Recently for many of my portfolio images, I've been exploring the limits of what I can do in Photoshop to create images that are weird and fun. It has been exciting to explore areas of the program I haven't used much before and see what I can make out of them. This has led me down paths I would be too scared to go down for a normal project. I've used weird brushes to create painting-like images. I've messed around with the blur tool to soften lines and create weird atmospheres. In the future I'm planning to dive even more into these tools. The more I use tools in a creative, experimental manner, the better I can use them when creating an actual piece of artwork for a project. Already I feel excited to put the brush tool to use sprucing up the basic polygons I use to create the main bodies of my Photoshop works.
Continuing to experiment and evolve is one of the things you always need to be doing as an artist. Most of the time we are unmotivated to break outside of our comfort zone. It's hard to start a piece of art that you know isn't going to look great. However, the tools I've used while creating my last line of works in PS have shown me unique ways to make things look good even if the works themselves look less-than perfect. For every great masterpiece in PS there are at least too or three failed abominations and that's beautiful in its own way. In the coming weeks I look forward to finding even more tools in PS and getting to use them in a creative and powerful way. -Exploring creatively in Photoshop -Why it helps me grow
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As many seniors are this year, I am starting to apply for colleges. One thing I've found that has really helped me through this process is my game design portfolio. Not only has this portfolio provided valuable resources of examples of my work, but through these blog posts I've learned a lot about how to write well off the top of my head.
When many people think of college applications and writing they focus on the essay. While this is definitely a large part of your application, there's many short answer questions you will have to answer as well. When it comes to these it pays to used used to getting your ideas out quickly and in an efficient manner. For example Elon University has a whole section of their application devoted to short responses. They simply want you to write down the first thing that comes to your mind with minimal editing. After doing blog posts for the last three years I felt completely ready for this. It was one of the only times I actually had fun while filling out my applications. This website has also helped me show off my work. I love being able to just send people A link to my portfolio website for them to browse at ease instead of needing to send a bunch of individual pieces of work. Even where I can't send a link having all my work in one place allows me to quickly select good pieces. All in all I definitely recommend making a portfolio page if you have work that you might want to show off sometime in the future. It doesn't have to be fancy be trust me; it will save you a bunch of time later on down the road. -college application process -how having a portfolio helps -how having a blog helps If you're reading this blog you probably are aware of the massively popular game Fortnite. From its release onward it has had huge success and become a large phenomenon in the gaming community. After having become the center of memes and jokes so quickly, it can be easy to forget the genius that went into the making of this game. In this post I intend to unpack those core ideas from the viewpoint of a pure observer (being someone who has never played the game).
The first thing I want to delve into is the core game play. For those who don't know, Fortnite is a survival shooter game where 100 players are dropped onto a single map. These players must then find guns, ammo, health packs, and more as they struggle to be the last player standing. This battle royale style of game play is far from new. Popular video games in the past such as H1Z1 and Player Unknown: Battlegrounds use a very similar style. So what does Fortnite do to change the formula? Fortnite adds a construction portion. Using a building style similar to games like Rust or Conan Exiles, players in Fortnite can construct ramps, walls and other protective barriers. This addition gives players a new feature to explore and master which is a welcome change to a genre that has been looking for something new. However, this isn't the only thing Fortnite has done to improve its game play. Fortnite's art style and general feel is perfect for appealing to a wide audience. Earlier battle royale games have stuck to a muted realistic art style. After all, this style makes sense for a harsh realistic FPS which is the target of games like H1Z1. Fortnite has switched this style for a much more cartoon and inviting experience. This opened up the game to a much wider audience. Now not only could the competitive community play an intense battle royale, but casual players could also have fun with a visually exciting game. Fortnite shows that your game doesn't have to be incredibly innovative to be a success. By tweaking old formulas and choosing an effective art style, a game can reach a wide audience and improve on its predecessors. -Why am I looking at Fortnite? -How they changed game play -How they changed art style -The takeaway Success and failure are two things that on first glance seem to have nothing to do with one another. However really, without experiencing failure, how can you have success? Currently in my life I feel that I am, so far, successful. I have all A's in school and a clean record. It feels as if I'm on the fast track to success which I define as happiness in your adult life with a nice job and stable income. But, in reality it is my failures that have helped me become this way.
My past failures, when I lost games and made bad grades, have helped me improve my weak points and strengthen myself to try and reach my end goal, success. In 10 years I will hopefully still be in Grad. school trying to get a higher degree in whatever field I decide to focus on. In order to get there I will need to make good grades and keep my options open. I should work hard and take a variety of classes so that I can narrow my definition of success and form a more specific goal for my future. |
AuthorSamuel Henry is a Senior at DSA in NC. He has 3 years of prior experience in the game design pathway and he's looking forward to becoming a great game designer. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not represent those of Durham School of the Arts or Durham Public Schools Categories
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