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Senior Thesis: Stage 1.1

I was able to sketch a portrait of the character I explained in my last post.

I made revisions and I’ll go back to make revisions and do more research on African mythology because I want to base my show on it, or at least be inspired by it. I intend to create my video game poster or comics to make. You have DC using Greek mythology with Wonder Woman and Marvel using Norse mythology with Thor. I want to create my universe using African mythology and not just Egyptian, but research on other countries’ mythologies.

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Senior Thesis: Stage 1.0

My career goal is to own a production studio that makes video games, comics, TV shows, movies, etc., basically like Marvel or any video game with an adaptation. My starting point is video games and comics. My productions would feature Black people in different settings because I want a variety of representations of us. Soon, I will focus on other cultures to give them a voice but I want to start with my people, and I want to have them in an Afro-futuristic setting. I want my senior thesis to reflect the characters I create.

An idea that I had for a character was a goddess who is tall, dark-skinned, with gold eyes (the whole eye), curly blonde hair and toned. She wore gold, shiny, almost blinding armor all over her body. Her helmet covers her eyes but with her abilities, she could see through it.

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During my spring break, I went to the Baltimore Museum of Art and went to the free exhibit of European art from the 15th century to the 19th century. I could look at vases, how their European art was modified through the years, and how history changed the art.

It was made in the Baroque period, but it reminds me of Rococo paintings due to the color and brushstrokes.

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Afrofuturism Exhibit

My school hosted an Afrofuturism Exhibit featuring the students and staff and I attended. Afrofuturism is the visual concept of portraying Black/African peoples in setting that gives them the position of being of a higher power. The settings include space, cyberpunk, or any other futuristic settings. I took some pictures of some of my favorite ones.

I enjoy space and what it looks like and all of the different celestial bodies which is why I was drawn to these two digital designs by Chase Taliaferro. I love how the subject looks to be of a higher power in the topmost image with the lights in their eyes. It shows that Black people are powerful beings and I believe that's the purpose of Afrofuturism. Black/African people have had bad reputations for centuries on top of centuries and those reps continue 'til this day. These outworks show that we are more than those bad reputations. We are as high as the galaxy and as far as the sea goes and we are the future.

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AI Tutorial: Drawing w/ the Pen Tool

This tutorial was easy at first, trying to ease you in with the pen tool but it grew more precise and finicky with the anchor and direction points. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed the tutorial.

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AI Tutorial: Transforming Artwork

This one showed me how to twist shapes and use rulers and guides to clean up artwork.

I also learned how to use the puppet tool which is why the tree in the leftmost artboard is leaning towards the right along with the elongated leaf.

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AI Tutorial: Editing and Combining Shapes and Paths

This tutorial was about taking what I learned for making a logo to different with shapes.

I learned how to use the knife tool to color the dog's face in in the top right and used the warp tool so the white scarf could warp itself around the dog's body.

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AI Tutorial: Make a Logo w/ Shapes

The next tutorial was about making a logo with shapes as the title says and I created a Toucan logo.

I enjoyed making this one and learning what the different shapes can do and how you can twist and form them into anything you want to make.

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AI Tutorial: Techniques for Selecting Artwork

In my Visual Literacy class, I'm assigned to do tutorials on Adobe Illustrator which I enjoy immensely. The first one I have is a post card.

Since it's the first one, I did not have to do too much, but change the color of the character in the first image and place things together neatly. I enjoyed working on this tutorial.

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Digital Presentation

Hey guys! I have a link to a presentation that features part of my game if it was a play.

https://new.express.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:93c24655-44ee-49aa-88f6-998ea9bf7b4e?invite=true&promoid=Z2G1FQKR&mv=other

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Pumpkin Farm

My friends and I went to the pumpkin farm to take pictures in October (I do everything in October). I was able to take pictures of my friends and they came out wonderful. My friend still has the pictures on her camera, so I'm not able to post them right now, having photography skills and learning how to take pictures with a camera was fun

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Hip Hop Museum

Some time ago in October, I went to the Hip Hop museum in Baltimore and looked at all the designs and hip pop inspired artwork. One person made an art piece and it was hard to read which was on purpose, artwork like that is fascinating because it forces you to keep looking until you receive the message.

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I'm saying "luck" is not something found just anywhere. Rather, it is something that descends only upon those standing where it will drop. - Ego

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Getting Started on Life

Hey, guys. I just wanted to share the progress on my game that I want to create. I plan on having my own studio called Gray Cloud Studios. I'm coming up with characters with friends and wanted to post my progress on it. Stay tuned!

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Dance Share!

I went to see my friend perform a dance at school, and I got to watch how different people perform to different kinds of music. It was a real spectacle. I enjoy watching people dance because from the choreography to the costume to the music, dancers tell a story that is worthy of watching and giving your full undivided attention to. Dancers, I admire you and all of your hard work. Keep making great art!

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My Take: Buy Black

At my university, a play was presented and I attended one of the shows (and worked backstage but that's for another post). It's about a black business owner named Wes during the 2008 recession. A rich, white woman tries to buy the shop that Wes's father gave to him, and he experiences a number of events from his employees. I did like the idea of the play and what it meant, especially since I want to be a business owner. I think the play was nice and speaking about historical moments when white people would ruin the lives of (successful) black people was a nice touch to it. It shows that people have been trying to get rid of black people and their businesses for ages. I enjoyed the play.

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Dark Art

Recently, I had to do a project on dark art. I was able to choose an art genre and I gravitated towards said genre and did a report on it. It very cool to see the kind of art people used. Dark artis typically made using dark tones and monochromatic color palettes. I say typically because you are going to have artists that won't "fit the norm" and use more saturated colors, but those saturated colors fit the theme of dark art, which indicates monsters, pain, death, and violence.

Part of me would not give myself credit of knowing this kind of art was out there because before doing research, I did not know what dark art was. Sure, you can make guesses, but you can do that with anything, so I was more intrigued when researching this genre and seeing the kind of art people made for centuries. Truly. Astounding.