Word Count: 3,490

The Goal ----------------------------------------------------------- (2~5)
Selection of Sources ------------------------------------------- (6~9)
Application of Information ------------------------------------ (9~10)
Achieving the Goal ----------------------------------------------- (10~11)
Reflection on Learning -------------------------------------------(11~13)
Works Cited ---------------------------------------------------------(14~15)
Appendix ----------------------------------------------------------- (16~19)
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The Goal
My inspiration to do this project came from one of my favorite anime art albums my cousin bought for me last year. This album, titled The Art of Vampire Knight, inspired me because of its exquisite drawings. At that moment, I began to ponder, why can’t I make my own art album too? I had considered about the topic of both ‘life at Mulgrave’ in manga format and the environmental protection; the reason I chose to create my own environmentally themed art album was that I enjoy doing art and I have a great interest in nature. When I was in China I lived near a beautiful Mangrove forest and walking in there gradually became part of my daily routine. I saw people throw their garbage into the ocean and carve into the trees; their behaviors made a strong impression on me. From that time in China, I began to form the idea of helping people understand how important the environment is to us. I really hope that my art album will inspire people and gradually raise awareness in my community. That would be my goal for my Personal Project. In order to achieve it, I will work under the guidance of Mrs. Chapin, our school librarian, to ensure that the book meets the standards required for a book in our library. By doing so,
I believe more people would benefit from my album, and thus raise their awareness of environmental protection.
In order to measure my success, I have created a set of specifications based on my goals.
I believe that these specifications are both rigorous and achievable.
1.
The book must be a reliable source of information for our school library. Mrs.
Chapin will measure the success of the completed project to determine its suitability for our school library.
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2.
The book must cover the four topics chosen: Air, Water, Wood and Nonrenewable Resources.
3.
There shouldn’t be any printing mistake in the book.
4.
The album must contain 32 posters.
5.
The drawing must be attractive and impressive to help raise the awareness of environmental protection.
6.
The album must contain written descriptions.
The Area of Interaction chosen to frame my Personal Project is ‘Environment’. This AOI aims to develop students' awareness of our dependence on the environment so that we can understand and accept our responsibilities. My Personal Project does need the use of
Environment to help create my posters and raise the awareness in my school. The four different topics that I have covered in the art album: ‘Water’, ‘Wood’,’ Air’ and ‘Nonrenewable resources’ are all based on the Environmental area. These themes are the main cores of my album. Through research on each of these topics, I will be able to use my visuals to inform the readers on some of the environmental issues that are pinching us around the world so as to further arouse the responsibility among people.
To keep on track with my Personal Project I have set out a timeline so that I do not fall behind.
September24~ September 27
September 28~ October 14
Timeline

Decide the topic and my AOI

Meet with my Personal Project advisor once a week

Start to determine my goals for this project
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October 15~ November 1
November 2~ December 1
December 2~ December 19

Justify whether my AOI applies to the project

Create my Personal Project blog

Upload the process journal

Decide the pages and size for my album

Determine the evidence to measure success

Begin to draw the rough sketches for my art album
 Discuss with my advisor

Upload my process Journal

Finish Research paper
 Select relevant source to achieve my goals

Cite my sources in MLA format

Begin/Finish all of my final posters

Finish the good copy of my research

Upload my process Journal

Meet with my advisor

Write the author pages, index and my inspiration,and thoughts for the album

Go back to China during Winter Break

Discuss with the workers in the factory and decide the type of paper that I’m going to use for my album, the designs for my cover and back pages…etc.
 Go to the factory to check the progress rate

Check whether there are any printing mistakes in the album
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December 20~ January 9
January 10~ February 1
February 2~ February 15
February 16~ March 2

Keep uploading my process journal

Finish publishing my art album

Justify the printing technique(s) which I saw in China with the one I researched online before/justify with my drawing techniques based on the research
 Evaluate the project’s success by showing the product to
Mrs. Chapin in Library

Keep uploading my process journal

Outline how I will address each criterion in my project report
 Keep uploading my process journal

