and I control the decks
carfilledwithfish
Joined: 18 Jun 2007
Posts: 3988
HP: 88 MP: 7 Lives: 0
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 8:05 pm
|
 |
|
It's pretty much mostly almost done, but I'm probably going to read through it a few more times and correct some grammar errors. I'm sure I *crag* up somewhere.
If you don't get it, read up on Sudbury Schools.
This is no mere assignment. This is ME, in written form.
| Quote: | The year was 2004. I was eleven-and-a-half years old, and had just left public school for the second time, the first being when I was seven. I had been in a “transitional” class for the last couple of years, for students that had difficulties with a normal classroom setting. It wasn't so bad, except that the goal was to get me out of special-ed and into a regular class. Sick of the stress and having to learn things I really couldn't care less about, I left.
At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to do. My mom had homeschooled me when I was younger, but that wasn't an option now, since I wanted to have a social life. None of the schools in the Edmonds district worked for me, either. They all had the same problem as the school I had just left; they wanted to shape me into what is considered normal, which (as much as I try to deny it) is not what I am. My mom and I went to San Diego for a couple of weeks to relax, try to figure out what to do next, and go to SeaWorld.
After we came home, my mom told me about a school she found, on a Google search for “free-range children;” Clearwater. It didn't sound like something that could actually exist. A school with no classes, grades, or bullshit? What made it a school, then?
The first year I spent at Clearwater was all about exercising my new freedom. For a while, I didn't do much besides play video games and draw. My art flourished during this time; I have always liked to draw, but it wasn't until I could spend my entire day doing nothing else that I realized just how much I loved it.
I've experimented with several types of art, but animation has always interested me the most. In the late '90s, Cartoon Network used to show Loony Toons for a few hours every day. I used to sit in front of the TV with pencils and a stack of paper, trying to draw the cartoons as they were playing. At the time, I didn't know anything about construction, line-of-action, or any of those other fancy techniques artists use. I had no idea how Warner Bros' animators were so good.
My interest in cartoons had waned in my years at public school, but returned after I rediscovered one of my favourite shows; Samurai Jack. I liked it when it was on TV in 2001, but now that I was older and more appreciative of art, it blew me away. Unlike most cartoons, which focus on humour, Samurai Jack was about epic, artistic fight scenes. One episode in particular, where the main character, all dressed in white, fights a ninja dressed in black stands out in my mind. Samurai Jack inspired me, and was the first show that made me consider a career in animation.
This doesn't mean that I don't like funny cartoons too. If art is the biggest reason I like animation, humour is the second-biggest. I've never agreed with the idea of funny cartoons being “kid's stuff,” something that you're supposed to stop liking when you get older. Maybe I'm childish for feeling the way I do, but I don't think fun is something that you should have to outgrow.
But enough about that. Apparently I'm supposed to talk about why I'm ready to be an adult in this thing.
I feel that the biggest way I've grown at Clearwater is socially. I didn't really have any friends while I was homeschooling, and in public school I only had a thirty-minute lunch break to talk to my classmates. It took some time for me to get used to all the socializing; as I said earlier, for a while I preferred to be left alone with my sketchbook or a computer. I'm still pretty introverted, but I'm a lot less shy than I used to be.
Two years ago, I took Driver's Ed over the summer. It was my first time being in a traditional classroom setting since I came to Clearwater, and at first, I was afraid to go. I talked to the teacher about my history and my problems with classes. Unlike the teachers at my old school, he understood that having a hard time with classes didn't mean that there was something “wrong” with me that needed to be fixed. He never talked down to me or used that condescending tone that all special-ed teachers use. We talked about a lot of things over the following weeks, like cartoons and how I was able to pay attention in class or carry on a conversation while drawing. For the class midterm, he let me spend about an hour talking to him, rather than writing an essay. This was when I realized that I didn't hate classes themselves, I had just never had good teachers. Driver's Ed did more than teach me about driving; it gave me a huge increase in confidence and was the first step in getting over my shyness.
The second step would come the following summer, when I signed up for the Teen Intensive program at Gage Academy of Art. Only 15 people would be selected for the class, and to get in, I had to submit some of my art and an artist's statement. Writing the statement was the hardest part; I had been working on my writing skills, but still didn't feel entirely confident. I got some help, both from my mom and from an artist who worked at Gage, but most of the words in the statement were my own. I was one of the people selected, and spent the next five weeks driving to Capitol Hill every day, learning about drawing and painting, and talking to other artists 9-to-5. On the last day of the class we had an art show, and each had to write another artist's statement. I had a much easier time with this one, writing the entire thing in a couple of hours.
