertain people are with games, and how interesting and deep the topic can actually be. The amount of research done certainly helps my own research, though I do think it can be somewhat repetitive and excessive. But hey, whatever makes those people happy.

I haven’t touched my website in a bit, having been focused on other work. I did change the name though, having gone from Astro Pack to Space Deviants (The logo is now a S and D together, each letter having a horn). I also changed up the color scheme, and added a page for a mastery…. I think I may have mentioned this information before, but hey now you get a refresher right? I’ll be working on my contact page soon, which is one of my barest pages. I also will actually add the information for my mastery to the senior mastery page, considering that that is kind of important to this whole process.

Me and Clayton are considering changing our senior mastery into the game we are making for Tech Fair, since we did all this work for the  tech fair game already. Otherwise, I haven’t had much opportunity to work on the mastery. Things came up in my life recently, so those have taken priority at the moment.

For my internship, I met her recently to discuss what I will be doing. It seems I’ll be making graphics for the courses, and have already created one. I hope to finish them soon, but due to the fact that next week will be hectic for me (Tech fair and then the senior trip – super excited for the trip, it’s going to be really fun – and all that), I don’t think I’ll be finishing it until the week after next. Unfortunate really, as I do enjoy doing work for my internship. It’s been fun.

For the piece for B & C Art show, I decided to do one for equality. I made a few guys and gals for each of the major sexualities (and also one for transgender folk), and I plan on making each of them a different ethnicity. I thought about also representing different religions, but decided against it as it might be considered to provocative. I’m excited to finish it (although I did accidentally remove all the line progress I did for it… Sigh. Not the first time I’ve done that either. It’s getting really annoying. Good thing I removed that cursed shortcut.), as things like equality for LGBT and race hit really close to home for me, and I think it’s an amazing message to spread. I hope the judges see it the same way.

I’ve been too focused on Tech Fair to really pay my website much mind. I plan on redoing the contact page as soon as I get the chance, and then I need to add my senior mastery information. I think what I will most likely be doing in the near future, however, is adding more images to the slideshow of works I’ve done, and maybe redo that as well. Currently, the main changes I already made: changing it from Astro Pack to Space Deviants and thus changing the logo with it, changing the color scheme, adding the senior mastery page, and editing the landing page’s information about each page (I wanted it to seem more like the company that I do hope to make one day.

Thought I did this blog actually, guess I didn’t. Huh. Anyhow…

Not doing much on the mastery front, since we haven’t been able to get the full program until recently. All I’ve really done is done some art pieces to add to the portfolio aspect to it, and start rebranding myself and redoing the website for it. I’ve decided to change it to ‘Space Deviants’, since I do consider myself a ‘deviant’, and space is cool. Changing up the colors as well, since the colors were a bit too dark and not really ones I enjoyed. Purple is more aesthetically pleasing, I guess. But yeah, that’s really it. Been focusing more on the entry for the tech fair me and Clayton are doing, that’s been taking priority.

For Artfields, I didn’t actually do much. I had decided to edit a piece I did in my freetime, since I couldn’t finish the project I had been aiming for before. Added a better background to it, and removed a symbol on it that made it be part of a show I enjoy. It’s some sort of dragon mutant to give it a basic summary without delving into the show. I like the drawing, one of the best and most favorite one’s I’ve done this year. I hope it does get in, even if I didn’t enter what I was hoping to enter.

For my internship, I did the basic things I had been doing, and discussed the Valentine’s GIFs she wanted me to make. I finished them fairly quickly, since all she needed me to do was edit a template she had and customize it. Nothing super difficult, which is good for me considering I need to focus on some other things (like blogs, considering the fact I did this one so late…)

I don’t have any plans for Valentine’s Day, just gonna do what I usually do. Which is eat and sleep. Wanted to hang out with friends, but it seems that that fell apart. Oh well, nothing major. Really enjoyed all the things that happened in school for it (considering I got free snacks, I couldn’t not enjoy it)

With my mastery, I’ve been mainly figuring out what I want to put in my portfolio still. I have a better idea of all the pieces I’m putting into it, especially after the drawings I’ve been doing recently. To be honest, I haven’t been focusing on my mastery as much recently. Have other plans I’ve been focusing on, like my own story and the project me and Clayton are doing for the tech fair. To go off on that, I’d like to mention a little bit about our project for it.

We are attempting to do a short, 2D with perspective elements (making it appear 3D) RPG, with the elements we have stemming from an idea we saw on the website for the program we are using. We plan to put it in a wasteland-like future, about 200 years or so. In all honesty, I’m hoping to use this as a sort of test for us to see how the style looks. If it looks great, then we know what style we can use for our senior mastery. If it doesn’t, then we know that we have to switch it up a little. Honestly, I’m hoping for this to be a great learning and testing opportunity, while also getting a chance to try out a contest I’ve never thought of doing until now. Different experiences always help in the long run, in my opinion.

As far as internship, I recently finished all the work she gave me to do. She gave me a list of events she needed graphics for, nothing too hard; they were all really simple designs. Honestly, even though they were incredibly easy, I was surprised I managed to finish them on time. It feels great to be able to work fast, and to be on my own and doing my own pace for this internship. I’m grateful for this opportunity and for the fact my needs could be met. Honestly? I expected finding a internship to be much harder than it turned out to be.

