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First, the instructors explained the assignment on zoom. After gaining a fair understanding the whole class was able to play a color game where we tested our eyes calibration to different colors and hues. After the class was over I went and reviewed the color slides and videos to better understand the use of color.

I first thought about using my synthetic mandala to add color but after discussing with my instructor, I decided that since my natural mandala had more items and less white space it would be better to use it instead of my synthetic mandala. 

Since my natural mandala was only line work without any gray fills, I had to add different shades of grey to it first before I could make a color chart. I already had my natural mandala on Vectornator so after watching the video on how to add the grey fills I used the fill function to add light shades to parts that had lots of linework and darker shades to places with less line work.

After having 3 different shades I noticed that some parts of my fills had white spaces that were left unfilled. After discussing with my instructor and some research and experimentation I finally realized that I needed to close these shapes to have a complete fill. I then proceed to close the outer butterfly border before duplicating the fixed parts and placing them over all the old pieces before deleting the old layers. Moving on I continued to the leaf layer and after using the direct selection tool to experiment I found that if I move the top of the middle line to the left and extended the bent part back to the top I could complete the fill. 

I continued next by experimenting on how to fill the “pincher” layer and found if I close the bottom using the pen tool I could have a complete fill. I then changed one of the “pinchers” strokes to red and went over it with a black outline using the pen tool while also closing the bottom. After I made sure it was a complete fill I deleted the red “pincher” under it. I then duplicated it multiple times placed it over the other “pinchers” and deleted the bottom layers. I finally had complete fills but since they overlapped with the center layer I had to use the direct selection tool to alter where each of them collided with the centerpiece and manipulate it to share the same linework as the centerpiece. 

 Finally, I also attempted to do those methods to the center flowerlike piece but found that I can just drag some of the linework over the white space using the direct selection tool and successfully fill it. After talking to my instructor I also decided that I could leave the octagonal bamboo layer as linework because it would not fill.

After fixing all the fills I decided to change the gray fills that I originally had because I wanted it to look more balanced and solid, so this time I used darker colors near the center and the rim. I then went onto adobe color picker and picked 2 different color schemes keeping the green and yellow colors in mind from the reference pictures. I decided on a triad and split complementary schemes to use in my mandala. I then went onto Vectornator and made the 2 color charts using one-inch squares.  I placed the 3 shades that I had at the top and started to place the colors that I got from adobe into rows using the color sampler tool. Finally, I added the matching values from the color schemes that I chose, under each of the 3 original values using the squint method. 

Continuing I started to think of different qualities I wanted my mandalas to portray using color. At first, I had a hard time picking what I wanted but after some thinking, I decided to show contrast using the triad scheme and movement using my split complementary scheme. I continued by copying my mandala into another Vectornator document so that I can have 2 different mandalas to iterate with before I start applying the colors to my mandala and experimenting to find out which color combination worked the best.

First I started iterating with the triad scheme in order to get a contrasting piece that is also pleasing to the eye. I first started by placing the matching value of color from the color chart onto the original black and white value. I first started with the outer part and moved in while placing the colors until I was satisfied with the combinations. When I was satisfied I then placed a 10-inch circle around my outer border and placed a color I thought would make the rest of the pieces contrasting without taking attention away from them. After I was done I continued to show it to my instructor and was able to confirm that My piece showed contrast using the red and blue being supportive and yellow as the pop of contrast. 

I then moved on to my second mandala where I was going to use the split complementary scheme and attempt to show movement. For this mandala, I followed the same way of ideating as the first, which included testing different color combinations with different pieces until I found one that works. After a while of ideating, I came up with a combination that used 2 values of green and a central pink piece with a light yellow background that helped the foreground pieces pop out. While using the contrast between the dark green and the yellow I was able to focus on movement with a centerpiece that also helps draw the eyes inward.