I met another great teacher at Gage, Kimberly Trowbridge. I had tried talking to my classmates about Clearwater; they were all public school students, and had pretty much the same reaction I did when I first heard about it. Kimberly, on the other hand, was really interested and thought the Sudbury system was a great idea. She also gave me a new appreciation for abstract art. Some of her work looked to me like she had just scribbled all over a piece of paper, ripped it up, and stuck it back together--until I heard her describe what the pieces she had made meant to her, and saw her create them. I realized that while it might not be immediately obvious what her pictures were about, she put just as much effort into them as someone else might put into a realistic drawing.
Even though I'm a cartoonist, I feel that the realistic drawing skills I learned at Gage have helped me a lot. After all, the best cartoon, abstract, or anime artists learned realism before they started drawing stylistically. I think that there is a pretty clear difference between someone who knows how to draw realistically but chooses not to, and someone who draws in a style because they don't know how to draw anything else. I'm still somewhat in the latter category, but I'm on my way out.
Last fall, I started taking classes at Edmonds Community College, through Running Start. To register, I had to take a math/English test. Math has always been my worst subject, and I left public school right before I was supposed to start learning algebra; even though I had no problem with the English part of the test, I was afraid I wouldn't pass.
I passed the English part of the test with flying colours; I didn't score especially high on the math part, but I did well enough to get in, and much better than I expected. Fortunately, the math score wasn't important for the classes I wanted to take at EDCC. I have taken two classes there so far, both about computer animation, and will be taking another one in Spring Quarter, beginning in a few weeks.
Taking college classes has been a lot of fun. The professors don't try to stop you from drawing in class or surfing the Internet, as long as you are able to get your work done and understand what they're teaching you. If you don't finish your assignment because you were drawing dinosaurs instead of rigging your model, that's your fault, not theirs. I'm able to work at my own pace, and am trusted to be responsible and get the work done on my own.
I have been looking at art colleges for the past year or so. In January, my mom and I went to Vancouver, BC to look at a few. I wanted to find one with a good animation program, and a good reputation for students getting hired in the industry after graduating. We looked at three different schools; Emily Carr School of Art and Design, Vancouver Film School, and Capilano University.
You might think that the school with the long, impressive name would be the best one, but Emily Carr was definitely the worst of the lot. We went on a tour with a bunch of other people, and I was not particularly impressed with what we saw. A student's first year at Emily Carr is called the Foundation year, where they try all different types of art (pencil drawing, painting, sculpture) before getting to focus on what they came there to learn. Finishing the first year doesn't guarantee that you'll end up where you want, either. We didn't even get to see the animation department; it's a small room and we were a big group, so we were told to skip it. After the tour, we tried to get some more information, but the faculty didn't want to help us. “I'd be spending my life's savings to send my daughter here,” My mom said. “We would like some more info about the program she's interested in.” The staff's reply, “Well, that's life.” In those exact words.
Vancouver Film School was much better, but still not quite was I was looking for. They also have a foundation year, but allow students to skip it if their portfolio is good enough. (Which, by the way, they said mine was.) Their animation program is only one year, but they are basically cramming all the stuff you would learn in a four-year program. On one hand, I would save a lot on living expenses, since I would only need to rent a place for one year. On the other, piles and piles of work.
The last school we visited, Capilano, was pretty much exactly what I wanted. They have a higher standard for portfolios than VFS, which is understandable; in their two-year animation program, they don't teach about life drawing at all, expecting you to already know it. I was told that what I currently have is a good start, but that I still have a ways to go. I talked to a few of the students while I was there, and felt a connection that I can barely describe. These are my people. People who sit hunched over a lightbox for hours or even days at a time, people who can't sit still without a pencil and a piece of paper in front of them, people who can list every Disney movie ever made and know all the songs by heart.
You may have guessed it already, but one reason I think I'm ready to graduate now is because all of my recent learning experiences have been outside of Clearwater. My portfolio still needs a lot of work before I'm ready to apply for college, and I think staying here would only distract me from doing the things I need to get done. Clearwater has helped me in a lot of ways, but it's time to move on.
|
|
|
