Unexpected Confession...

My night of graduation was probably a big jumble of emotions and feelings I was having all through the day almost ending depressed by news of something I wish I didn't actually hear sense I already knew... And to know others felt the same crushed me. But! That same night a confession was bestowed upon me. A close friend of mine I've had for almost 3 years told me something I never expected to hear... Its something I've would've never thought she ever tell me but she did...it's crazy because I've always wanted this but now I'm stuck at a point if I should pursue or restrain myself from the subject. I'm honestly just in shock of the whole situation...this is something I never thought be reality and to hear that it's true makes me riled with such great emotions I can do nothing but smile! I'm honestly in a positive mindset now more so than ever! This friend gave me something I've never expected ever in the world to happen to me but it did and I can do nothing but smile... Now should I take on this endeavor or should I stray away and keep it simple to how it was before... I'm not sure i feel time and a few days of interaction should settle this choice... But all I know is this is most definitely a situation only I've encountered in a dream that some how came true... Idk what to call it but hey I feel if you live positive positive things will happen and that's what I intend to continue to do! (^.^)

Whats next now?...

What's next after graduation... Now that's the question on my mind, now that the day has finally come. Looking back on my High School career I've learned that I didn't do much. A lot of it was honestly stupid immature mistakes I should've never even thought of committing. I got lost in so many things I wound up losing myself... But! I then discovered myself as soon as I walked into my senior year. I was put in an amazing class with a teacher who asked me what I wanted to do with myself an art teacher who always believed in me and gained new friends and reconnected with old ones. This year was a life changing experience I feel I grew so much this year I can touch the sky! Graduation is a bitter sweet moment but at least I got to see all my friends graduate with me and spend time with people who truly are my friends and make me happy. I look at graduation as a start to my Journey... Everyone has a journey and I feel mine is just beginning... At this moment in time I feel its time to stop the talking and start working!... So as from now on... The future is my canvas and all I'm going to do is paint it!

Literature Analysis #6 Fiction: The Sorrows of Young Weather

     This story starts with a man moving after losing the love of his life. He decided to move to a rural town and focus on his painting and try to forget about his lost love. His plans did not go so well as he planned a few days after his arrival into his new town. He cones across a girl who he falls in love with. Days go by and they both started dating and so on. The girl had a fiancé but she still would go out with him to take walks and things like that. she made him think that he had a chance with her but in the end she went on and got married anyway. For him that was just too much and he committed suicide. This book was in some part confusing because the book was all created with letters that were wrote to a friend.

            The point of the book was in a way confusing because there was always too much going on with the story but I think that the author wanted to let the reader know that no matter how much you may love someone you can't force them to feel the same. And the more you run from your fears the more they come back to haunt you.

Literature Analysis #5 Fiction: In Country

      The main character in this book is Sam a 17 year old that lost his dad in the Vietnam War and because her mom got re-married she felt her alone. Her mother move away but she let her keep the house and her uncle Emmitt moved in with her. She had a pretty good life until one day she decided to go to the veteran memorial.  Sam wanted to find out who she was. She felt like she had no identity so she wanted to find out more stuff about the Vietnam War and her father. During summer she decided to go to the Vietnam memorial, during the trip she noticed a lot of things about herself and the world. She started to mature and become a young adult. Once they arrived at the memorial she was surprised at how huge the wall was. For her this was it, the memorial meant everything to her. When she started looking for her dad's names a man helped her find it and she finally understood everything and felt that she can continue with her life.

                             The theme that goes through out the book is on how Sam tries to find herself and how the Vietnam War affected her life. I think the author wrote this book to bring comfort to those people that were affected by the war and how its hard to deal with the loss of a loved one you feel shouldn't have left yet.

