Highlights of Fall Semester 2025

Hey Guys! It’s been a while. I hope you all are doing well. ^^

I wish you all a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It’s been a hot minute since I last blogged. I missed talking/chatting with you all. Sophomore year is so far kicking my butt more than I thought it would. (Thank you so much for your patience and continuous support!)

I’ve heard rumors that Sophomore year is the hardest year. The reasoning is that it’s the first year where expectations will be given. First year is the adjustment period, second year is when the crank is dialed up a notch. These are times when I have to remind myself that pressure makes diamonds. If God has led me on this road, the fire isn’t here to burn me… It’s here to refine me.

I do admit that much of the burden from fundamentals like perspective was done; however, it could be just me, I struggled branching out from fundamentals. I found drawing from observation easy, but drawing from imagination was harder. When I was encouraged to bend the rules or to illustrate for the first time, it was frustrating. I’ll talk about my struggles in another blog series on grace. :) If you’re interested, subscribe here, and I’ll notify you when I post!

For now, let’s keep focused on Takeaways. I told my mom: these blogs are more or less for myself, as they are easy to access reminders to myself. So, for this semester, I decided to add “Personal Reflection” to include a personal note just to myself. I hope my sharing can help us to learn something new, and also to throw away baggage to get ready for the next step!

(Side note: Starting in Sophomore year, every professor has different requirements, so my experience may not be the end-all be-all!)

Illustration Media

Takeaways

• Drawing skills are the start of all great art, but learning different mediums gives you the “feel” or “look” that you desire!

Peer Advice

• Treat each medium by its strengths, just like every person has something they’re really good at. Never compare a medium with another, wishing it would behave like another.

• My professor said this, “This is the class where your wrist will hurt!”

What I Wish I Knew

• I struggled with figure drawing, so I was taken aback when Portraiture was a common theme in this class! (Units: Paper cut, watercolor, color pencil)

• I’m a perfectionist, so I wish I focused on having fun instead of fine-tuning every single project. I didn’t need to be good at everything.

• Similarly, my second-guessing made me take longer to appreciate and understand each medium, so the class was a little fast for me

Favorite Memory

• My professor really enjoyed my oil pastel painting and recommended that I do more of these, especially with my recipes! With a bit of luck, more to come! ^^

• Another time in class, he talked about these delicious pear tarts he made for dessert and even printed out the recipe for me!

  • Verdict? I used apple instead, but they're definitely delicious and worth making! The only difference I made was that I tossed the slices along with a little lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, and sugar before placing them on the pastry. (Momsdish sprinkled sugar on the pastry and fruit) I have a sweet tooth, so I made some custard to serve with it too! I brought some extra to Bible Study on Friday, and they were received very well!

  • I must say that my professor won in presentation because his looked more polished when he showed me pictures haha. He also told me you can experiment with the types of sugar to use. Each one has a different taste and result!

Recipe credit ~ Momsdish

• On the subject of food, my friend Mariela and I hung out together to make cookies!

  We made pumpkin spice (her signature), sugar cookie “bears” (my mistake - they spread too much!), dipped with chocolate, and matcha cookies! Dude, I had so much fun with you. Thanks for being my friend. :) We bonded so much more since 2D Design last year. Thanks for telling me it’s going to be alright, even when I didn’t feel like it. It really gave me peace. :)

Photo credit ~ Mariela

Personal Reflection

• As a Foodie 101, I realized I not only enjoy eating and cooking, but I also really enjoy illustrating and drawing food, haha!

• On the contrary of a perfectionist, I was surprised to find the projects I enjoyed the most were mediums I couldn’t control 100%, such as watercolor and oil pastel!

Painting I

Takeaways

• When I struggle to draw objects, it’s easier to draw the negative shapes around the positive shape!

  • I learned that it’s easier to draw the shapes around the object itself! (In other words, look at neighboring shapes to help me draw the shape I’m drawing.)

  • This is a great trick to portraiture (or anything difficult), as it allows higher accuracy by sticking to simple shapes. (My professor really enjoys associating the shape with something familiar, such as a fish or a wave!)

  • Squint - (A common theme) helps me see less, which forces me to see just shapes - which is ideal when I want to focus on the negative shapes.

  • To figure out darks, it’s easier to block in the shadow shapes first before modeling.

