Personal Image: Week 5

This picture may be old, but it sure brings back some old high school memories! This picture was taken during my senior year of high school. The woman to my right is Katherine Cook, a KGW news reporter for channel 8 in Portland. She was such a great inspiration for me to finish my project! She always gave me encouragement to do better and never give up! My senior project consisted of my journalism skills into a Portland project. I thought it would be great to work with an ACTUAL real news reporter! It was great, and I'm glad that my senior project opened many doors for me. I wouldn't have met Katherine without this senior project of mine! Even now, we still keep in touch...she's always interested to know how i'm doing in college. She graduated from Western Oregon University, but she's been to SOU a couple of times! I also remember the journalism advice that she gave me. She taught me how to effectively project my voice and improve my broadcast writing skills. That's the whole reason for me holding a microphone and a camera in my hands! They were both used for not only my senior project, but to have a hands on experience on what the newscasting world would be like! I learned alot on how to interview people as well as editing my footage. It was basically my journalism skills to the test! I honestly hope I can do a similar project for my senior capstone!

Visual Image: Week 5

For some reason, I thought about cheerleading all week. I myself use to be a cheerleader back in high school. I miss though days...if only SOU had a better football team. (Just kidding!) Anyway, I chose an image of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleading squad because it combines my love of TEXAS and cheerleading into one image! I have always been a fan of these young women, and I believe that they are a great inspiration for other women as well! The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders [DCC] are more than just women who dance and look pretty. They all have individual goals and they worked hard to even make the team! The judges are looking for cheerleaders with the personality as well, not just the looks and the moves! A girl coming into try-outs with a negative attitude would definitely get cut before she even makes it to finals! Anyway, I like how this image shows the cheerleaders into great action and energy! Look how happy they are in this picture! I believe that this image is showing the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders representing what Texas is all about! Texas is all about having fun and being able to enjoy yourself! These cheerleaders bring positive energy back into the environment of Texas...not just at football games only! =D

Assignment #5: Movie Posters

When creating these two movie posters, I wanted to create something fun and humorous. I played around with the font, words, background and images. For the first poster, I want to give a dark feel to this movie poster. (Be scared of the chocolate girl!) As for the second poster, I always thought it would be funny to combine Obama's face with Bush. I thought a cute documentary by myself would make the poster interesting.

Personal Image: Week 4

So this is basically a picture of my first drawing, and this was from the Mac drawing board and pen. At first, I started out with a black stick figure. Simple eh? Then I added some hair, and his face. However, my stick figure guy appeared very lonely just by himself. I had to add another stick figure to this drawing! So, I decided to add a different color stick figure. But this time, I wanted to add a pink stick figure, creating a female one! Of course, I had to add a smiley face and some hair on her too! After this, I had one black stick figure on the left, and a pink stick figure on the right. What story line did I create here? I wasn't even sure. So, as a girl who's really into hearts and stuff, I drew one big heart and colored it in red. I was like hmm..."Are these two boyfriend and girlfriend?" I wanted to create something that was unusual and different. So, I made the guy a "creeper" as the girl says because he pulled out his own heart! Notice how there is blood coming out of the guy's chest and on his hands? Interesting eh? He must really be interested in the girl if he pulls out his own heart for her! However, the girl on the other hand thinks he is crazy (and who wouldn't) and that this creeps her out! The guy can't resist, and he continues to confess his love and say, "But...I gave you my heart!" Poor guy. Anyway, this drawing is not intended to depict my life nor the life of others. This drawing was my first time experience with the Mac drawing board and pen.

