Find That Silver Lining (and also a fish)

Hey hey!

So it's been a super long time (like, over a week or something.  That's a long time though right?) since my last post and I feel bad about that.  I don't really draw or doodle much outside of class these days because any free time I have is usually spent in the studio working on school stuff or trying to maintain a social life with my wonderful friends.  I also haven't had a whole lot on my mind to post about either, but obviously this overly-wordy paragraph is evidence that that has changed.

So a little over a week ago the 4th project was due in my 3D media class and I have to say, it was not my best work.  Literally, it was the weakest project I have submitted in that class so far as the grades would clearly show.  Now I can only speak for myself here but I tend to be pretty dedicated and committed to my work and can get pretty anal when it comes to quality and all that.  Needless to say, this last project left me feeling kind of discouraged and more than a little disappointed in myself.  This is all normal though, no one can be great at everything or be at their very best ALL of the time.  But despite knowing this I still manage to beat myself up pretty badly about this kind of thing, viewing it as a sort of personal failure.  This is where I start to get to the point.

While it is perfectly fine to feel bad and wallow in your own self-pity for a little while, there will come that moment where enough is enough and you just have to pick yourself up and move on.  Being a fairly serious athlete in the past, this is a lesson I have had to learn time and time again.  There are going to be times where you lose, and when that happens the best thing you can do is think about what you can improve on, shake off those bad feelings and move on to the next challenge.  And isn't that really the silver lining here?  I mean, for anyone who is even kind of serious about improving at, well, anything really, sometimes the most valuable lessons that we learn that contribute to our overall experience and skill come from letdown.

So I guess my main message here is:  don't beat yourself up too badly over failure.  Don't let a bad grade or a sub-par project get you down for too long.  It happens to everyone.  The absolute worst thing you can do is dwell on it forever and let it scare you away from trying harder next time.  The best thing you can do is take from it what lessons you can and just chalk it up as some more good 'ol life experience.

Man.  How corny am I.
But just like my 'Talk to Your Profs!' post, even though this is something you hear a million times I still feel pretty strongly that it cannot be said enough.  It's harder than a lot of people think to actually take this kind of thing to heart.  I know I still have to work on it at times.
(It might just be me, but this particular subject really makes me think of the Disney movie Meet The Robinsons.  If you've ever seen it you totally know where I'm coming from).

So since I took the time to mention it I might as well show some pics of the piece of project 4 I wasn't totally disappointed with.  Keep in mind that this is only one of 4 separate pieces that made up this project.  The other three were just... eh.

One Fish

Two Fish

Uh, Three Fish

 ...Another Fish

Yeah, they're all the same Fish.

Finals are comin' right up and It. Is. CRUNCH TIME.  So don't expect another post for a while!  (There's a chance I'll spam a ton over Christmas break though, so try not to be too devastated).

ps.  project 5 is beating the crap out of my hands D:

pps.

Monkeys and Turtles and... Wood, Oh My!

So I guess it's about time I actually post some examples of the work I've been doing lately.  I'm in three studio classes this semester, but for now I'm just going to focus on my 3D media class.

Project 1

It is a sock monkey fashioned out of wire.  Pretty straightforward.  It's arms are posable.  Well, kind of.  They sort of just flop around, but that's what sock monkeys do!

Project 2

This project was a doozy.  We could make pretty much anything we wanted out of cardboard but the thing is some part of it had to be able to support a person's weight and therefore create an opportunity to interact with it.  Like so:

Let me tell you, building the grid to go inside that turtle shell alone took me like 3 hours. I should have taken a picture...

Project 3

Abstract wood sculpture!  That I also painted!  Yeah, this one is also pretty straightforward.  You may find it interesting that all we were given to begin with was a 2x4 plank of wood.  And that was IT.  No additional wood was allowed (well I used a couple pieces from the scrap bin.  But I had permission!)

My favorite sculpture so far :)

I am currently in the middle of working on project number 4, so be excited.  

That's all for now!

PS.  We are starting our Flash animation projects in my other class.  I am so ready for thisss.

Talk to Your Profs!

Quick Disclaimer! :  This is just advice that is the result of my own personal experience.  Take from it what you will (or won't).

So this particular bit of advice has really been on my mind recently (especially after this week) and so I have decided to share it with whoever is following this blog.

Being a student trying to major in something that my school does not particularly specialize in does not come without its significant stressors.  Two of the big ones are definitely scheduling for classes and also some major feelings of doubt.

Why doubt you ask?  Well as much as I truly adore IU I can't help but have lingering feelings of regret about not having chosen to attenend a private or traditional art university.  I have gone over the pros and cons and compared the two options a million times, but no matter how many reasons I come up with to justify that my being here is just fine I always loop back around to feeling unsure again.  Stressing over something like this consumes way more time and energy than I have to spare, but what I have found that helps the most is to speak directly with my art professors.

Every time I have a good one-on-one conversation with any of my art professors I leave them feeling more confident than ever that what I am doing here is the right choice.  They have all been so supportive and insightful that I just don't know what I would do without them being there to offer me guidance and advice.  So my advice to any of you out there facing the same feelings about the university or professional track you've chosen, is that you take the time after class or during your professor's office hours to really sit down and have a chat with them.  Chances are they are going to have a lot more experience in whatever field it is you are studying (more so than say, your advisors) and therefore a lot more vauable things to share that may help you to validate any decisions you have made or feel you need to make.  Now if you're worried about talking to a professor because you think they won't be interested or are too busy, don't be.  Most likely your profs will be more than happy to help you and is probably giddy over the fact that you came to them for help in the first place.

This same bit of advice applies to the other thing I mentioned about scheduling for classes.  Since I'm building my own curriculum I am responsible for choosing what classes I take, and so of course I am concerned with choosing the best, most applicable courses.  Again, the very best thing you can do is to talk directly to your professors.  Most likely they know a lot of the other professors in their department that you would be taking classes from anyway, and so they can give you the most direct info on how to contact them or on just what exactly they will be teaching.

I realize that some of you may find this to be completely obvious, but personally I still think it's something worth mentioning.  A lot of colleges really urge students to get to know their professors and not be afraid to speak to them one-on-one, but I can't help but wonder how many of them actually do.  Speaking from personal experience, it really is worth it. 
(And for those of you who are a little more goal-oriented, it's also a great way to begin networking.)

PS.  Sorry for another incredibly wordy entry.  I promise to have some examples of my work up soon!  Until then enjoy the new banner I made from some illustrations I did a few weeks ago for a school project :)