• I first learned about this in a figure drawing intensive where we were taught, “Flat as a hat and flatter than that!” This method of shadow shapes was prevalent since the Renaissance period. Two things plus a tip that helped me were:

  • Squint - by squinting, I simplify what I see so I can see the dark mass clearly from the light mass to block it in.

  • Block it First - Start the shadows flat before modelling them, in other words, start with a flat value before blending it to start mid-tones! This helps drawing with forms using shadows to my advantage!

  • Pro-tip (from my professor): Burnt umber is a great paint to have in your palette; it darkens colors easily without adding black. It’s also a great base for brown.

• When I render, I must also keep in mind my edges, especially soft ones.

  • I also learned about this in the figure drawing intensive over the summer, but I realized how hard it actually was to take this advice!

  • I learned that it’s easier by human instinct to draw in hard/sharp edges all the time, as we get caught up in the accuracy of our drawing. Because of this, it’s so easy to forget we see lost/soft too (such as mountains in the distance in atmospheric perspective) - There are two easy fixes!

    • Squint - again, I can see how the object’s “edge” fades into the background!

    • Start it - my professor recommended that it’s good to lay in the soft (or lost) shadows from the very beginning as I draw. If I get it right in the beginning, it’s easier to remember and keep later on.

Peer Advice

• Practice, practice, and practice (haha so helpful… lol).

• One of my friends, Danny, recommended a YouTube channel called “Paint Coach” - I highly recommend it to you all as well! He also has an Instagram with quick tips that help a lot.

• I also recommend @malcolmmuronda (coloring mixing Instagram), as I learned so much about color mixing, rather than using white for everything (which tends to cool colors too much)

What I Wish I Knew

• There are a lot of things I wish I knew before oil painting, as this is my first time doing it professionally! Most of which are from Paint Coach (above) and Malcolm, but here are some of my personal ones.

• First and foremost, I wish I knew that, as academic as this class is, there are many ways to approach oil painting. For example, multiple layers working mainly from thin to thick or one-layer using mainly wet on wet. I had friends from both sides of the spectrum achieving excellent grades!

• I wish I knew that painting is drawing 24/7, this is because when I finish drawing, I’ll layer everything with paint, so I may have to carve back in, and remember where I drew.

• I wish I knew that when people say oil paint dries “slow”, it actually dries quite “fast” (I could be wrong about this, but one of the things I struggled with was the wet and dry of the medium. Some days I would wish my paintings would stay wet so I could still work with them. Other days I would come to class and be struck with the reality that my painting was still too wet.)

• I wish I knew the concept of “thin to thick” - I believe this would have also helped the timing of dry/wet! I usually work in layers, as this helps me focus on one thing at a time.

• I wish I knew highlights were as hard or harder to capture than shadows! Highlights are somehow scarier for me, and the trick is to work up to them! Similar to gouache, I’d like to avoid using straight-up white as it can dull everything down. Using a little cadmium yellow or yellow ochre or any yellow paint is a great way to add warmth to the highlights

• I wish I knew that less is more when it came to color mixing

  • Less than three color mixtures = vibrant, light, saturated colors

  • More than three color mixtures = muted, dark, unsaturated colors

  • I need to be intentional and selective with my colors instead of trying to make my “mud” look pretty

• I wish I knew how time-consuming this class would be, as a lover of gouache and how posterized it’s meant to be, I realized oil paint is meant for rendered pieces, and so it’s more time-consuming!

• I know this sounds silly, but I wish I knew Gamsol was also a paint thinner like linseed oil! (Except it makes your paint dry faster.)

Favorite Memory

• I had three friends in this class: Shuyue (also known as Trista and/or TaTa), Daniel (also known as Danny), and Ben Ruzicka… you three truly made this class such a special place for me. Partly because of you three, I usually looked forward to the class.

  • TaTa, you were the friend who always made me laugh when I felt blue. Whether it was our inside jokes or simply teasing each other, you made me loosen up. You taught me to trust myself even when I didn’t.

  • Danny, thank you for being by my side even at my worst. Whether it was frustrations in classes or painting, you always had my back. I appreciate you more than you’ll ever know. (Sidenote: Thanks for driving me to class when my car broke down!)

  • Ben, you made me laugh, too. You were like a father to me in class. Your transparency, whether in light or serious subjects, taught me so much about life. You also taught me so much about perseverance.

