1-26-12 (6th Class)

Went through the day with only 3 hours of sleep, so it's a tad murky.  Picked 10 different headlines for a random picture picked by the group. Definitely learned that a group is better at picking titles that provoke a wildly different emotion. Rarely did a single person pick more then 4 good titles. The professor did come around with a blank coffee cup and ask for a title for a the craft arts of school, to show how many ideas we could come up with.


Also a random honesty test came and I voted to not want to participate...and won?  Well at least it wasn't your standard test.

The class concluded discussing the topic of Methodology, and about our own creative process. Homework was to think about it even further, which was interesting. This conversation would probably continue next class.

1-24-12 (5th Class)

So let’s see, this last class mostly revolved around that video by Elizabeth Gilbert (writer of Eat Pray Love) that she did talking about writers and how they were perceived by the general populace.  Mostly it was talk about the crushing pressure of being a writer, and about the expectations of failure that she had.  Overall she confirmed that the pressure exists and she does examine that society’s stereotype was vastly different then say, expectations of a chemical engineer.  I think she was being very frank, about her success being freakish and the perception of pressure, it wasn’t some sugar coated pep talk about the future and the keys to success, instead being more casual.  Perhaps that was the theme of the class, casual, rather then sharp deadlines, are the keys to creativity.

Other notes about the class: I was kind of disappointed with was our pictures project where we took random pictures and formed a story with them.  We had 4 groups and when all done, only one group got any critique, everyone else wasted their time.  I also thought coloring the comics (the homework from the class before this) was a waste of time as not even a single word was said over them; we just turned them in at the end of class for a grade.  I should have spent less time coloring them…

1-19-12 (4th class)

I'm a little late posting this blog, but oh well.  As I recall, the professor talked about having to shift gears because he teaches 3 classes, and each classes are different.  Ok, not so different then perhaps a student taking several classes, very understandable.  This class in particular seemed to be about team work and evaluation.  Without context, we were supposed to evaluate everyone’s comics (the homework assignment) and rank them from best to worst by ourselves.  This was a mixed bag, as we seemed to get the system to work, till it broke down at the last second.  There was a lot of room for improvement, but you could only tell them from hindsight, as I said, everything started without context.  Going from anarchy to efficiently ranking 26 pieces of art wasn’t all together that bad.  Sure there were problems, like say only the confrontational people were heard (like me).  The entire time we were rating, no one really got any feedback or constructive criticism, and we botched the decision on who got first place.  I suppose we did learn about what to look for in art, such as the idea, the presentation, the clarity, storyline or the just the amount of effort put into it.  Though, I thought the colored comics were overrated.

1-17-12 Class (3rd class)

The class did start with a concept I had already heard of, "Gamifying Education" Where contrasts were put between games, and the 18-century Prussian Education model.  Games are fun, and rewarding, tests are stressful and punishing, naturally, people do not enjoy tests as much as games.

Also viewed a family photo of the Professor’s and attempted to use visual analysis (like a CSI might) without making conclusions.  Also the Professor the theory that it was possible was photo shopped, and not an authentic 60’s family photo.  Why some good points were made about the ability of Photoshop, the reason I don’t buy it is simply motive.  There would be no reason to hire models, dress them up in 60’s clothes, put them in an awkward pose with an old background and crop the picture to be crap.

Also talked a bit about color theory, mostly about the color red, nothing really new to me, except for the fact about Fast Food logos.  Never realized that most of them were red.

The Second Class

A fortunate day as I learned that I got added into the class.  Also I learned how to add a class.  Also learned some back history of the professor (giving up a high paying job for one for half pay with worse hours) perhaps leading to the implication that adversity leads to better art.  Less pay and more work leads to better or at the very least, more creative art.

Also a class tip taught was that one should always have the end goal in mind when creating something.  I normally try and apply this to my art but often I'm told I'm thinking too far ahead.  Guess this tip really is just a matter of opinion. 

I'm unsure if I should get a laptop, never had one, and I'm afraid to spend a good deal of money on something I might not use much since I have a desktop at home.