Literature Analysis #4 Fiction Montana 1948

   

     Montana 1948 is a story told by the memories of David. When he is telling the story he goes back to the moment and tells the story as if it were happening. The story takes place in Mercer County, Montana. Where he lives with his Dad Wesley and his mother. Frank is the sheriff of the small town where they live and his mother Gail, which works at the court house across from there house. The story starts when David remembers his childhood and how the house keeper one day got really sick and died. She first got really sick and because she was an Indian she would not allow them to take her to the hospital. David always cared for her on her last days til she passed. Since the day that she died everything change, soon after Wesley's brother got accused of a crime and because he was the sheriff he had to decide how he was going to punish his own brother. For Wesley this decision was really hard because he had to arrest his own brother, he decided to go and tell his parents first so they would not be alarmed when he was to arrest his brother, because his brother was the favorite of the family. Gail wanted Wesley to arrest his brother and give him the punishment that he deserved but, Wesley didn’t want to because that was his brother… Wesley's mother couldn’t look at the situation the same and she died. Wesley decided to arrest his brother and after that he could not take it the same way and decided to resign. Everything change in the family, Wesley never spoke to his dad again and Gail never loved Wesley the same. At the end Wesley then suffers from a heart attack.

     I believe the author wanted to show how people that protect us like Sheriff Wesley make tough decisions that they have to live with for the rest of their lives. In the case of Wesley he had to arrest his own brother, because he did his duty as an officer and sacrificed his reputation with his wife and family for justice. From this book I learned that no matter what justices needs to be served and it’s better to lose everything you have, but at least  know that you did what you needed to do.

Masterpiece Acadamy Essay

     From walking into this class I knew from the get go it was going to be interesting, especially after seeing the Graffiti on the wall. This class has helped me grow not just academically, but grown up a lot more in life. This class has helped me understand what it is I need to do to to progress in my future and how to take on life's endeavors. My thinking and writing skills have changed immensely in so many ways from thinking about what I wanted to do after the school day to now thinking what I need to do after high school its self. This class has thrown reality into my face giving me something we all as students lack, which is the truth.

     In this class I was given the respect of a colleague rather than a student, which in my opinion felt more accepting than an average student. I felt more willing to open up and express more of myself, because our instructor Dr. Preston looked at us all individually equal. He let us speak when we felt we should and gave feed back when asked or needed. I took this as opportunities to get information and even opinions on subjects I wanted to do in life. Every time I spoke to Dr. Preston about my art it seemed he always had something to comment or put out that caught my attention from a professional stand point. I felt more willing to have a conversation with him about my art more than a regular teacher just because of the fact that he looked at me as someone more than just a student, which made me feel more welcomed in his class.

     Connecting with a passion was easy do to the fact that I was always already connected to my art and music but something happened this school year that dramatically shifted my whole thinking of what my passions were. Although I've had a love for both art and music and always believing music was my true passion. I came across something I always knew I was good at but never took professionally I serious. That was my art, my art honestly as I have discovered is my true passion. I love music but that's just fun to do as a hobby as a profession how ever I see so many outlets in art. Some coming from clothing brand designs to graffiti murals on the streets. I reconnected with old ideas and found out the reasons behind my art and what art truelt means to me which is deeper than most could understand. If you know me, you know my art is never complete, I always draw and always will. My art skills will continue to progress as I take the steps to better myself and get ready for the art industry. How will I do so you ask?... Well just by drawing and creating art pieces to expose to the world, can't display art if you got nothing to show.

     Something about this course that honestly made me laugh out loud was the straight up honesty of our instructor Dr. Preston. I don't mean this in a bad way that he was rude or brutally honest, he just always answered with the truth or a wise word to get you thinking more. He always seemed to have an extra seed of creativity if you needed it. He always told us what we should and need to know not just what we're suppose too. I learned a lot from Dr. Preston, even in ways if confidence and how to deal with and carry myself. I've noticed the maturity level of myself increase from being in his class and I'm honestly just happy to say I met a teacher who knows what's up.

