For my STEP Signature project, in the Creative and Artistic Endeavors category, I completed two six-week animation workshops with Animation Mentor. I enrolled in both “2D Animation for Beginners” and “2D Animation: Walk Cycles and Character Movement”, both taught by Jay Jackson. I completed regular homework assignments where I created animations, based off of the information I was taught in live lectures that occurred once a week over Zoom. 

My attitude towards the animation process and my confidence in my animation skills have changed immensely after completing this project. I have always been passionate about art and animation. I am a self taught artist that used YouTube videos, and inspiration from other artists and media to develop my styles and practice drawing. However, I do feel that being in a classroom setting, specifically for animation, was beneficial. Animation is difficult in that it requires a large amount of time and devotion for making drawn movements look fluid. After completing this project, I feel that I am more diligent and dependable when it comes to completing animations, and understanding the process needed to construct them. For example, my animation process has become: creating a rough sketch of key poses, drawing the in-betweens, running the animation and revising what looks unnatural or out of place, drawing the sketch on model, (going over the rough sketch with the design of the character), adding clean line art, and coloring the character. I am now more accepting of animation as a long process, and I take my time in order to construct something that is fluid and well-drawn. 

My project also exposed me to different 2D animation software, and made the entire animation process more familiar and approachable. I am always thinking of new art projects I can create. For those that require animation, having previous animation practice with Animation Mentor makes them seem less daunting. Many of my artistic visions feel more attainable after completing my STEP project. Additionally, I have a passion for drawing and animating people. The second of the two workshops, which focused specifically on bipedal movement, will be beneficial to me moving forward as it taught me many valuable skills in drawing realistic character movement. Taking this workshop, and practicing movement further increased my love for animating biped characters. So, along with increased confidence in my ability to complete a project, I am more passionate about animating what I already love to draw in general. 

The weekly set-up and workload of the course allowed me to develop a work schedule and diligence when it comes to completing animations. By having regularly distributed homework assignments, I was able to commit myself to finishing a project, and develop time management skills for animation specifically. I would typically aim to start each assignment a couple days after I attended a lecture, giving myself time to submit rough drafts. My instructor would give me feedback on these drafts, and I could continue working on the animation until the final deadline, using the suggestions I was given. The benefit of getting early feedback was motivation for completing my assignments early. Ideally, by allowing myself multiple days for assignments, I was able to relax and focus on practicing rather than meeting a deadline. This process made me more confident and passionate when it comes to animating. 

As I previously mentioned, my instructor provided feedback on my assignments, making the process of fixing and critiquing my animation more approachable. I was able to learn many animation techniques by dedicating myself to each assignment, and receiving valuable suggestions from a professional. Feedback was submitted in a video format that I could rewatch, and the instructor was able to draw directly on top of my animation to make suggestions and critiques. The feedback I received felt personal, and I was able to apply what was being proposed directly to my animation because of what my instructor showed in the video. Having audio and visual representation for my potential improvements has definitely made me more prepared in revising my animations.

Over both six-week workshops, I was able to meet other students with an interest in animation. Because both sessions were less than ten people, we were able to participate often and get to know one another. I made connections with other students, and received feedback from them when I posted my assignments. In addition, the Animation Mentor campus is essentially a social media application. I can view posts from instructors and professionals talking about animation techniques and news, and I can share my own personal projects for peer feedback. Critiquing the other students’ work also helped me gain animating proficiency as I applied the information I learned in lecture to critique. Providing constructive criticism to one another definitely made me more enthusiastic for making improvements and creating additional drafts of my animations. 

These animation workshops emphasized making revisions and receiving feedback from others on projects. By practicing this throughout my STEP project, I feel that I will be better prepared for any art-centric jobs I apply for in my future. In the industry, creating an animation is a compromise between the artist’s vision, budget, available technology, and the directors’ preference. By revising my work, and receiving feedback from my instructor and peers, I think I am better prepared to work with others and make changes to my work, should I ever be creating projects as commissions or for a regular job. 

