To start, to be completely and wholeheartedly honest, I don't really have a goal for this course. I wasn't so sure what I wanted to do in College but just knew that I wanted to do something creative because the monotony of academics was starting to get to me so I filled my CAO with any creative courses I could find that interested me. Essentially I'm just here to be in College and to actually have fun doing something academic for the first time. My only other 'Non-creative' courses were either Psychology or Teaching(more specifically Spanish and Irish)
I've been liking the course so far though and have been genuinely happy about the skills I've learned so far like Illustrator, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc. and have even found myself using them in my own time for personal projects and such. My biggest accomplishment last semester was probably finishing the year with a 3.75 GPA I think it was, especially getting all As in the second semester and my lowest grade overall being a B-. I've never been too bad academically but getting those grades in Year 1 in a sense 'validated' my choices for doing a creative course and my ability to do so.
I also didn't have a plan for this blog post, obviously, but I just got the idea to share some of my own personal work from over the past year.
Here are a couple photos I took and edited that I found on my laptop from the past year.
Burning Rose
Baggot Street
(I'm pretty sure I did this one before we had even started Lightroom classes)
I used Photoshop to mess around and colour old drawings I scanned in. I also used these drawings to figure out how to turn sketches into lineart on Illustrator. I did a couple of them but these are the only ones I really finished.
The next are a couple fun little photoshop projects I decided to mess around with, neither of these are serious and I spent no longer than an hour on either but they were fun and good practice nonetheless.
Little Tom Holland
Edited "The Great Wave off Kanagawa"
The next and last few pictures are short illustrator projects I took up every now and then throughout the year. They all served as good practice and the new skills I figured out really carried on between them, despite the practice most of them are still pretty 'DIY' and are very much not the most efficient way to do them but as long as they looked fine I didn't mind. I also did a few more projects for friends and family but those were more personal projects. (Most of these were made and exported for Mobile viewing so please excuse the image quality)
Zenitsu Agatsumu poster from the anime Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)
Japanese Shinto Shrine inspired poster
The next three are from a series I started over quarantine based on the anime Haikyu!!
Tadashi Yamaguchi
Yū Nishinoya
Asahi Azumane
As for other hobbies I like, a lot of them are creative or I will randomly start creative projects when I feel like it. These range from general drawing and painting to embroidery, and often prop or model making. My most recent prop project was a Bokken(wooden sword) that I hand carved, got a pretty little scar on my thumb from the chisel too. I had never really considered Music one of my hobbies for the longest time but I've recently started accepting it as one. I've been playing the Ukulele casually since about 14 and I've recently picked up a Midi Keyboard that I 'borrowed' from my sister. I've dabbled in song writing every now and then, not to much success.
I've also recently gotten back into watching Anime after taking a couple year hiatus from it for no particular reason.
As for games I've been playing a lot in the past couple years, I played a lot of Fortnite with friends in 6th Year instead of studying for the Leaving Cert. I also picked up Tetris 99 in that time which is one of the hardest games I've ever played especially considering that I didn't know how to play Tetris before I started and had to figure it out. My sister also bought a PS4 a couple months ago which let me start The Witcher III which I've been working through gradually. As for more recently during quarantine I have sort of become addicted to Smite: Battleground of the Gods because all my other friends had been playing it for years and after getting a laptop for College I could finally play it with them to pass time and stay connected during quarantine.
I'd love to talk about things like favourite Shows or Movies but I can never remember any, let alone pick one for things like this. The same goes for music because my taste is so broad and quite frankly bizarre.
Asahi~ my faveeeeeeeeee
ReplyDeleteHi Vince!! I really enjoyed this blog entry :) to start off them pictures you took are sick?? the second one reminds me so much of like a image you'd see on Pinterest of like a side street in New York or Japan!! (it's definitely all the lights). Really sick work! Your edited pictures are unreal too, obsessed with little Tom Holland, what an icon!! I also love the title to your post, it's a mood. -Megan
ReplyDeleteHey Vince great blog post!! The examples of your work are amazing!! The burning rose is my favourite. I love how your hobbies are so creative! The fact you play the Ukulele is so interesting because I always said I would love to play but I never have actually learned how too, maybe I will one day. My taste in music is also very broad so I understand you there! I listen to a bit of everything.