     Two individuals that stood out in their presentations to me were Jorge Garcia and Andrew Alcazar. Jorge displaying his passion for break dancing while Andrew talks about his love for music and poetry. Both of these guys explain there passions in detail and as they carry on I can do nothing but smile and just think in my head how much we can relate. For one being with Jorge he was a break dancer and he explains how once you stop its hard to get back in it and I should know after being a dedicated breaker all through junior high til I met a girl before my freshman year. And Andrew as he explains his passions of music and poetry which I love both subjects completely! Music of coarse being a big love of mine and poetry also being another hidden hobby of mine. I love listening to music and writing lyrics or poetry, because what ever you put down holds meaning to you in some form of way. It all is you in a sense. Three other students I must say have displayed a lot in there presentations are Jacob Caldwell with his Endocrinology, Veronica Cavasos with her entertainment industry dreams, and Daniel Alvarez with his cooking passion. All three of each one of these individuals displayed what I most definitely can see as passion. As I hear Jacob talk about his knowledge on fitness and muscle training I can do nothing but be amazed by how much hard work goes into just sculpting a body just like sculpting a piece of art out of stone. In Veronicas you can see it that the entertainment industry has always been a big thing in her mind and she displays it well with her quick cover song game showing how there's a lot of discrimination in the entertainment industry do to truth behind publicity. And also Daniel with his presentation on cooking. He brings to clan some food he whipped up just for the class to enjoy as he explains his passion for cooking. As I hear him carry on all I think of is me and how I feel after I produce my art he talks about how so much hard work goes into making something that is only other for a short amount of time it makes me think of my art like graffiti how an artist cab take up all this time to produce a dope piece to have it getting cleaned up or painted over a few days after being produced. Its a bitter sweet moment knowing your creation is gone but the fact that you did something amazing that at least a hand full of people enjoyed then that's what makes it all worth it.

     As for me, I'm far from being known as a hero but stepping out my boundaries and doing some things different with my art I have done. I've spoken to people about needed an artist for higher for events and such and have put it out there and are already getting hit up to commission art pieces and murals for people like my friends dad who wants me to paint a 49ers mural in his house or the Moose Lodge wanting me to paint stuff for them when they have special events. I've also done major step ups in the clothing brans aspect taking matters finally into my own hands. Me and a cousin of mine have tried developing a clothing brand but he continues to push off the project while I sit here with fresh drawings ready to be made into clothing designs. I finally got fed up and found someone interested in my designs and my ideas on a brand and that's Xavier Navarro. It's funny because just last year in our music history class me and Xavier joked about collaborating on a clothing brand when we presented as two heads if a clothing brand known as "Underground Kings" I couldn't do anything but feel nothing but complete excitement over what was happening before my eyes with our clothing brand ideas. At this point I just want to quit talking about it and start doing it!
    
    

    
    
    

Literature Analysis #3 Fiction Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

