One thing about being an art major that is always very exciting is being introduced to all the different forms of art and media used to create it.
I’ve always considered myself an artist, but the media I used and was comfortable with was mainly graphite pencils, ballpoint pens, sketchbook paper or even regular lined paper. I would constantly find myself doodling and sketching but never branched out to different mediums. Even while I was in high school, the art classes were very limited.
Then I found out about Whittier College and how its art classes that they offer and I could finally expand my knowledge and experience. I remember it was my first year and the first art class that I chose to add to my schedule was Graphic Design 1. Quickly, I fell in love with the ideas of digital design!
Soon I began looking forward to all of the other art classes I could take during my time here.
And this semester I finally chose to take Moving Image 1, a digital animation class. This course focuses highly on different animation techniques, digital editing, and film production. I was very excited to take this class because animation is something that intrigued me so much. I already felt that still art was so fulfilling to make, but to be able to create a piece of art that could come to life in a way, and invoke deeper meanings with simple things like movement, seemed so compelling.
I soon came to appreciate that animation is hard work. Peers who had already taken this class before, said that drawing animations was “very tedious”. After learning that animators are usually drawing 12 different frames per 1 second of movement, I soon realized that it was true. But I soon got over that after seeing what I was capable of creating with the skills I was being taught. The animation process can be repetitive, but the end result makes it all worth it.
Now, a couple weeks into this first module, I have already been exposed to so many different artists and techniques who create various kinds of digital animations. Along with that I have been able to prove to myself that I can learn the software. With these new skills and my imagination, the things I can create are limitless. With just a couple of the projects that we have worked on so far, I am so happy with what I have learned and produced in this course.
I can’t wait to take these skills with me into Moving Image 2 and further on down the line, in my venture towards all art mediums.