• One of the biggest blow-your-mind instances was finding out that my painting professor was also a Christian! I was extremely excited, and I believe it was that moment that brought us closer together. :) He even gave me a Bible verse that helped him when he struggles with anxiety about painting.

Personal Reflection

• I found, at present, I much prefer a more painterly style! :) I do wish, one day, to draw accurately, on the bright side, my limited painting skills, for now, may help me with soft edges.

• As much as I learned in this class, especially with all the fond memories, I don’t find oil paint to be my cup of tea. Simply because its toxicity doesn’t seem to be a good trade-off for the result. But who knows? I might like it better in the spring semester!

Illustration I

Takeaways

• Understanding composition is of the utmost importance when telling stories.

• Taking my own reference is essential for good artwork! There are many benefits such as...

  • I don’t have to worry about plagiarizing, as it’s my own reference.

  • I can get it to look exactly what I want it to look like.

  • I can “Frankenstein” all my images together to make what I want.

Peer Advice

• My media professor ironically gave us this piece of advice: “The Illustration class hurts your brain.”

What I Wish I Knew

• I wish I knew this class was going to be more fun than I expected.

• Though I also wish I knew how challenging this class would be, it was most likely due to my struggle with applying the foundations creatively.

• I wish I knew that the class deadlines were based on digital work, which requires less time than traditional pieces. This hit me hard, and I later had to pivot to digital (I plan to experiment with a combination of the two this coming semester.)

Favorite Memory

• My Professor and I had some very sweet moments together, starting from the beginning of the school year. On the first day, he was the most excited when I gave him a whoopee pie. (I made these for back to school!)

• To his credit, he never gave up on me for the entire semester, regardless of my challenges. Whether it was drawing overs or me taking risks (while understanding my skill set) - he stayed with me through it all.

• I enjoyed his dad jokes as they made me smile and laugh - I even mentioned it in the card I gave him with the Chocolate Chip Cookies I made at the end of the semester. :) (And yes, he had the best reaction.)

• My friend Kat (who was also in my Media class) always cheered me up when I was around her. Kat, thanks for always helping me and giving me feedback. Whether it’s during class when I’m overwhelmed or in the crack of night, you made sure I was okay. Thanks for supporting me in the critique almost every time! :)

• Speaking of friends, I enjoyed studying at the library with two friends. It definitely made things less lonely, which helped me work better. :)

Personal Reflection

• This class was a hard class for me, especially surrounded by the most talented classmates. But because of this, I got to see many great digital art.

• I have a lot to learn in terms of digital art and illustration, and I can’t wait to press on in Illustration II!

Art and Development

Takeaways

• The biggest one for me: There has always been a “pendulum swing” (my professor likes to call it) of realistic art, abstraction, and stylization - this pendulum swing happens all the time and is the reason for all the diverse art movements of the past and present.

• Every art period is shaped not only by the values and resources during the time, but also by the choice of the user. (For example, the Renaissance captured things realistically because there were no cameras. When photography became widely accessible, scientists used it for scientific research, such as photographing a horse galloping. Yet, artists seized this opportunity to “paint with light,” i.e., taking a picture of a planned composition, and treat it as a painting.)

Peer Advice

• Nothing particular as there are a hundred of us in this class!

What I Wish I Knew

• I wish I had taken this class earlier, when it was more of a breeze.

• This is the most intensive liberal arts class I have ever taken, and it’s a major time swamp! Be sure you take this class early on, or try to find credits to replace this class.

Favorite Memory

• I was the notetaker this semester for this course, and my professor made it a point to call our after-class sessions “double checks”: when I didn’t get something he lectured on (I would write “double check” on the side and then delete it after he clarified.)

• I adore the ladies at Print Services; they did such a wonderful job. One of them helped take attendance for this class. I always enjoyed seeing her. :)

Personal Reflection

• It is a good thing I did art history classes at SCAD, which made seeing some of the art pieces a second time - I highly recommend this if you have not yet started college.

  Having said that, this class definitely taught me the logic behind why art is so subjective - and why I should trust myself because art is open-ended, which makes it beautiful.

This semester has been a crazy ride. I’m both nervous and excited about next semester. Through the ups and downs, I’m learning this road I’ve chosen is certainly challenging but also rewarding. Let’s all start an amazing Spring semester. :)

Till Next Time,

Isabelle

"Slow and steady wins the race."

~ Robert Lloyd