After Finishing my second mandala I was satisfied but after looking back to my first mandala I thought that I can make improvements to make a bigger contrast using background and foreground pieces. When looking at my original piece the red background I saw that the red background decided on was dull and did not have a great contrast between the majority of the foreground pieces. That gave me an idea to try a light blue background instead. After changing it I was able to see a significant amount of contrast between the pieces and the background. But the leaf layer still looked dull, so to fix that I switched to a different shade of red I had in the same value. I was finally satisfied with the results with all my pieces having a noticeable contrast between each other and the background.

After Labeling both of my mandalas, I then made a separate and labeled document containing my color scheme. Moving on I wrote down my statement for my 2 pieces and all together with the other documents I combined them into a single pdf and submitted them to the project page on carmen.

Proce

• I first started by going to the project page on carmen and reading the description on the design website.

• I then started to watch the required videos on the watch/ read section of the project.

• After I got a basic understanding of the project I started to think about which feelings I wanted to use. 
• In class after doing practice word webs and drawings with the instructor, I chose the two energies I wanted to use, Peaceful and uneasy, and started to make a word web to find spaces that would go with them.

• At the same time, I was able to familiarize myself with some angles used to show different feelings.
•  I also drew an object from these different angles to represent different feelings.

• After spending some time on word web I also wrote down which kinds of shots I wanted to use to represent the spaces.
• At first, I wanted to draw a garden space for the peaceful space for the garden and another thing for the uneasy space but I later found out that we were supposed to use only one thing to draw but use it to show different energies.
• In class after watching the manipulation and simplifying videos, I simplified Orton hall and practiced manipulating it

• After discussing with my instructor I decided to use a road as my subject.
• I first wanted to have the road in the middle and draw it using a 1 point perspective but I then changed my mind to manipulate the road with some curves to make it flowy and seem calm.
• For the “uneasy” drawing, I decided to do a very close up shot showing a destroyed and old road that had cracks and some gravel and do it in a canted shot to make it very uncomfortable, to better convey my message.
• At first, I had some trouble getting used to the AutoDesk drawing app but after doing some practice rough sketches I was able to adapt.

• I drew a simple sketch of how I wanted my drawing to look on paper and then decided to move to the iPad.

• After doing my practice sketches I started by laying down a horizontal line and started to draw a road towards it, stopping and editing to make sure it looked how I wanted.

• I then started new layers to make sure I don’t mess up my already drawn pieces and then started to add the mountains, the sun, and other small details like road marks, grass, tumbleweed, birds, and clouds.

• Throughout this process, I had to stop many times and zoom in in order to fix the small details to make sure my work was the best it could be, this was one of the most time consuming and difficult parts of the project.

• At the end of my shading, I went back to the road and the land and added some more details and marks, textures to make it look even better.

• I then started to work with my “Uneasy” piece.
• I drew the road diagonal in the paper, to make it canted, and then I started to add small cracks and broken pieces of the road in.

• I continued by shading my drawing and going over it with the pencil to add more texture and to make certain parts darker.

• After talking to my instructor I also added some depth to the side of the road to make it seem more realistic.

• This drawing was a little easier because I had already developed some skills from making the previous drawing and its focus was not “peaceful” or perfect.
• I also tried moving the sun inward after talking to my instructor but decided to keep it the way it was because it lost its original flow coming from the mountain.

• After finalizing both my pieces I converted them into PDF files attached them together and submitted them into carmen with the link for this post.

• I first met with the design foundations program on zoom and the instructors went over the project page that was posted on Carmen.
• After going over the project, I watched the video assigned by the instructors and created a 2D drawing of a letter that looks 3D from an angle.

• I then started to think about which composition from my A2 I wanted to turn into a form.
• At the same time, I completed the tiny house exercise, by making the house in isometric and the orthographic views in vectornator, using the template provided in Carmen.

• In class, I also made a template for the perfect cube exercise and after cutting it out I formed a cube.

• After thinking about which composition to use for a while I posted the top three picks I had to a discussion board on Carmen.

