[10-1-13] -- Update!

Hey!

So first things first! I changed my URL. I received recent advice from friends (please check them out here: JustinJooMusic and LoveYna, fashion blogger) that have told me "Ally in Design" sounds better for the URL .. since people would remember it better than "theallysign." Unfortunately, the URL allyindesign.blogspot.com has been already taken. Yes, I did check it out. Yes, it is pretty nice. :( Haha, it's okay though!!!

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I haven't really set a day of the week to post stuff up.. it really all depends on when I have time. I'm not blogging as much as I want to since I've been working a lot. I'm not even attending a specialized art university, and all my time is being consumed! That's one thing I have to give up to do this -- leisure time. It's not bad I guess. I'll get used to it. But what is really essential if you're planning to attend art school is the skill of time management. Every single opportunity you have to be productive, you have to take it or you'll fall behind. People aren't kidding when they say that having poor time management skills will get you dismissed from art school (this can actually apply for everything).

Right now, I'm barely caught up with school work. At this moment, I'm putting together a "workbook" for my Design 1A class for a project that has already passed! The workbook is only to visually show the step by step process I've made to get to my final product.

Yes, this was a part of the character project I was working on last week in Photoshop. I've still yet to put together a clean outline of my process for you guys!! Ahhh!! Even I'm lagging behind with this blog. :( But I promise, once I can tread lightly in school, I will just write and write and post and post what I've been doing. I am very excited to post up some of the class assignments I've been working on (especially with my current Gestalt Theory study in one of my classes), but that'll have to wait! I still have to get my hands on a camera to document my work, hehe... ^^''

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To make up for my inactiveness, I'll share some things I learned from the past month from personal experience (I'd like to say they're pretty handy, especially to people thinking about majoring in visual arts): 

1. Get to know your classmates. They will most likely be your only friends for a while since it's hard to find time to hang out with old friends and meet new people. Most of the time, you won't have high school friends with you in your classes since art isn't everyone's professional interest. So, embrace your artsy fartsy friends. Eat lunch with them. Have conversations in class with them while you're working. Cry about artistic struggles (that no one else would probably understand) with them (if necessary). You'll be spending a lot of years together with pretty much the same people since classes are very intimate, so take advantage of this small opportunity to have new friends.
2. ...Sign up for a locker in your class building (if they offer this). I didn't sign up for a locker to store all my art supplies in, and yes, I do regret it even if I'm only a month into school. It's a struggle to lug around 50 pounds of paper, sketchbooks, paint, pencils, tape, etcetc. back and forth from my dorm room to the buildings my classes are in.
3. ALWAYS have snacks and drinks with you. Since I'm only a first year student, my fundamentals courses only last for three hours. As your time in school goes on, it'll extend up to six hours. Learn to always have cookies, crackers, chips, water, or juice in your bag because you're gonna be (9 times out of 10) hungry to the point of being dizzy during class. You won't have the motivation to work with an empty stomach. With that being said, make sure you have big meals, especially if you have two consecutive three hour classes. The instructors will most likely give you a break (but it's gonna be short), so use that time to eat. Don't continue working during the break if you're hungry. This is coming from personal experience. I have 8 hours of straight classes on Mondays and by the time I'm done with classes for the day, I get this really bad headache. But I do bring food around, and slowly but surely, my body has been getting accustomed to this routine. 
4. Have a playlist of songs ready. Most of my instructors let us listen to music when we're working (which is a wonderful idea that needs to be implemented in high school art classes). It's convenient to have a playlist of songs pre-made so you don't have to keep searching up songs on YouTube or Soundcloud (if you're using a smartphone as an MP3 player). Plus, it's boring listening to the same songs every class. So, keep a variety of playlists on loop! 
5. If you're dorming or even if you're commuting and you don't have much space in your room to work at, then work in a bigger area. My desk in my dorm is always cluttered even if I try to clean it. Stuff has just been piling up more and more everyday and it's hard for me to work in such a small area. So what I do is I take all the materials I need to get homework done and bring it all with me to my dorm hall's lounge. I feel less messy that way and I get things done!

I'll definitely put up more helpful things once I learn more. As a matter of fact, I won't be posting up just works. Like I said, I'll be putting up tips, thoughts on certain artwork/art processes, and anything the least bit related to art! 

