Week 10: Reflection

As I began the quarter, I felt completely new to drawing, despite having taken some
visual arts classes in high school. As the quarter progressed, I started becoming more
certain in what I was drawing, whether that was a hand, or a doodle. I found myself
developing and playing with different styles. I chose to take this class, as I am a Latinx
photographer and the visual editor for La Gente Newsmagazine. I really wanted to learn
and get better, so I can in turn, improve my art and help my staff. Taking this class really
helped me in so many ways. I even got into digital drawing this quarter. Doing the exercises
and listening to the professor talk about the art process, made me feel really comfortable with
exploring art. I stopped worrying about making mistakes, and instead learned to embrace
them, as the professor often mentioned. I definitely see myself buying another sketchbook
and practicing once this class ends.

As for the learning process, I am so glad I was able to learn about artists like Carmen Lomas
Garza. Her work specifically, has really stayed with me. I find myself feeling her influence
whenever I mess around with the colors for my images. I love her use of vibrant and captivating
colors, and I will not stop editing my photos unless they have that same vibrant essence. I also
really appreciated the calming presence that the professor had in lecture. I did not feel as though
I was ever treated like just another number in a big room. I genuinely felt like the professor
cared about us. The fact that we could doodle in class, just showed how chill the professor was.
So many professors would be really angry. But doodling helped keep me alert, especially since
it was a four hour class. I also loved the presentations, and found myself researching some of
the artists once class ended. Overall, I'm really happy that I was able to take this class.