1. Catcher in the Rye is about a 16 year old boy named Holden Caulfield who is
just getting expelled out of Pencey Prep School in Agerstown, Pennsylvania. Which is now the fourth school he has failed out of. He begins to get himself ready to leave for Manhattan, but before he leaves, he first visits his old history teacher, Mr. Spencer to say goodbye. Mr. Spencer tries to talk to Holden about his poor grades which began to annoy him. Holden goes back to his dorm room where he is further irritated by his dirty neighbor, Ackley and his roommate, Stadlater. Stradlater goes out on a date with a girl named Jane Gallagher who Holden use to talk to and still cared about. Holden stresses over the subject until Stradlater comes back to Holden questioning him constantly about the date, insisting Stradlater tried sleeping with Jane. Stradlater began to tease Holden until he got mad and tried fighting Stradlater but fails and leaves Pencey with a blooding nose. He heads for Manhattan although he's not suppose to leave until Wednesday which is 3 days away. He leaves early and stays in a hotel without his parents knowing. On the train to New York, Holden meets the mom to one of his classmates at Pencey. Yet he doesn't liken this student, he goes on with made up stories about how shy the woman's son is and how respected he is. He goesbto a phone booth, when he arrives at Penn Station and decides on multiple people to call but then doesn't call anyone after all. He gets in a cab and asks the driver where the ducks in central park go in the winter, but he gets annoyed response. He checks in at the Edmont Hotel. In his room he notices a lot of weird things people were doing in there rooms as he stares out his window. After smoking a fee cigarettes, Holden calls Faith Cavendish, someone he has never met, but got their number from a guy at Princeton. He thinks he remembers hearing she was a stripper and tries to get her to come over and sleep with him. She tries to arrange a meet the next day but Holden couldn't wait that long so before they could set a time he ended the call. He goes down to the Lavender room where he comes across waiter who refuses to serve him alcohol and flirts with three woman who seem like they're from out of town who are mainly interested in spotting a celebrity. He ends up dancing with one of the ladies and later pays their tab. As he leaves the lobby he begins to remanus on how he met Jane Gallagher. Holden leaves the Edmont and heads to Ernie's Jazz Club where he runs into Lillian Simmons, one of his brother's ex-girlfriends which invites him to sit with her and her date. Holden makes an excuse to leave and walks back to Edmont. He comes across Maurice an elevator operator who sends a prostitute to Holden's room for five dollars. A young woman who goes by the name Sunny arrives, she gets undressed but Holden gets uneven about the situation and stirs up a conversation instead. He comes up with an excuse that he can't fully have sexual activity do to a spinal operation but still pays her the five dollars. After trying to persuade him, he sends her off with five dollars only to have her come back with Maurice demanding for another five dollars. Holden refuses and gets punched, while Sunny takes the extra 5 dollars out his wallet And then leaves Holden to eventually go to bed. Holden gets up and calls Sally Hayes, a girl he dated in the past to arrange a meet at a Broadway show. He has breakfast at a sandwich shop where he has a conversation about Romeo and Juliet with two Nuns and gives them ten dollars. He takes a cab to central park, hoping to run into his little sister Phoebe, but runs into her classmate instead. He helps tighten their skate then they tell Holden Phoebe might be at the Museum of Natural History. He ends up heading to the Biltmore Hotel to meet Sally instead. They head to the play then go to Radio city to ice skate. They sit down at a table where Holden expresses to Sally why he is unhappy at school and tries to get her to run away with him to Massachusetts or Vermont and live in a log cabin. She refuses which he calls her a "pain in the ass" and laughs at her anger. Holden tried to apologize but Sally left without listening. Holden cals his old student advisor from the Whooton School, Carl Luce, who now attends Columbia University to meet for a drink after dinner. Holden goes to movie at Radio City to kill time, then meets Luce at the Wick Bar in the Seton Hotel. Holden tries to bring up an old conversation he heard Luce talk about and tried bringing it up but Luce just got annoyed with Holden and excuses himself leaving Holden who continues to drink his Scotch while listening to the music from the pianist and singer in the bar. Holden makes a drunk call to Sally Hayes where they talk about their Christmas Eve plans. He tries to find the lagoon in the Central Park where he use to watch the ducks when he was little but didn't find it, until it got too cold. He decides to sneak into his house to wake up his sister Phoebe, where she forces him to admit that he was kicked out of school, which she gets mad about. He tries to explain why he hates school, but she just says he doesn't like anything. He goes on about this fantasy of being "the catcher in the rye," a person who catches children as they fall from a cliff. Phoebe explains how he misunderstood the poem when it says "If a body meet a body, coming through the rye," not "catch a body." Holden calls then heads to his former English teacher, Mr. Antolini, where he asks Holden about his expulsion and tries to give him advice about his future. Holden ends up asleep on Mr. Antilini's couch and leaves quick the next morning and winds up asleep for a few hours on a bench at Grand Central Station. Holden heads to Phoebe's school with a note saying they should meet at the museum at lunch. When Phoebe comes, she has a suit case filled with clothes and asks him to take her too. He refuses then walks her to the zoo and takes her to ride the carousel. It begins to rain but Holden is too happy watching his sister ride the carousel it almost brought him to tears. Holden ends the story telling the reader that he is not going to tell how he got sick. He plans to attend a new school in autumn and is very optimistic about his future.

2. The theme is just the hardships of life for a young teenage boy having to deal with the constant irritation of reality.

3. In the story Holden says "the best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody'd move... Nobody'd be different. The only thing that would be different would be you." I can see his tone, because in this excerpt he displays a very optimistic view on how everything stays the same in the museum except the people who come to it. Another, is when Holden says "... I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all." In this passage it shows he chooses to deal with the reality of his own mind rather than the world.

Characterization:

1. There's a lot of forms of indirect characterization in the book, like when Holden lies to his classmates mom about their reputation at school or how he responds after the prostitute undresses. There is also many forms of direct characterization when Holden goes on about his fantasy as the catcher in the rye or how he always asks the can drivers about the ducks.

2. The author's syntax or diction doesn't really change because  the main character is narrating the whole story.

3. The protagonist is a static and flat character, because he just think the same and feels the same through out the book and doesn't offer much change or difference in the story.

4. One example that makes me feel like I met a person is when Holden has a conversation with Spencer in chapter 2, "Life is a game, boy the rules." "Yes, sir. I know it is. I know it." Game my ass, all right I'll admit that. But if you get on the other side where there aren't any hot-shots, then what's a game about it? Nothing. No game." From this example I can see Holden is a deep thinker and focuses on the reality of life challenges and how they can't always be fare. Shows to me he has a better understanding of life then most.