ReplyDeleteHey Vince, completely with you from the first line, no goals just hoping for the best outcome too. I'm glad to hear you've been enjoying learning all of the creative programs and from what i've seen the projects you've done have turned out looking very nice. I absolutely love the line-art, it looks like something that could be in a gallery.
ReplyDeleteHey dude it is Ellen. I don't think we even need and introduction at this point hehe x I really like your introduction post, sums you up very well. Your work is so good you have picked up all the adobe apps very quickly. Hope you're adapting to college at home okay, I know it can be hard and isolating. Good luck with the year ahead!!
ReplyDeleteYo Vince, dope blog there and I vibe with you in the aspect of applying to this course without having an end goal in mind and seeking something creative. But since we made it this far, it could only mean we made the right choice. Love the different things that you try and do and I can tell you got a great future ahead!
ReplyDeleteHey Vince good to know more about your work also stop burning roses what did they ever do too you. Those picture look class must say Baggot street gives me 80s vibes probably the neon signs. You have to show me the props you made I always wanted to make some movie props but never know where to start (also im extremely lazy). Hope to hear from you soon :)
ReplyDeleteHi Vince! You're incredibly talented and I feel like this course is perfect for you. I'm constantly jealous of your work and I wish I was that motivated to stay on illustrator but man I can't even do anything properly without having to research a tool 10000 times. I hope all is well and the Witcher is such a huge game but it's very enjoyable so i'm glad you're playing it. - Anna
ReplyDeleteHey Vince, sad were not in the same group this year :(. Love the blog layout I feel like I need to change mine now after seeing it. The work that you done over summer are so good, I'm still struggling how to work illustrator and photoshop. Best of luck in the semester!
ReplyDeleteHey Vince,
ReplyDeletegreat blog post, the work you created on photoshop and illustrator is great, doing things like that in your spare time is great practice and very beneficial, doing it often will keep you well ahead of everyone on the course, getting hooked on fortnite probably wasn't the best idea during 6th year, but your here now, so who cares, great blog keep up the good work.
Hey Vince, this is a great introduction blog and I love seeing all the creative things you have done and everything you have learned from last year. From some of your works you posted, I personally love the great wave of Kanagawa edit you did and the Haikyu posters you made as I'm a big fan of that anime too! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHey Vince, great blog post :) Love the photo of the rose burning, I love the Japanese Shinto Shrine inspired poster that you did it looks great. Love that you have so many hobbies and that you play the ukulele I'm not very musically talented but id love to be able to play an instrument one day.
ReplyDeleteI loved this blog Vince. I learned so much more about you which proved to me that I clearly don't know a lot about you. I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't know what to do and filled in the CAO not knowing what to expect. I can't wait to read more 😊
ReplyDeletehey Vince, really enjoyed the brutally honest approach, i completely agree with you in terms of not really having an exact idea of what im doing lol also i think you anime inspired posters are amazing you are supper talented man.
ReplyDeleteHi Vince!! High five, I don't have a goal for this course either! You're so talented and I'm super jealous of how artistically motivated you are </3 I remember when you showed me the Baggot Street photo, it's still so pretty. It's really cool to see that you're putting the skills you learned from college into your own personal projects! Hopefully we can see each other again soon so you can resume your job of annoying me!
ReplyDeleteHey Vince, hope you're doing good this year. Your photos look great. I remember last year seeing your photo essay, it was really nice. The Witcher 3 is such a long game but well worth the time! Have you watched the series on Netflix? It's really good! Hope you're enjoying the modules so far this year!
ReplyDeleteHi Vince! I loved reading your introduction post. I say getting that high of a GPA and all As felt amazing to get haha. The art pieces you included in this post are very well done I like them all. Playing Fortnite in 6th year I can relate too so well as that was the one thing I always did when I got home from school. Best of luck with the rest of the course Vince :)
ReplyDeleteVince my group 3 homie. Long time no see bro how you keeping? I appreciate the honesty in terms of the choice of course. I was in the same boat didn’t really know what I was going to do then I found this course and was like fuck it nothing to lose. Photography and illustrator game looking strong bro definitely cool to see some progress come along. Anyways best of luck with the rest of the year bro you’ll kill it.
ReplyDelete-Daniel-