Visual Research: Week 4

Doesn't this picture seem fun and relaxing to you? I think most of us are dying for summer right now! Even though it is getting closer to half way through the term, I am still dreaming about the summer! For some reason, I was envisioning a nice cruise on a boat, with dolphins in the water. I googled for this on Google Images, and this is what I came across! This image is beautiful, and it was exactly what I imagining in my mind. I would love to go on a beautiful cruise to anywhere! The only thing that I can imagine is my hair blowing in the wind, enjoying the atmosphere and environment in this image. I adore dolphins because they are so cute and adorable! I can also imagine myself taking pictures of the dolphins when they jump out of the water. The dolphins add a nice, touching element to this image. The images is blue, which I think symbolizes a calm, cooling, relaxing, fun, and outdoors environment. This image just makes you want to appreciate the Earth, and all of the natural resources and the environment it offers. Oh how I love the sweet smell of summer! I honestly need to stop daydreaming for the next few weeks. The term is far from coming to an end. We can only hope for summer to come by faster!

Assignment #4: Scratch

I definitely made an improvement on this one! This is my second picture/attempt at our scratch lab assignment. Now, photoshop and drawing skills may not be my natural talent as other artistic people are, but I can at least learn and find my ways around this. I finally know how to use the select/deselect tool, make a shadow, using the drawing board/pen, copy/paste, make new layers, draw shapes, and blend them all together! I love that the lips has a flat color of red, and the black and brown stars blend in with the white lines/background.

This is just something I doodled...as you can tell this was my first attempt! I just decided to put a black shadow of a figure blowing a kiss, draw some flowers, a heart, and put some red oval shapes in it. Then I colored all of this in, and doodled the background with some purple lines. Forgive my beginner level skills please!

Personal Image: Week 3.

A picture is definitely worth a thousand words. As simple as this image may look, it still has a strong message about living everyday life. The guys in this picture are Justin (left) and Michael (right), and yes, these boys are indeed friends and roommates. I decided to visit these guys in their hall, and we were all outside of their door chatting with each other. Do you ever have one of those conversations that escalate to joy and laughter? I'm sure most of have gone through conversations that make us really bond closer to the people we're talking to. Well in this case, I was lucky enough to capture that moment at the right time. I think we were all caught up in the moment of laughter because we were all in a positive environment. Michael was in such a good mood, that he brought his positive energy to the conversation. Naturally, Michael is always funny and makes everyone laugh. However, Justin is on the more serious side, and it's sometimes even harder to get his out of his comfort zone. I think it's nice to finally see a different side to Justin, especially when he's laughing and showing more emotion through his face. I feel like this is one of the rare moments that people should take pictures of when it comes to our friends.

So you're probably also wondering why the quote is posted below the image. I believe that it is true that "laughter, is a smile that bursts," because without smiling, or even being able to be "happy" at the moment, how could you even manage to laugh? I personally feel that it first starts with a smile on someone's face, and then it "bursts" into what we call laughter and joy. As I have said before, for anybody who doesn't often show emotion in his face, this is considered to be a rare moment if they laugh. Overall, this image makes me appreciate the fact that I am able to enjoy the happiness and laughter that friends can have together. I'm glad I able to take a shot of this at the right moment. The quote just adds another special element to this picture, and it really explains an important message. It just goes to show you that friends are not only going to be important in college, but they will be for a lifetime. Nothing is better than having friends to put a smile on your face and give you laughter.

Visual Research: Week 3.

The crown, the dress, the earrings, the flowers, the make-up, the hair, and the smiles and tears, what exactly is the point of this image? Before we make assumptions that all pageant girls are spoiled or whatnot, we need to look past the image or these women. In this picture is Miss Oklahoma, Lauren Nelson, and she is crowned as the Miss America 2007 by the previous lady, Jennifer Berry, who is the Miss America 2006. The reason for me posting this image is because I myself, am competing for an upcoming local pageant, which is the Miss Southern Oregon 2010 pageant. The pageant is a little less than a couple weeks from now, and sometimes I have my doubts of whether I should be competing or not. If I were to decide to quit and not compete, then I would be questioning myself later. I would be having thoughts like, "what would of happened if I had competed?" Then again, I do compete, this will conflict with my school work and such. So it's kinda like I have to weigh in my pro's and con's to competing or not competing. And so back to the whole assumptions against women who compete in pageants. It's alot more work than you think it is...especially for any pageant for Miss America. By this, I don't mean wearing your crown/tiara and complaining about how heavy it is. For the Miss America pageant, you actually have to care for your community and your position as Miss whoever the local pageant you win for. This is called a platform, and you basically pick an issue or community service organization that you care about. This can run from, aids, breast cancer, environmental issues, awareness etc... Then there's the interview, swimwear, talent, evening gown, and the on stage question that all the contestants have to prepare for. Anyway, my point is, is that there is ALOT of hard work that goes on before the night of the pageant. And so, this image basically represents the ultimate dream and experience that the majority of the contestants want on the night on crowning. Many contestants will imagine the crown getting placed on their head. It's kind of like a vision of the image above. The vision isn't just about looking "pretty" or winning a crown or the title of Miss America, but rather it's about being able to achieve the dream of helping others around your platform, and overall, being a role model to those around you.