Literature Analysis #2 Nonfiction: The Lean Start Up by Eric Ries

Topic/Events:

1. My book is called "The Lean Startup," by Eric Ries. This book is honestly an entrepreneurship guide for creating successful businesses. Although I have not completed the book, I can definitely say so far in the book I've discovered that it's all based on this one business idea and all the stories in the book are represented as examples of success stories. The book is more than just a guide. In my opinion, if you want entrepreneurship broken down in a more simpler form for you to understand, this book is the best way to go.

2. I believe the author wrote about this business idea known as the Lean Startup to get out to the public. His idea is based off of a new idea of business using customer feedback as a bases behind their work. And I think his message is to spread the word on such a smart business solution.

3. What got me from the get go into reading this book, was the bright royal blue cover, it stood out to me on the floor of my cousin's room. She let me borrow it after reading the back of the book cover and discovering it's a book about entrepreneurship. This book stirred my curiosity so much that I'm hooked on this new idea of business.

4. I found the book to be very realistic do to the fact that the author behind the book is from Silicon Valley and is one of the creators behind the 3D interactive media site, IMVU. Which is funny, because I remember seeing the commercials of the IMVU site when Myspace.com was still the cool social media site.

People:

1. The author didn't create any characters, it seems his interpretation is all on their observations and experience. He writes basically on what happens and doesn't hold back. This book is for pure information and guidance.

2. For one, Eric Ries the author is one character in this book, because he narrates the whole book and uses his past experience with the Lean Startup as his primary example. Another is Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingi which are credited with the development of the lean manufacturing revolution at Toyota.

3. What makes these people interesting is their business stories. Like all great entrepreneurs, they each had hits and misses through out their careers. But they always focused on the learning aspect of business. Discovering that to produce a great product people want, you have to run tests with the people to figure out what ideas fit or not while  learning to build a better product. Learning is the key to the whole Lean Startup process.

Style:

1. The author used a journalistic style, because through out the book he talks about the Lean Startup through examples of past success stories. He just writes what he has learned about it and how to go about it.

2. The author focuses more on the subject of the Lean Startup and how it works. The author breaks down the idea into multiple sections; part 1 Vision, part 2 Steer, and part 3 Accelerate, with smaller sections in between each part to break it down in more detail. The overall effect is to get the reader to understand the concept of the lean startup and how it works.

3. He doesn't really use much to demonstrate tone or create a mood, the book just goes back to the lean startup and it's examples. But you can definitely read the author's enthusiasm, because every time he explains a story, he breaks it down to show how the lean startup works for every story and how it can always be applied to any subject.

4. The author's attitude toward the subject of the book, I would describe as informative with real life experience to back it up and make it more interesting. You can tell the author is excited to express the lean startup, because it's a great success plan for any business or entrepreneur trying to expand their thinking.

5. The author offers tons of lean startup success stories ranging from big companies like Toyota to smaller internet based companies like Turbo Tax and IMVU. These success stories set the standard that the lean startup is much more than just a business idea, it's real life thing bring used and put to work everyday. In a way you can say pretty much these success stories were needed to prove a point and they did just that.

Enduring Memory:

     The things I expect to remember from this book is the concept of entrepreneurship and the idea of the lean startup. The lean startup makes so much sense to me, as an artist it gives me ideas on how to go about my art in a more business matter. I've figured our I can use my art as a product to revenue money, because not everyone can draw but everyone loves art. If I give the people my art skills and just charge them a fee for my work then it's all working our with me.

Literature Analysis #1 Nonfiction: Banksy Wall and Peace

Topic/Events:

1. My book is about a very unknown yet very famous Graffiti artist who call himself "Banksy" from London in the United Kingdom. Banksy is one of the most influential and most well spoken artists in the Graffiti world. His style consists of stencil work mainly, but he is indeed an artist. He writes his many messages related to religion, politics, and much much more. He tries to emphasize the reality of our society and at times mocks it just to prove a point of what's going on around us. The whole book is basically pictures and side notes to the subjects and reasons behind or related to the pictures. The pictures are all of Banksy's art, and each piece has it's own message. In a way coming from a Graffiti artist, I read a page each time I see a picture of Banksy's work. You have to read and decipher the piece to understand the message.