Completing this project has made me more confident as an animator. I am always brainstorming new projects that I can work on, and having practice in creating fluid, complicated animations has made my own endeavors more approachable. Specific animations like walk cycles, run cycles, and jumps can be particularly daunting because they are quite dynamic. I feel that having instruction from a professional, like Jay Jackson, has allowed me to understand these concepts on a deeper level and furthermore, I know what resources to look for when I continue learning new processes in the future. Among my personal projects is my involvement with game design at OSU. The 2D animation techniques I have learned with Animation Mentor are ones I can apply to animations I create for game projects. This will make animating for game jams and my own game creation projects much easier. So, not only was my STEP project beneficial in preparing me for an art-centric occupation, but it has made me more confident when working on my personal works of art. 

Below are two examples of animation work I completed, using what I learned from the workshops.

This animation is a study on emotions, using a character that doesn’t use facial expressions. The character is a sack of flour, which is a common object to use for studies of animation.

This animation is a run cycle of an original character I created, with their own personality.

Hi! My name is Courtney Kirby and welcome to my STEP Project Reflection.

Provide a brief description of your Step Signature Project.

For my project, I took sewing lessons with a local institution-the Sewing Hive. There, I learned the basics of hand sewing and operating my machine-which holds a special place in my heart as I inherited it from my late great grandmother. Along from the basics, I was able to advance my skills by learning about pattern making and altering, as well as how to use patterns of all different styles. I took classes where I made shirts, a dress, and learned a new skill called shirring. Additionally, I was able to learn about embroidery and all the different types of stitches that come with it. I worked with a couple different instructors that were all able to introduce me to new special tips & tricks that can be applied to many different projects.

What did you come to understand about yourself while completing your project?

I think the biggest thing I learned from my project was to never let your fear of failing or not being immediately great at a project let you stop from trying. I think I’ve always been hesitant to trying new things because I’m somewhat comfortable with what I know. I have always wanted to learn to sew, but I never took action towards it because I was scared I wouldn’t excel at it, or like it. However, working with this project and learning that I love to sew and I love the feeling of making my own garment taught me so much about how I just need to try. Even though I wasn’t perfect at my first, or even second, attempts, the more I practiced the better it became. I will certainly take this project into consideration next time I’m debating trying something new.

I also believe I came to understand about my learning process. While it was helpful to watch and practice, I think that understanding the process is what really makes the difference for me. I discovered that my brain loves when things are in steps with each step having a clear end goal. I am much better at meeting end results and understand what I’m working towards when I have a clear understanding of the process, as well as the “why” behind it.

What activities inspired the change you described & how did those affect you?

I believe that meeting so many great instructors who all had different input and backgrounds helped me to learn not to stop from trying, but also not to stop from networking & meeting new people. One of the instructors I had grew up and went to school in Great Britain and had tools/techniques that were specific to what was taught there. Another had been sewing her whole life & had a lot of teaching experience and decided to translate that into something she loved. The founder of the Sewing Hive decided one day that she wanted a place to share her passion & worked tirelessly to create the sewing hive. Not only did my specific sewing experiences lead me to be open to trying different things, but these ladies I met did as well. All of them had different experiences that shaped them into who they were & what they were able to teach. It inspired me to try to learn/experience as much as I can in order to not shut myself off from a great possibility.

I also used to cut myself off from meeting new people because I liked my comfort zone, but I think this project prompted me to consider exactly how beneficial making new connections could be. Going into my project I didn’t think that I would be able to connect with these women that had so much to offer, but at the end saw how surprising connections can be-especially if your open to it.

How is this change significant in your life moving forward?

I believe these changes will be very beneficial for my future professional growth. I was already able to translate some of the things I learned while starting as a manager in my job. I was able to find out that I liked a “why” behind what I was doing, and it’s the same with many employees you are working with. Instead of simply giving a task or giving a coaching, my coworkers respond better when they understand the “why” behind what I’m saying-and I’m now careful to add that.

Additionally, I believe that my new understanding around trying new things will keep me open to new job/professional opportunities. It can be hard to move on from a place your are comfortable with and where you know everything-but know that I have come to the conclusion about how fulfilling and exciting learning new skills/being in new experiences can be I will translate that into accepting new opportunities in the future.