Assignment #3- Alphabet Soup/Letter Form

This is the "Y" of the tree trunk.

This is the "O" by the Access Center at SOU.

This is the "T" of the lamp.

If you pay attention closely, you will see the "S" of this rug.

This is the "H" of the table.

And can you spot another "H" here?

This is the "C" of the cup handle.

This is the lowercase "e" of the fan.

....and the wider view of the fan.

This is another "T" of a lamp.

Can you spot the "L" of this basket?

...Or the "X" of this quilt?

This is the "I" of the lamp.

And can you spot another "I" here?

This is the "C" shape of this structure by the Stevenson Union.

There are two "T's" here on this bench.

I see two "O's" here!

I thought this was pretty interesting...By Britt Hall, there's some bushes that are carved into letters. Here's the "S" part of the bush.

The "O" part of the bushes.

...and finally the "U' part of the bushes. Put that all together and what do you get? "SOU!"

Personal Image: Week 2.

This is the personal image I made in lab. You're probably thinking about two "blahs" right? Well, for some people, it may just be all about two blahs. However, these blahs contain hearts in them, and the background is filled with hearts as well. The colors themes are purple, pink and red. Weird combination? If you say so, but I think it represents my current situation of what i'm going through in my life. I'm sure everyone has gone through a tough break-up or rejection right? Well, this week, that situation was my case. I won't go into too much detail about my personal relationships, but I will say that I was hurt and felt somewhat heartbroken. The purple blah represents my feelings after getting hurt, while the pinkish heart in the purple blah represents how I still care about that person.
On the other hand, the red blah represents the positive energy and feelings that I have toward something new in my life. In other words, despite my broken heart, I still look forward to having new experiences everyday. However, notice how the heart in the red blah has a purple heart in it? It means to me that until I can fully recover and find the right strength and support from myself, friends and family, I will still have a part of me that is left sad and heart broken. Overall, the purple heart is going to be the wound of my heartache, and the red blah is going to be the part of my heart that is healthy and cares more about the important values in my life. The main message is, is that if I don't recover from this heartache and focus more on the things that I value, then there will always be a wound in my heart.

Visual Research: Week 2.

There are so many ways to describe how an individual can feel or interpret this image. For me, however, I feel both both the positive and negative energy from this photo. I look at this image and think of how I can relate to this photo. In the image, there's a hand holding a heart with white wings, and there's a neutral, grey background. To me, the soft, neutral colors of white and grey help me to relax, and focus more on the bright, red heart. To me, this image is about knowing what your true values are, and being able to control the values in your life. The bright, red heart can represent the values in someone's life, such as power, family, love and relationships. For some people, the wings would represent innocence and staying pure until marriage. However, I interpret the wings as a way of freeing yourself, as well as being able to give yourself time to breath, relax, think and reflect on the things you value in your life. Sometimes an individual can be caught up with so much stress such as from work, school, or their relationships, that they end up not being able to reflect on the things that make them happy. The message from this image is all about giving the subconscious self time to be independent and experience the joy and values that life can bring to one's self.

Assignment #2: Self Portrait, Friend, and Stranger.