• I thought about which one would be the most interesting to recreate in 3D form and finally chose the one I named Spin.
• I picked this particular piece to work with because I thought it would lead to some interesting finds and I also thought it looked good in 2D so I wanted to see it in 3D form.
• I then started to make some iterations of what it might look like in 3D form.
• At first, I started by making an iteration using 2 point perspective that just extruded up with some slants and hidden shapes but got stuck trying to figure out other iterations.

• I talked to my instructor and I got some ideas about doing iterations that included negative spaces and downward extrusions.
• I was able to come up with two more iterations that I thought were good.

• After having all three iterations the hardest part was deciding which one to use as my 3D model.
• I talked to my instructor and decided that the first iteration I did with the upward extrusion would give the best effect of the original elements and principles.

• Even though the others looked cool the first piece had the best feeling of movement and scale which I wanted to portray in my work.
• After deciding which one I wanted to do, I started to draft some templates and started to make them into 3D forms using printer paper.

• After doing my practice forms on the printer paper I went on bristol and made new templates for the final piece that were actually to scale and more precise.

• I then made an 8 by 8 square on paper and started to place the forms on top of each other like they were placed in the 2D composition.

• Once I was satisfied with their placement I applied glue to each one and glued them together.

• After finishing with that, I started to work on my other deliverables.
• At first, I had problems with Apple’s Pages app so, I opened a Google Doc where I used an 11 by 17 page and started to write down instructions and included pictures of the templates with labels to make it easier to understand.

• After giving instructions on how to put the whole thing together I went down to a new page and posted pictures of my orthographic views and my template.

• I then made a whole new Google Doc of the same size and placed all the pictures that I took of my 3D form.

• Finally, I converted my Google Docs into PDFs and submitted them into carmen.

• First I went to Carmen and watched/read the videos and assignment description for the assignment.

• After getting a basic understanding of the project in a class I started to sketch basic forms in one-point perspective. (Even though I had difficulty keeping up at first, after some practice I was able to get a hang of it.)

• I then started to practice making a grid. 

• I also had trouble making the grid deeper than wide but after talking to the instructor I was able to find a way to make that happen.
• In class the next time I started to draw the forms in 2 point perspective.

• After learning these new skills, I started to think about what objects I wanted to place in my space.
• I was able to use the first grid I made as a practice grid and use tracing paper over it to place some items in that space, before making my final space.

• While in the process of making my practice studio, I was able to identify some problems and form questions I had regarding the project, I then wrote them down in my moleskin.

• I also took some notes on object placement and some changes I thought about implementing into the space.

• After that, I went to Google and looked up some items like chairs to get inspiration.

• In class, I also learned new skills like rotating shapes and extruding things out of the wall.

• After asking the instructor some questions I started to think of what kind of space I wanted.
• I thought for some days and decided that I would like to make a minimalist/simplistic type of studio.
• Some things I wanted to include were stairs, an inwall shelf, some windows, a floating table, and a couch.(since most of these things were created from my head I could only get inspiration from other products, I mad the measurements to what looked best to me.)
• After deciding which route I wanted to take I went to a new page in my drawing pad and started to make a grid using everything that I learned.
• After I was done with that I put tracing paper over it and started to sketch the objects I mentioned above.

• I worked for a while and was able to complete the basic layout and placement of the objects I wanted. 

• I then showed it t my instructor and after the feedback, I started to place the items of the actual grid.

• Since I didn’t already have a personal item picked out I thought for a while and decided to put a speaker bar in, because I love music.

• After placing the items on the grid, I started to adjust some small details and adding more small details.

• I then erased lines around the objects so they can stand out more and did some light shading. 

• Finally, I had stairs, a couch, a speaker, an in wall shelf, a crawl space to lay down in or place things in, a floating table, and wall and roof windows.

• After completing that I was able to take a scan with my phone and submit it to carmen