Home Creative Statement Weekly Readings Homework

Week 1 HTML

Hyper Text Markup Language, the most basic yet vital building block of any website. It’s a little challenging to write a reflective writing about a HTML tutorial. But I will say that using HTML's are difficult yet necessary in order for a website to function normally. Without HTML's, websites wouldn't exist.

Week 2 Photography

As Susan Sontag states, "To collect photographs is to collect the world." The concept of photography has to do with capturing an experience, and letting that photo speak for itself. For instance, if someone needs evidence of their loved one in an affair, a single photo can answer just that. As they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." Susan on the other hand mentions the use of photography can actually rob people's experiences when traveling. She even mentions how people need a sort of imitation of work, which is why people take pictures. Being too focused on taking the perfect photo without actually enjoying the place you're in ruins the purpose.

The videos from the LinkedIn Learning website taught me how to properly crop the images in any size (in this scenario, 5x7 inch and 1080x1920 pi). The videos also helped me gain more knowledge about layers in general. I believe this basic step is the foundation of all future photoshop projects.

Week 3 Deep vs Shallow

The videos from the LinkedIn Learning website taught me about the different kinds of blur options for any picture. I used the field blur for my project. This specific tool allowed me to carefully choose which area I want to blur out (the background) and which area I want to keep in focus (exit sign and tower).

Week 4 Photomontage

The videos from the LinkedIn Learning website taught me about the basics of photomontage, the epitome of photoshop, in my opinion. The videos explained each step very nicely. My only issue is photoshop itself, mainly because of how confusing the controls can be. Other than that, once I get used to the keyboard shortcuts and whatnot, this will be a very useful skill.

Week 5 Masking and Image Compositioning

When the assignment was to find and create a political or social or ecological issue that interests me, the first thought that occurred was the concept of social media. To put it simply, almost everyone in this world is driven by social media. Needless to say, social media plays an extremely major part in our lives, to the point that it traps or imprisons us. We are imprisoned by these popular apps like Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and many others. These apps are a part of everyone's daily life, including the person who reads this, which is why I added a mirror.

The main methods I incorporated were simply copying and pasting each image in a separate layer and adjusting each if necessary. The mirror layer, for instance, was the most persistent. I had to use the pen tool in order to place the points to crop. The mirror may not have turned out perfectly, but with enough practice, I'll be able to do this a lot faster and easily.

Week 6 and Motherhood Graphic Novel

The main reason that illustration was used in the “Punishment” story is because it vividly portrays a struggling woman who was treated as a murderer despite the fact that she’s been through a lot of traumatic events. The illustrations allow us to see each emotion portrayed in each frame, something that photographs can’t really do. The illustrations can vividly show how the other characters are portrayed even though they might not be the center attention at that moment.

The videos taught me how to use specific complementary colors, as well as gradients, patterns and transparency. I feel like this is a good first step in learning about colors in general and how to use lines to make certain types of shapes (in this case, an eye).

Week 7 Landscape

I chose a pic of a country I always wanted to visit: Japan. I looked for a cool looking image of an alleyway in Tokyo, Japan and I found this possible fan art. I specifically chose this one because I love the slightly dark aesthetic to it, with the neon lights acting as a contrast. I used the pen tool to make the shape of the alley and filled it in with the triad colors.

The videos provided some basic additional information that helped me create my illustrated environments. The video did not help as much as the other videos for their respective assignments, but still helpful nonetheless.

Week 8 GIFS

The videos from the LinkedIn Learning website taught me the very basics of GIFs and animation. Using artboards allow me to create each animation of one single GIF. Very cool and very helpful.

The videos provided some basic additional information that helped me create my illustrated environments. The video did not help as much as the other videos for their respective assignments, but still helpful nonetheless.

Week 9 Data

I found this article astonishing. The 31-year-old RK Secretario was not living a very great life mainly because he just wasn’t making enough money from selling rice to farmers. But then suddenly, his life made a complete 180. By playing a similar game to Pokemon GO, (except this game involves NFTs), he was able to make as much as $2000 just from an hour of gameplay. ONE hour. I'm sure anyone would want to play to earn money, but it wouldn't be a surprise if this game takes serious skill, luck, or both.

The videos explained how to make each type of data graph. Being taught how to use different graphs for different scenarios is very useful, depending on the given situation. The tutorial to help me customize it in terms of color was very useful as well.