2. I'm not sure if why Banksy's wrote this book exactly, but from what I can see, it's just a book displaying his art work in the streets and speaking on behalf of his views of each subject and piece inside the book. It's all coded messages meant to bring reality to humanity.

3. I chose this book basically because I think Banksy is one of the best Graffiti artists of all time and to know he has a book, got me hooked. what appealed to me the first time I saw the book was the back cover when it says, "There's no way you're going to get a quote from us to use on your book cover." -Metropolitan Police spokesperson. This quote made me laugh, because it displays a sense of humor that Banksy has. What really made me want to keep reading the book was the fact that it's a book written by Banksy so I have to read it. I also read it to understand and observe his style of Graffiti art.

4. Yes, I found the book very realistic, do to the fact that everything is based off a real Graffiti artist's work and these pieces were done in the streets of real cities and places. I made a lot of connections in this book. Honestly this book just gave me and even bigger reason to carry on with my art and continue spreading the message of Graffiti, because we both share the same views on the subject of Graffiti. When you read the last paragraph of the first passage in the book Banksy says, "Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place." I feel completely the same.

People:

1. There wasn't any characters necessarily, more of just articles on events and things that were related to the pieces in the pictures. I think Banksy wrote this book to express his work like he does on the streets, he just wanted to speak his opinion and display his art. Banksy's tone through out the book was very sarcastic yet informative. His choice of words grab your attention, like what he says in the back of the book on his advice for painting with stencils he writes, "mindless vandalism can take a bit of thought."

2. There wasn't any characters, but Banksy did explain why he used different animals and figures in his art like the rats. On page 95 he explains saying, "they exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted. They live in quiet desperation amongst the filth. And yet they are capable of bringing entire civilizations to their knees. If you are dirty, insignificant, and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model."

4. When I finished the book I felt like I was in the mindset of a true genius. Everything Banksy displayed and wrote influenced me and got me thinking in so many ddifferent ways. It was like a Graffiti enlightenment and I was just handed a bible from the Graffiti Gods!

Style:

1. They used a lot of symbolism, not just in his writing, but in his art. A lot of pictures or I should say all of them displayed symbolism to represent a reason behind the piece. But the author did take a journalistic approach by expressing his views and article backing up his opinion, like when he talked about the segregation wall in Palestine on page 136.

2. The author doesn't describe too much only when the piece has a good enough back story, like the story behind his piece work of the revolutionary icon Che Guevara on the bridge over Portobello road in West London. He pretty much focuses on events and places rather than people. It makes the book a little more informative and more interesting in my opinion.

3. His main tools he uses to demonstrate the tone or mood is his sarcasm and ironic Graffiti pieces. It's pretty much all about his art, most of the art is sarcastic and ironic in many ways. He does use personification like in his piece where it shows a monkey and inside the monkey it says, "laugh now but one day we'll be in charge."

4. I think the author's attitude towards the subject in his art pieces are to either inform or make fun of. Most of the art is based on humor.

5. The author talks about many subjects in time and history that happened like the segregation of Palestine or the corrupt president Ceausescu of Romania.

Enduring Memory:

     Something I'll remember from this book is the idea and vision Banksy left me with when I read him say, "Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw where ever they liked. Where every street was awash with with a million colors and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall-it's wet." This passage speaks to me in so many ways. It speaks of my vision, my idea of a perfect community. A city that enjoys art so much it paints itself over night every night. Beauty in disguise, the true essence of Graffiti.

Beginnings

My masterpiece is doing a lot if things for me. It's helping me build a resume and art portfolio I can use in the future. I'm learning more about the technical side of the art industry. But most of all I'm getting the chance to better my art skills and be able to show what I can offer. Ever since I was a little kid I never knew what I wanted to do in the future or be, but I always knee what I wanted to do at the moment. I always loved creating things, building, drawing, you name it. My mind was filled with curiosity, still is. But I was always curious about what I would do in the future. One thing I knew for sure is it wasn't going to be ordinary. Looking back at those moments I realize art is that out of ordinary thing that I can do. My masterpiece has given me a new light to things I didn't think were possible, but they can happen, if you put in the time and effort. So right now it's crunch time. I just finished 24 complete art pieces I had to submit for my  ap studio art portfolio. On top of that I submitted 5 pieces of art to be critiqued by top art schools and art critics. Not to mention getting asked to paint pieces of art for people and getting paid for it, is kind of nice.

