I finally have my first impressive project to show you! This is a great example of what the Visual Communication program is all about.

A vector drawing self-portrait project done in Adobe Illustrator that compares myself to an Alice in Wonderland character.

So there you go! This is a project that was assigned in my Design Technology class to introduce us to Adobe Illustrator. I was very nervous about it because Illustrator is the only program of the Adobe big three (InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator) that I was completely unfamiliar with. I wound up really getting used to it, though, and I’m starting to like it quite a bit. The piece was supposed to be a self-portrait comparing ourselves to an Alice in Wonderland character. Each piece of this project–each line, shape, shadow, etc.–was done by hand. Including the back of the cards, which seems to be the part people are most impressed with, haha! It was a ton of fun and I LOVED working on it. It was also really fun to have everybody’s work printed out, mounted on presentation board and hung up in the room during the class critique. We went around and talked about each person’s piece and what we thought was really good and what needed improvement. We get the chance to revise all of our work throughout the year and turn in final versions during midterms and also during finals. This means grades are very rarely set in stone, which can be a relief, but it also gets a little frustrating to know that you’re never really *finished* with a project, even after you turn it in. For me, I’m going to work on increasing the shadows in my face to add more depth (which I already did a little bit. I added a bit more contrast to this after our critique on Wednesday). I’m also going to work on amping up the Alice in Wonderland connection, and making the “white roses painted red” look a little bit more natural.

In the meantime, I’m doing a looot of painting. We’re working on some color studies right now, which is a lot of fun because we got to choose the complementary colors we wanted to work with. I chose turquoise and orange. Now, I’m not usually a fan of the color orange–and not just for Sooner pride, I also think it’s just a really ugly color–but put it with blue, and it becomes so beautiful.

I’ve got a lot of homework to do this weekend, mostly just trying to get ahead in my classes. I have projects due typically every Tuesday and Thursday, plus big projects that I need to be making progress on for Mondays and Wednesdays, and I don’t enjoy spending my entire weekday, 9 AM to 11 PM and sometimes quite a bit later, doing homework. Now, don’t get scared–the only reason it takes so long for me is because  I get so involved on campus! I love to be active, and so I typically do so many activities during the day that I don’t even have time to start on homework until around 7 or 8 PM. And I do often sneak in an episode of Parenthood before I start. 🙂 But to avoid eating up so much week time, I’m going to try using my weekends more effectively. This is a little experiment I plan to conduct this weekend. I would like to get all my week’s homework done before Monday. I’m not sure it will happen though, particularly because I also have a lot of fun stuff planned for these couple days.

Tomorrow, I’m going to the State Fair with some friends from student media, which I was involved with last year. It should be interesting because I haven’t been to the Fair in several years, so I’m not quite sure what to expect. I’m also hoping to get a lot of decent photos with my fancy new camera, and get a better understanding of how to use this Nikon. I’m really a point-and-shoot sort of girl, so this SLR camera is a bit out of my league at the moment, and I haven’t yet taken a photography class. As a matter of fact, I’m still having trouble learning how to reformat my photos so that they aren’t massive. So far, I can only fit 35 photos on a 4 GB card, and I suspect that this is because of the resolution I’m shooting at. Surely I should be able to take more… right?

Then on Saturday, OU Improv–a comedy troupe here at the University–is hosting their first performance of the school year. I’ve only been to one show before, but I thought it was really very entertaining, so I’m thinking about finding a few people to go with.

And finally on Sunday I’m hosting a prospective student and showing off our residence halls. I always love meeting the people who are considering OU, and hearing about their college decisions! I remember when I was making that choice, and what a stressful and crazy time it was. After being at the University for two years, I feel like the decision should have been so obvious, but it was really a difficult process that I was very divided on. At the time, I was also considering Mizzou and planning to major in journalism. At the end of the day, though, OU was such a close, convenient and comfortable place that I couldn’t say no. And the financial aid they offered didn’t hurt, either! It’s really a pretty affordable option, particularly for scholars and Oklahoma residents. Then I arrived on campus and started classes, and fell in love! It wasn’t love at first sight, but it has definitely developed into something much more serious and with a very stable foundation. 🙂

Man, I wish I could keep going, but it’s time for bed now! Sorry future Sooners, but I lost a lot of sleep working on projects this week, and it’s way past time for a good night’s rest.