Meet with my advisor

Continue to write my project report

Keep uploading my process journal

Meet with my advisor

Finish my final copy of the project report

Make an appendix which includes photographic evidence

Let my advisor to edit for me

Plan to present my project before the presentation March 4/ March 8
Selection of Sources
For the purpose of getting a more accurate and detailed result, I had looked through different websites and gone to library for resources. Matsuri Hino’s
‘The Art of Vampire
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Knight’
shows the process of how the artist made one of her colored illustrations step by step. (Hino 35-39) From this I discovered that the poster would look a lot cleaner if I did the coloring before tracing the contour; if I do it differently, the pigments are going to lie over the black lines. Since I was not qualified in this new drawing application, I decided to research on the Internet and found out that the combination of Markers +Water-soluble pens might work the best for my situation. ( 翊小霜 )
‘The Art of Vampire Knight’
is a really useful source and I wouldn’t have thought about using water soluble pen before I read this album. The only thing I wish it to contain is a detailed explanation of the correct steps to use water soluble pen and Marker.
Another source that allowed me to further explore different ways of drawing and coloring my posters is using high techniques from computer software. (Ma)(Ouyang) This idea came from both my dad and uncle during an interview to discuss the possibility of applying different skills to my posters. They suggested that the computer software adobe
Photoshop cs6 would allow me to have a greater visual effect. I decided to adopt their suggestions because this would eventually reduce the time I spend on coloring. The interviews did help me and I trusted the reliability of what they said due to the fact that both of them have a Visual art & applying skills degree from University. As I did not have direct experience with computer techniques for drawing, I found their advices and assistance invaluable.
The online tutorials taught me how to choose a picture and insert it into my project, using certain tools to draw on the original picture and adding special effects. ( 友基科技 ) This online tutorial source can be considered as a useful source because it gave me an overall
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introduction of how an artist is able to finish coloring the poster with computer technologies and some general tips on how to experiment shadow and light. ( 友基科技 )
A big limitation of the website was that it would not allow me to download the software.
The printing technique that seems the most reasonable to use for my album is the Giclee technique. It refers to ‘spray’ and employs inkjet color application and digital color separation. The source that I found the most useful for researching Giclee was 印前艺术 and Printmaking Terms Tips . The incredible thing I learnt from these sources is that
Gilcee uses millions of ink particles that can be applied simultaneously to the paper during a really short period of time. It can create and produce flawless color and extraordinary consistency. (Loong) Because of this, Gilcee is one of the preferred methods of fine-art print production for many artists around the world. (Sayour)
Therefore, compared to the other printmaking such as Hand Pulled Lithograph and etching, Giclée would be more suitable for my project due to the fact that I want it to appear like a normal published album.
For the printing process, I found valuable information from 印前艺术 on the creation process. This source shows me that there are many things which need to be in place before the printing stage. For example, the author needs to decide the number of pages for the album; one has to discuss about the design for covers with the publisher and determine what type of paper will be used for the pages (Loong) After the poster pages are finished, the author then need to send the posters to the factory that will be doing the processing. This step is important because the communication between the author and the printing factory would directly affect the production of the album. When everything is
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ready, the factory will print a proof sheet for the author to proof read to ensure that it is accurate before printing the book (Loong). Once the proof sheet had been confirmed by the author, the factory will then start to print the final copy of the book to the quantity specified by the author. (Loong) I considered this source as useful because it gave me a general idea of the printing process.
From Healthy cities: Improving urban life, some information that I found inspirational for the book was the sections in Air that looked at acid rain. I did not realize that the large amount of factory emissions that go into the air form acid rain that can then rain down onto us (Lomberg). People need to begin to realize how terrible and serious this issue is. Because of this seriousness, I decided to dedicate 7 posters of my book to this issue.
Water-A finite Resource is a valuable source for Environmental topic.