Excerpt from "Banksy, Wall and Piece"

"Imagine a city where graffiti wasn't illegal, a city where everybody could draw wherever they liked. Where every street was awash with a million colours and little phrases. Where standing at a bus stop was never boring. A city that felt like a party where everyone was invited, not just the estate agents and barons of big business. Imagine a city like that and stop leaning against the wall - it's wet."

This little excerpt right here explains exactly my reason behind my art! I express my art to beautify the community and to promote that graffiti is beautiful and it should be expressed as a form of making our community better not just for the rich but for the actual community. We all love art, why not express it and turn these blank boring walls into works of art for everyone to enjoy?! I don't know about you... But, if I saw graffiti all over a city it make me want to live there. Then again I am a Graffiti artist.

Connections

I can't really say I experienced a lot of things that reminded me much of my masterpiece or inspiration for my art. One thing I can think of is collaborating on ideas with Xavier Navarro on clothing brand designs and meanings. It almost seemed as if we understood exactly what we were both going for. He wants to start up a dope clothing brand that represents the upcoming of success of the growth to becoming an "Undrground King". Someone who came from the streets and rose up to the top. And what art medium is most suited to represent underground style than Graffiti?! So that's where I come in drawing up designs for his vision while we both establish and live the message we are trying to send. Which is said in this quote written by Xavier Navarro. "An Undrground King is someone who's on their way to the top. They Work their Ass Off just to get Noticed. Anyone can be Great, but to be the Best you must First become an Undrground King." Which basically means you have to establish yourself first with your audience, go to the streets, speak to the people and communicate and collaborate. Our message is to bring the reality of creativity and the strive for success back to life. One day we'll be "Undrground Kings" and people will understand the message that we bring.

Design

The physical, structural, and cultural elements of my learning environment/s should be hacked in many ways. But in one is finding the space to sit in peace and draw my art. I can draw anywhere I find comfortable which is most places. The environment isn't necessarily what I need for success. It's all about time in my opinion.

Response to raising a moral child article

Raising a moral child, is probably the biggest subject in child development today, because it seems as the generations move on parental habits on raising their children have changed as well. I can definitely relate to this article, because I experienced both the calm, cool, and collected parent that never physically punished me or did or said things to depleat my motivation. But I have also experienced the highly stressed out, impatient, and abusive  parent as well which has made impacts in my past that I do at times struggle with now. The reason why I say this is basically because my parents grew up differently than each other. So both have their own view on parenting, but only one is right. As I read the article I could do nothing but constantly look back at myself and see how I was raised by my parents. My up bringing was pretty interesting do to the fact that my parents are divorced, but I experienced two types of parents. One being my Dad, now my dad is a calm and very easy going person he grew up with both his parents together so his upbringing was more stable. While my Mom, she was a bit more of the opposite and grew up with a single mother and a father who left his family for another. So looking back at my parents pasts I begin to realize a pattern. From my Dad I see more acceptance and understanding, someone who will watch you fall but as soon as you hit the ground they pick you up and tell you "you see, that's why you have to pay attention." My dad never hit me or my sisters or ever displayed any reason to want to hit us, he rather use other punishment techniques like grounding or taking the phone away. While my mom was more impatient and hot headed, she always seemed more stressed out and too focused on making money and giving material things than showing love or effection. She always got mad over the littlest things and at times me and my sisters had to pay for the mistakes some way, either through word of mouth or slap/punch to the shoulder. The reason why I bring up these examples is because through out this article how to raise a moral child, I think they forgot one key element. And that's raising a child doesn't start with the child it starts with the parents and their history of how they were being parented at the time which I have constantly heard that we kids of our day got it "easy." Which I can agree with but I don't believe is a bad thing. Because reasons for discipline were more physical and stern than they are now. I think raising a moral child is simple as long as you show the child and teach them to understand good common values and to respect and love one another, especially themselves, then I think the child will be fine. But if the child lacks any of these qualities it maybe a point of concern and the parents should try and figure out the problem and help their child learn to understand and deal with the solution. Life is a constant struggle but without a good set of parental guidance you won't be able to understand the true reality and meaning of life unless the parents learn themselves to deal and cope with their past upbringings and how to make their children have a better life than they had. All in all, it all starts with the parents to raise a good moral child you must first learn to understand your own childhood and make changes on how things should be handled from how they wetmre in your past. Because history has a tendency to repeat itself, I should know.