This is Cody. I have never spoken to him until now. I see him sitting outside of his room with his head down every night...literally. He's a guy that lives in one of the dorms in Cascade Complex, and for some reason, I always find him sitting outside him room "meditating." It wasn't until now when I questioned him on why he always does this around midnight every night. I think it's pretty interesting to find out that he does this out of random, and he doesn't seem to care what people think of him. I asked him questions like, "what are you doing here? Why is this place interesting to you? Do you not seem to care about the people walking around? Why midnight? Why does meditating do for you?" He basically said that meditating outside of his room helps him to focus on his energy and the world around him. For some people like me, this may be unusual considering people walk around the halls all of the time. Wouldn't that distract him? Not for Cody, he says the people around him don't seem to mind, and they are "a normal part of the world and reality," as he describes it. He says that he could feel the energy better when he's meditating around people. Also, meditating around midnight is a way for him to relax, and calm himself before going to sleep. It's a good way for your body to "rejuvenate" itself for the morning. This isn't something that I would normally do, but Cody has definitely got me thinking about meditating myself....however, I would meditate in room instead. I think Cody is a unique individual, and this is just a part of him that expresses who he is.

And this is a picture of Brennan and I. Check out my cool new editing techniques!! We look PIMP!!

And lastly, this is my self portrait. This is the cartoon/drawing version of myself.

And this is the original picture. Enjoy! =)

Personal Image Week 1.

Awww!!!! So far, I would consider this my most favorite picture of a friend. A boy and his video games...what guy doesn't enjoy playing video games in his own dorm? Anyway, the guy's name is Donny, and he's a friend and an RA (resident assistant) for Diamond hall. I often spend alot of time in this hall because I enjoy the atmosphere and friends that I have in Diamond. I personally love this image because we get to see an RA's more fun and relaxed side when he's not working around the halls in Cascade Complex. When students are living in the dorms, we often see RA's working their hardest, and so we sometimes can forget that they are human beings and students too. I think seeing Donny being able to sit back, relax, and enjoy his pleasures of playing video games is a great example of how an RA can have a life as well.

As for the expression on Donny's face, this is just too priceless and cute! I never really understood why boys like to play video games, and I don't think I ever will. However, if shopping makes us women happy, and video games make guys happy...I guess I can somewhat understand why guys play video games for enjoyment purposes. Donny's expression in this image was taken when he was playing against his friend on his Xbox. As for the game they played?....I really don't know. Anyway, it must of been a good game because Donny's excitement was showing through his facial expressions in this image. His mouth is wide open, and he's looking like he's about ready to attack his opponent in his Xbox game.

Visual Research Week 1.

This is a picture of the United States of America without Texas. Now, as a girl who has been raised in the heart of Texas, this image obviously caught my eye. When I first moved to Oregon, I remember the stereotypes some Oregonians would make about me. I heard all kinds of things from cowboy boots and hats to having the Texan accent. Sometimes, some people even have bad assumptions about the Texas itself as well as the people living in Texas. One of the common things I heard was something along the lines of, “Oh, you’re from Texas? Haha! Texas is flat. Texas is boring. Texas has Bush. Texas this…Texas that.” I never knew why people said these things, but the negative generalizations really got to me at one point. So, this picture made me think of these moments and it made me question, “What would the United States really be without Texas?”

As you can see the image below, the United States is missing the state of Texas and its panhandle shape. There’s a red background and white font and letters that say, “Imagine….a world without Texas.” It kind of makes people think and question the significance of having Texas part of the United States. Notice how there’s a big chuck/gap missing from the picture below? Would the United States look any better on the map without Texas? I just don’t think it would be the same anymore without Texas. I feel that Texas is a part of the puzzle piece that makes the United States what it is today.

Despite the “flaws” that people hear about Texas, the state is still part of the nation. The image is symbolizing that in order for America to be one nation, we need to first feel as one “whole” country altogether, and without Texas, that would not be possible. It’s ironic because there’s been some news in the media about weather or not Texas is going to secede from the United States. I guess the saying goes, “Texas can survive without the United States, but the United States cannot survive without Texas!”