It showed how countless amount of non-recyclable garbage and a huge amount of toxic chemical water had been poured into rivers and oceans and caused the death of fishes and marine life.(Grolier) The large theme that I took from all my researches on the environmental issues is that the mistakes we make ultimately come back to haunt us. I will use this idea to guide the direction of my drawing. It will allow me to put bits of the stories and facts that I had read into my art and allow me to express these major ideas through my posters.
The information provided by this useful source both assisted me on the environmental issues and inspired me on the area of ‘Water’.
‘Energy for the 21 st
century’ was one of the least useful information I got throughout the research. It only mentioned coal as a source of non-renewable energy minimally. Instead,
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its focus was to introduce ‘coal’ itself rather than discuss it as a potential environmental problem.
Application of Information
Creation of posters
The inspiration is really needed for me at the beginning of the creating process. I had to cope with everyday environmental situation at home and brainstorm myself about how to transmit the information and idea to my reader by drawings. Fortunately, from the primary sources Water-A finite Resource and Healthy cities: Improving urban lifeunderstanding global issues I found that the topic ‘water’ would be the best topic to draw due to its wide range of interpretation. These two books provide plenty of valuable data, pictures and facts related to my topics. Therefore, I planned to have more ‘water’ posters than the other three topics and to use the information I gathered from the books to draw out my rough ideas for each topic.
It was from the discussions that I decided to carry out what my Dad and Uncle said about the adobe Photoshop cs6 and
‘painting tool’
on Microsoft to create my computer posters.
At first I tried to manipulate the software with my general knowledge, but because it was a hard and new technique for me to use, watching the online tutorials helped. From the
Art of vampire knight and the tutorials I was able to finish creating my posters and sped up the progress efficiently. Both sources help to fix the overall impression of the drawings. I used the knowledge from these sources to apply and draw my poster with
Water soluble pen and Marker because they can both bring attractive picture effects. ( 翊
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小霜 ) At first, I couldn’t apply these new techniques well; the colors were overlapping and looked dirty. However, as I continued practicing using the pens and software, I began to get better. I would certainly not be able to finish my posters without having the guidance and tips from the tutorials and Hino.
Creation of Art Album
From my research work, I found that the information in the website 印前艺术 is the same process as what would happen in a real printing factory. I followed the information that I gathered from the Internet to cooperate with the factory. I have a prospective of all the printing steps, which allows me to point out the mistakes immediately when a single phase is going wrong.
Achieving the Goal
After choosing my topic I was to write a goal and specifications. Setting goals is always a really important and significant step for a project. Having a good, achievable goal is also going to assist in the judging of the final success of the project. My goal was to create an art album that would raise the awareness on the importance of protecting our environment in my school.
My final product consisted of my own posters in four different topics around the theme of
Environmental Protection. The poster consists of 16 hand-drawings and 16 computer drawings with no single mistake; there are pages of writing to furthermore ensure that the students can understand the concepts hidden behind the posters. I have also brought the
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album to our school library and it has been read through by Mrs. Chapin; she considered the album as a great success and asked me if she could assess it as one of the resources for other people to read. All of the above shows that I have met every specification that I had set earlier.
Analyzing my final product, I realize that there are still things I could have improved on.
Due to the time management problem, some of posters were drawn hastily with poor quality. I can see that the colors were drawn outside the figures. I should have given myself more time to manipulate and fix the blemishes, and planned more drawing practice before I started to draw my final poster on the computer. Another analysis that I can make is that, my final product was done satisfactorily well, even though I did mess up some posters in my album. Overall, my timing is really a big issue and I would have got a much better result if I could have used my time more efficiently.
Reflection on Learning
The first thing I want to reflect is that my Personal Project led me to think deeper and extend my learning past what was familiar to me. From facing the difficulties and challenges of this project, I have begun to develop an understanding of what it means to be a true learner and how to think about a project. I had to think about whether my album will interest my audience, and thus raise the awareness in my community, whether my posters will clearly show the concepts and idea I try to impart, and whether the techniques I have learned will help me in the future...This important thinking habit will benefit me for both of my educational and daily life.
