Hitting The Flags - End of My 3rd Semester

Dec 2, 2020
4 min read

I grew up swimming competitively and my coach always told us that when we were in a rance once you hit the flags (located towards the end of the pool) you push yourself as hard as you possibly can in those last moments and it can be what makes you. The last sprint towards the finish line. It is a lesson I have always tried to apply in my life moving forward and this semester was no exception.

Granted, if I had managed my time better there wouldn't have been such a huge need for it and sticking to my analogy I can guarantee you that I wasn't gracefully gliding through the water in my last moments. Between getting 30+ sales on my Etsy (YAY!) from a promotional sale I did to my family in New York sadly all testing positive for COVID and having to deal with going to get a test myself which took 7 hours out of my final day (thankfully was negative)... More often than not this week just keeping my head above the water was a challenge within itself.

I did it though and I am happy with what my results are.

HCI Final Project - Soul Spheres Duo

For my Human and Computer Interactions I put together my final which I named Soul Spheres Duo. You can read all about it and see a working demo as well as some concept and illustrations I did for it in it's own post HERE but to sum it up basically the project are two spheres that interact with each other from a distance. Basically they are a pair of small orbs that sit upon a little stand that can be at your work desk or wherever you spend most of your time, when picked up they sit lightly cupped in the palms. When person A picks up their orb, person's B orb will begin to glow a soft color that gradually fades between pink and red. Upon seeing this person B would pick up their orb and person's A would begin to glow and both orbs would start to lightly puls with a white light to the other person's pulse. Ater both orbs are held for a few moments together they will turn a bright golden color. So if you like lovey dovey stuff I recommend checking it out.

Thesis Paper

For my paper I continued to make improvements and get more core chunks of it done. I completed a huge portion that takes a deep dive into using large scale in artwork. I broke it down into three points how large scale can effect meaning/importance of the subject, how large scale can create more interactive works, and how larger scaled can increase memory (backed up with scientific studies of course). I spoke about the Weather Project by Olafur Eliasson which I believe I mentioned in this blog at some point and how that related to large scale. I still need to finish up a few sections of things such as a section about Ephemeral art and a chunk I want to write about Ice Watch also by Olafur Eliasson which ties all of my points together. From there I will jump into a this is my project and how it relates and the conclusion. I also still have to add a lot more art references in. Luckily I still have a few days to wrap that up.

Thesis Project

Speaking of my actual thesis project I did this small illustration/ animation to put into this semester's final presentation to better explain what my physical project actually is and thought it would be worth sharing on here as well.

I really like how this came out. Also I think I finally found my artist signature.

So now for the part of my thesis project I was working on this semester. Here is my mostly (you know I am going to keep tweaking things as we move forward, I can't help it.) finished digital painting.

From last week I painted over a all of the buildings, added in the atmosphere and some more shadows, lighting, and blood. At the end of the year I am going to add in a few more finishing details with lighting effects and probably some particle action but for that I have to merge everything and do it on the merged layer, which if I am going to change a few things, which I know I am would be wasted doing right now because I would just have to re do it all later. Gotta save some pizazz for the very end.

I am happy with it though and I think it looks really good on the 70 in TV.

During the winter break I plan to get the altered physical cabinet into our place and have the glass measured, ordered, and installed as well. That way I can just focus on painting my heart out next semester. I am really excited about my thesis and am glad that I am going to be focusing on it more next semester. I think this is a piece I will be really proud of. I just hope COVID won't stop me from presenting it in a gallery full of people, who will get to experience this one time piece.