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That was a long post, phew. If you're still here reading, then thank you! If you have any questions, please feel free to shoot me a message/comment! Have a wonderful week and don't forget to look for the Ally in Design! :)

See ya next time!

First experience with Photoshop!

Pretty ironic for a design major, yeah?

I'm currently talking the very first course of design here if I was gearing towards a design concentration. To sum up the project, we had to create an imaginary kind of person and present the wholeness of the character through four panels. We had to take our own photographs and gather different sorts of texture and texts from magazines, newspapers, etc. to express what kind of person we created. So, we put all those elements together on Photoshop CS5 and I had to say, since it was my very very first time working with the program, I was totally frustrated. I felt completely behind from everyone else, and I can only do so much with what I learned in that allotted time class. My professor suggested just watching some tutorials online (eg. www.lynda.com) so I can work at the same pace as everyone else. With watching some videos and experimenting on my own, I was able to finally come up with the four panels I can be satisfied with.

Here's a preview:

(I'll post up the step by step progress I've made with this project when I finally mount them on to the final illustration board.)

By all means, please suggest me some websites or tips that could help my whole Photoshop experience become much ... less frustrating!! 

introducing me.

I didn't really know how to sum up what my goals were and how my life geared towards this direction in 500 characters, so rather than introducing myself on the "About Me" section briefly, I think that my very first post as an introduction is appropriate! I've never really done anything as close to being serious about blogging or publishing works online (unless you mean by posting up photos on Instagram and Facebook, then... I take my statement back, haha) , so here goes nothing...

Hello!

My name is Nicca, but I preferred to be called by Allison or Ally -- whichever. I am 18 years old, born in the Philippines and raised in the US ever since I was six years old. I am currently attending Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey as a college freshman. I study under Mason Gross School of the Arts. Well, I would have wanted to attend a more specialized art school, like School of Visual Arts, RISD, but I don't think my skills are up to par for that at all! I just went to art school knowing little to nothing compared to what modern day aspiring artists would already know by the time they entered college.

I'm not skilled at painting, digital art, sculpture -- basically any form of visual arts. Not denying the stereotypical Asian-ness in me, I have to admit that I did get into the "hobby" of drawing because of a show called Sailor Moon. When I lived in the Philippines, I watched Sailor Moon religiously and started drawing my favorite super heroine. From then on, I kept drawing anime! Anime was the only art I knew and so I drew and drew Japanese cartoon characters. Soon, it was not just anime that inspired me. It turned to video game characters and fan-art of celebrity (which of course, a lot of people would not consider "original" so even in this aspect, I was behind in the art world) fans that kept pushing me to try drawing as well as the artists I discovered on the internet -- but only as a hobby.

High school came along. I attended a school focused on academics. I rejected attending a special program meant to serve as an art college preparatory program (which I deeply regretted). All my time in high school, I focused on getting A's on subjects I found non-stimulating and tedious. It wasn't until my senior year that I took a Fine Arts class that got me really interested in the arts. During that time, I felt as if I was drawing at a skill level of a middle schooler since I did not take any outside art classes. It made me feel as if I was lagging behind, especially if I wanted to be an art major. However, it did not stop me. It did the exact opposite. That was when I made the decision of being an art major. If I was not going for a B.F.A. right now, I honestly wouldn't know what to do with my future. I am horrible at the sciences. I do fairly well at math, but find it absurd. Business was too much for me (trust me, I would know! It only took one class in high school for me to get bored of it).

A lot of people today would believe art school is risky business. And I agree! But I would rather be learning and improving myself on the things I want to be doing for the rest of my life, rather than having the mindset of not wanting to get up from bed everyday because I would find working too much of a hassle. It takes a lot of courage to walk this path. I didn't know whether I was going to be able to do it, but I did it anyway. Growing up, I thought I was not good enough since all I taught myself to do was draw big-eyed un-proportional figures. However, even only in my third week of college, I've been encouraged by many peers -- making me feel like I have what it takes to make it.

So I think this is a good place for me to launch some sort of professionalism in my life; posting my in-class assignments and personal works to see how I progress for the next four years (of course this would be a convenient way to keep track of my portfolio for classes!). Please look forward to them and I welcome critiques and comments! Enjoy. :)