This was the most unique and entertaining assignment I've experienced in an art class. I thoroughly enjoyed digging through my classmate's creations and toying with them. It really helped me to pay attention to the unique differences between individual styles and figuring out how to unify them as a group. Above, I created my own very basic desert stage with a sunset-style gradient and had fun creating a little dance party scene with their characters and a couple of mine I modified as well.
Additional characters by Kenneth, Akane, Rafael, and Heli, all depicted as if engaged in some form of dance or preparation thereof.

I improved on my curves and levels in photoshop skills when uploading analog work. I also attempted to break down the pose I chose from the Line of Action site into shapes to more properly pay attention to how the arms and torso twist away from the viewer in the position as it is depicted. I also feel I've captured the energy of the frantic looking pose, and enjoyed the comical nature of the Madonna and centipede from the class drawing session.

I'm still struggling with the white balancing in photoshop upon uploading, but improving. I think it's because I used the dodge tool to try to even out what lighting mistakes I made when taking the photo, but should practice capturing images of my work in more even lighting to avoid this issue, because it makes some of my images look blotchy.

My attempt at masking was put to the test with the rips in the fairy wings and my analog uploading abilities are continuing to improve. I was able to apply a gradient to the body of my figure, which I thought was fun and enhanced the whimsical quality of my character. Also needing to remember to always sign my work from now on!

I was challenged to predict the next stage of movement for my character this week. I do not believe I was successful at truly capturing the motion of the figure's arm when dropping the fabric and was not as confident without a reference for this experiment. I feel I should have used a video and paused it at multiple stages to practice first, as some of my classmates cleverly did. However, I am pleased with the initial pose and the breakdown of it into basic shapes, my predictions just need improvement. I also need to work more on the fabric, I've improved but still not satisfied.

I enjoyed experimenting with the different Adobe Fresco tools and was more creative with the sumi brush styles in Fresco this week.

I decided from the week prior that I needed to go back to the basics to more intensely assess the gesture in motion, so I broke down the figure into simple shapes and 3 separate stages to also start thinking about what kind of gif I'd like to create. I worked more on fabric and feel I did much better with capturing the quality of the folds and texture of the material this week.

I saw another student using colored paper for an assignment, so I thought that would provide an interesting outcome and give me a break from the stark versus yellowish white when dealing with that aspect in Photoshop regarding curves and levels. Plus, drawing on different colored paper is fun and interesting! So, I redrew the characters from the week prior on various colors of paper and was most pleased with this greenish teal color, but further rendered them with depth and shading this time. I also used a lovely sunset photo I took of my mom's lake house as a setting for my green, sea creature-esque creations. Masking the flowers thrown in the air for the first pose was not easy and pushed those skills further as well.

This week we extended upon our use of characters in new environments and were able to get creative with that. I found this dynamic dragon image and pasted my characters into it, and then was mindful to alter the shadow on the ground beneath them. I also removed the masked flowers so that it seems more like the character is throwing her hands up frantically at the sight of her compadre getting ready to fight the dragon.

Prior to this I also took my green creature people into Fresco and added some flesh tone, and really enjoy how they came out. They look sort of painterly but smudgy because I experimented with some interesting effects and tools. I really pushed my comfort level in Fresco this week. I enjoy the unique quality of combining analog drawing with the Fresco and I think it gives them a playful quality. I'd like to push this type of experimentation further in the future.

Later in the quarter we were also asked to experiment with fabric and texture and did some drawing sessions with clothed models, so I was able to experiment and play with those aspects, which I very much enjoyed. I used different media to experiment, and feel I've made improvements in some ways. However I am not totally satisfied with how well I've rendered the characteristics of the costume and fabric. Thinking about how an outfit complements a character's pose was fun though.