As far as bibs… Well, we’ll have to get back to that later. Hahah… Yeah. Still really bad at that whole mess. Oops.

I was quite proud of my first semester grades! Especially when it came to my college level Psychology class. I wasn’t doing very well at the start of that class, so I didn’t think I’d be able to pass with a grade I’d be happy with. I was so happy when I saw the grade had been a B, considering how much I struggled with the class. It felt gratifying. I was also super proud that I managed to get a piece into the state fair art show — it helped me realize just how much improvement this major has allowed me to make. And I continue to improve, and thanks to this school I believe I’ll always have the motivation to do so. I honestly didn’t believe I could improve before I came here, and didn’t even try. I’m glad this school proved me wrong.

As far as mastery, I’ve been a bit stuck there. Just sketching designs, and making minor improvements to the story (i recently got back into writing more, and realized things I could do better). For the most part, I’ve been thinking of how I should work on my website and the pieces I want to put into my portfolio. I don’t think I’ll have many pieces from Junior year, since I’m not proud of a lot of them. I’ll probably use a few just to show how much improvement I’ve made since I came here.

I started my internship this week, and for the most part I’ve been learning about the company and how it brands itself. I’ve been making some minor banners and the likes for the events they have, and that is what will most likely be the majority of what I do. For the most part, it’s just been me trying to relearn to use Photoshop for things other than drawing, as that’s what I’ve been doing recently and kinda neglected the other pieces. I also learned that researching a company before going into a interview or anything is pretty much necessary; if you don’t know anything about the company, it won’t help you in the long run, it may actually make them not wish to have you.

For my infographic, the topic I’m going to do is on how the internet impacts us, and I wish to do this as the internet is a major component of the world and our social interactions, and I always wondered just how much we really are impacted by it.

The designing process has been a bit slow. I’ve got all the research, I’m just… Unsure of how I want to approach it. I know I’ll figure it out soon, but I just dislike struggling with the actual designing process. Once I get on a roll though, I’ll have it done in no time.

This week, I’ve been pretty slack as far as my mastery goes. Have been sick, so I haven’t really had it on my mind. Been too busy coughing out my lungs haha. Still need to start doing it though. Hopefully, I’ll be feeling much better next week. I really hope so, being sick sucks so much.

My internship will be with Megan from Tech Talent South, and will actually be based at school for it due to transportation issues I have. We haven’t settled on a exact date in January, but we are certain that I will start in January. It’ll probably be after the semester switches to 2nd semester, as that’s when internships should be starting.

Alright, so, my favorite art blog is actually this tumblr blog called artofkace. The guy creates one of my favorite comics, called ‘A Turn for Change’, and has another blog, but this is his art specific blog. His style is amazing, and I love seeing the pieces he does. I’ve also been there to see how his style has changed over time, which isn’t shown on the blog as it is fairly new, and the change in the style is simply amazing. He went from a cartoony style like Steven Universe, to his own distinct style. I love seeing what new things he has decided to draw, and seeing the improvements and changes that his style brings with it.

I don’t really have a favorite person, and none of them are really related to any of that. However, I do have a favorite animation studio. My favorite animation studio is called Studio Ghibli. It’s Japanese based, and it makes amazing animated movies. The stories it tells is amazing, and the style is phenomenal. Seeing their style and the success they’ve had is part of what has inspired me to become an animator, and I hope to do the kind of things that they’ve created; story-wise and design-wise.

As far as things I’ve learned outside of school, I’ve learned that being sick really sucks hahaha. Being sick has honestly prevented me from doing what I want to do this week, which really hurts my plans.

As last week, I am mainly working on backgrounds for the game. At this point, all I really have to do is get Game Maker at home and put them into the file. We still need to figure out how we will manage the whole thing (I.E. working on it at home and then working on it at school and all that jazz that comes with working together on a project). I’ve definitely slowed down, but I plan on picking up steam during the break and hopefully get a good chunk done.

As far as internship goes… I need to talk to the person, most likely. I sent them the paperwork, but they never got back to me with it. A bit worrying, not going to lie, but I’m not supremely worried. I have a good feeling it will all work out in the end. Best to stay optimistic I suppose.

The quote I chose is along the lines of “There is a difference between fame and success; Madonna is one and Helen Keller is the other.”I chose it as I do believe that it is quite true; you can be famous, but that doesn’t necessarily make you a successful individual. Plenty of people become famous, but not all of them remain or become successful in life. I also found it to be a silly quote, and I am one for enjoying the silly things in life. If you can’t laugh about something, then what’s the point?

As far as learning things on my own that wasn’t assigned to me, I’m starting to learn how to better handle Photoshop. Photoshop has always intimidated me in a way, as I didn’t quite understand it and never could get the hang of it. It’s a program that has always given me difficulty, and I’m glad that I’m finally beginning to understand it. Hopefully I’ll be able to use it efficiently by the time I leave this school.

Don’t have much to say. Guess I’ll add some comments about my life: My mom recently got two dogs named Champ and Huckleberry. Very friendly dogs apparently, but my cat doesn’t seem to like their energy lol (he slapped one of them haha.) Speaking of my cat, his eye is improving! That makes me very happy to know. I hope he recovers enough that even though it won’t be back to normal, he can see again.

That’s all I suppose.