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The second thing is that, throughout this project, I have acquired valuable tools that I can apply to future projects. I became more proficient with both markers and water soluble pens. I also furthered my understanding of
‘adobe photoshop cs6’
software to learn how to draw posters with the tools the software provides. Both of these tools will allow me to apply these newly learned skills to other art projects and school activities.
After this project I also developed further understanding of my Area of Interaction.
Through research on environmental issues around the world, I was able to connect my overall theme of the environment to my art album, which in turn connected with my AOI.
I was able to accomplish this by dividing the overall theme into four different small themes. Although I did have some knowledge on a few environmental issues before the outset of my project, it did not provide me with sufficient information for the album.
Therefore, my research widened my perspectives on the environmental issues faced by humans today and inspired me to try to raise awareness on this topic. I begin to gradually understand that my AOI needs to be strongly linked to each of the posters I drew for this project because that would be the best way to express the central ideas effectively to the audience.
I never knew how complex it was to make a book before I started the process of my own.
It is hard to imagine how many steps are needed in order to send it to printing. I began to realize that many things aren’t as easy as they appear to be. There is plenty of work before you can get to the final stage and so is the life. If one wants to achieve his goal, he must overcome many difficulties until the final success. This is lesson from my Personal
Project.
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I’m satisfied with my final product and my hard work throughout these past few months has paid off. I wouldn’t say this is the best work I could do. I was totally running out of time when creating the posters. Clearly, one of the biggest issues I encountered in doing this project was time management, which caused me a lot of problems including delaying my original schedule. In order to try and catch up I sped up other sections of the project.
This lack of time mad some of the posters not as polished as I would have liked. If I could have a chance to re-do everything all over again, I would definitely have diminished the amount of time I spent on drawing the rough sketches so that I could have more time on the final posters. This issue of time management is a valuable learning experience for me. If I can manage my time and stick to the schedules I set for myself, it will help me to improve my abilities when I have a big project like this next time.
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Work Cited
Interviews:
Chapin, Betty. Personal interview. 28 Jan. 2013
Ma,Li. Personal interview. 17 Oct. 2012.
Ma,Li Personal interview. 24 Oct. 2012.
Ma,Li Personal interview. 27 Oct. 2012.
Ma,Li Personal interview. 7 Jan. 2013
Ouyang,F Personal interview. 17 Oct. 2012.
Ouyang,F Personal interview. 30 Oct. 2012.
Primary Sources:
Grolier Educational Corporation. Water-A finite Resource . New Jersey: Grolier
Educational Corporation, 1996. Print.
Hino, Matsuri. The Art of Vampire Knight . China: Viz Media , 6 September.2011. Print.
Lomberg, Michelle. Healthy cities: Improving urban life-understanding global issues.
Minnesota: Smart Apple Media, 2004. Print.
Nersesian, Roy L. Energy for the 21 st
Century . New York: M.E Sharpe, 2010. Print.
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Websites:
Loong.
印前艺术
. ZCOOL. 16.July.2010.Web.12.Nov.2012. http://group.zcool.com.cn/post/ZMTEzMzgw.html
Sayour, George. Printmaking Terms Tips . Lifetips. Web. 12.Nov.2012 http://framedart.lifetips.com/cat/59154/printmaking-terms/index.html
翊小霜 .
文化艺术
>
书画美术
. 百度知道 , 6.Aug.2012.Web. 10. Nov. 2012. http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/460530936.html&__bd_tkn__=77b6565d3a2499274a6 dfb24fde470e2d757c9b6a07e6bdc04bcad497fb486c32f339d35bced883674ec7e11a1fbf8
22d1f520bc2d
爱画网 .
绘画色彩教程
.
马克绘画 . 12.Feb.2012. Web.12. Nov.2012. http://www.xemsk.com/plus/search.php?searchtype=title&kwtype=0&q=%BB%E6%BB
%AD%C9%AB%B2%CA%BD%CC%B3%CC&x=0&y=0
友基科技 .
数位板杂志封面插画教程《清夏》
. 马克绘画 . 12. Feb.2012. Web.
12.Nov.2012. http://www.xemsk.com/cg/PS_hui_hua/1591.html
PDF:
17066326peng
,” 画册制作流程 ”,
11.Nov.2011, PDF file.
Pictures:
Fig.Water.Water, Electrolytes and Ions from Health Coach; valerietonnerhealthcoach.blogspot.ca, 7 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Oct.2012.
Fig.Wood.The biggest tree in the world.
image.baidu.com
. n.p.
Web. 30 Oct.2012.
Fig.Gas flame.Non-renewable resources.
image.baidu.com
. n.p.
Web. 30 Oct.2012.
Fig.Air. Desktop pictures.image.baidu.com.
n.p.
Web. 30 Oct.2012.
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Appendix 1- The process of drawing a computer poster
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Appendix 2- The process of drawing a hands-drawing poster
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Appendix 3- The process of creating the album
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