First Art Show! :D

Just earned my first certificate for participation in my first art show! I feel very accomplished and proud to have taken part in this show. I may not have won anything but the fact that I got my art out there and shown to the public is all that matters to me.

Is There An Expert In The House?

Thinking about my masterpiece project and what its about I come across the question on who or what is considered an expert in such a very open subject like Street Art and Graffiti. But I've come to learn in the Graffiti world the expert is the artist. You don't have to be a huge world famous artist to be an expert in Graffiti, as long as you have a great can control method, a quick hand for fast pace work, and the will and drive to write where ever seems relevant for you and your reputation status to be expressed. It's pretty simple to become a Graffiti expert but its another story to become a real "Writer". "Writing" is what Graffiti is mainly known for; tagging, bombing, writing, getting up, all these terms basically mean getting out and putting yourself or your "name" out there into the world for everyone to see and know who you are. The reason why I say anyone can become an expert in Graffiti but its a different story to becoming an expert in writing is because you need to have experience in writing to become an expert. You have to have done the dirty work; hopping fences, scaling walls, hanging from bridges/billboards, just going the distance to put yourself out there. I know artists who will go the distance and I know those who stray to the side and watch. Writing is illegal but it has an ongoing itch that seems to never be scratched. The more and more you go out running with a can wedged between your jeans and boxers or jacket pocket trying to cover that can from being seen and having to run or hide when you suspect "The Man" is around. It sends you a huge dose of adrenaline that leaves a rush you can't find doing anything else, it feels so good doing something that seems so wrong to most but not to yourself. No one will ever understand the expertise of Graffiti. The only way to find out is going out and trying it. (Which I don't recommend you try) But what I do recommend is going around your community and getting to know your Graffiti underworld. Every city or town has one some where and once it's found, admire it and focus on it. Read the Graffiti and try to understand what the artist is conveying, the answer may surprise you.

"Doesn't This Just Make You Smile?"

I'm not sure what caused me to create this drawing but I love cartoonism and the cartoon style of professional Street Artist duo Dads and Myla which I will be posting a resource on more information about these artists. But this piece is just an infusion of ideas from other artists added with my own. I love this piece a lot and can't help but smile in joy over the very uplifting cartoon character. With it's simple quote "Doesn't This Just Make You Smile?". Comment your thoughts on my work I love hearing feed back and be honest, I don't mind a true opinion, it's the best way to go.

Resource Notes #6 #withsyria

http://digg.com/video/banksy-with-syria-video?utm_source=nextdraft&utm_medium=email
 
I was just exposed to this video of a collaboration with political graffiti artist Banksy, Idris Elba, Cristiano Ronaldo and other celebrities coming together to put this visual exposing the crisis of Syria through Banky's graffiti art work. This is so dope because it shows Graffiti being used for its purpose in a good way to help support and bring to the public about the seriousness of the crisis in Syria. Must watch most definitely!

Resource Notes #5, Breaking Bad Graffiti

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BwN91itBhc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

This little graffiti video masterpiece is of two of the UK's biggest Graffiti artists Aroe MSk and AVK1 doing a commissioned art video to promote the new Breaking Bad DVD. So for all you Breaking Bad fans who haven't heard about this DVD, well your welcome. The reason behind this video is because Graffiti art is more than just paint on a wall we could use graffiti as a way of promoting or advertising to the public just like what the producers of Breaking Bad did. So next time you see a graffiti piece ask yourself this question. What is the artist trying to convey or tell me?... The answer may surprise you.

Library Art

If anyone is around the Santa Maria Town Center Mall area go take a quick cross over the street to the library to check out these bad boys created by yours truly, in the Shepard Hall Art Show. Which will be open til the 26th of this month. I'm not the only artist in this show, other students from Righetti and other schools through Santa Maria have art pieces in this show, so I highly recommend anyone to take a quick trip and check out the art show, you won't regret it! The show is usually open around the same time the library is. Which is mon-thurs from 10am-8pm, fri-sat from 10am-6pm, and sunday they're closed, it's located in the Shepard Hall but for a bit more help for those whomay have some trouble finding the show. As soon as you walk into the library look left. Thanks for the support. :D