Not only will the changes be beneficial for me in mindset viewpoint, but the specific skills I learned and the growth I had with my sewing ability will translate into my professional future because I will be able to look at product through the eyes of having sewing experience & will know what to look for in terms of quality and technique. I believe this will make me a more rounded individual and professional.

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•  Please provide a brief description of your STEP signature project.

In my Step project “Forging my own knife” set I am taking on the long-held tradition of blacksmithing, the art of heating up metals like steel and shaping them with a hammer on an anvil. I set out to make 4 knives. A Santoku, paring knife, utility knife, and an herb chopping knife. All these take place here in Columbus at the Central Ohio School of Metalwork and are led by the shop’s owner Adlai Stein.

•  What about my understanding of myself, my assumptions, or my view of the world changed/transformed while completing my project.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my assumptions on the variety of people in the class, in almost all of my classes I was not the only woman, college-aged student (or younger), nor the only minority taking the classes. It was a wonderful surprise to not feel so singled out when taking these classes, I also wasn’t sure about how the environment would be, especially because I would be going back to the same shop for several weeks. I was concerned that the environment might not be very inclusive considering it is a very white male-dominated activity. But, I was fortunate that I had nothing to worry about, the environment was very welcoming and kind. My world view changed by showing me that I wasn’t the only minors, young, or minority person interested in the art of blacksmithing. I was happy I know that it is not becoming a dying art and is finding a home in new participants all the time continuing on the long tradition.

 I was also presently surprised to know that I was able to learn and adjust easily. Throughout the classes, I picked up on the techniques fairly quickly. I was able to learn from my previous mistakes, and improve the knives I make going forward. For example, my Santoku knife has some dents that I was unable to grind out. That is because I was hitting the metal with the edge off my hammer, creating those deeper dents. For the next project, I worked on that and used a lighter hammer to adjust.

•  What events interactions, relationships, or activities during my STEP signature project led to the changes/transformation that I described in the previous question and how did those affect me explain key aspects of experience that led to change.

I had several relationships and interactions that helped change my perspective, my 1st was with my class teacher Adlai Stein. He was very kind and welcoming and was excited to see another young person excited to learn. After I had taken several classes, he helped guide me and even taught me some things outside the class. Like how to change a belt grinder and invited me to some forging conventions. He is a proud Jewish man and I felt like I could relate to him a bit. We have both experienced discrimination for just being born who we are. We didn’t talk about it in-depth but he did share a personal story with me of his experience. Though it was awful to hear I am glad he shared a bit of his life with me so I could relate to him. He welcomed me back to the forge anytime, which is an offer I will gladly take up.

 He also told me about various other Blacksmithing events that went on around the area. There was an event at his forge that he invited me to that showed demonstrations of different techniques used when working with metal. There was a coal forge, a gas forge, and a casting demonstration. I was intrigued to learn about the different ways to work with metal. The last event that I went to was Quadstate which is closer to my hometown and was essentially a giant convention for blacksmiths. I got to meet my neighbor who started to get me into blacksmithing and also ran into Adlai there. He introduced me to many smiths. He introduced me to several female smiths as well, which ties into what I said previously about not seeing many like me so it was very exciting. There were demonstrations by prop artist Tonny Swatton who designed props for movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, Hook, Men in Black, Thor and many more. It was very fun to see his work and him working. 

Another person that I met at the forge was a young man who also worked in the shop. He was around his mid-20s and was a silversmith. It was cool to see a person around my age already honed into their craft and so good at it. I only met him twice briefly, but it still sticks with me. 

•  Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable to my life why this change matters or relates to my academic personal or professional goals/future.

It’s valuable to me because I know that I’m not alone, my interests don’t typically line up with what many around my age, gender, or ethnicity, typically do or are interested in. So it is nice to know that others like me are beginning to take interest in this craft. This is also related to my major in that I hope to be able to use these skills/knowledge in my degree,  industrial design. This information is also comforting in my major because I can already see that I am in the minority for my major but, I know that I can’t be the only one. There must be others like me even if I don’t see them immediately.