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A Roundup of Junior Year

Location: Manila, Philippines

Ahhh, Junior Year. It’s been 3 years already being a college student. It’s a great time to look back at what went well and didn’t in the past 2 semesters. My Junior Year was filled with ups and downs, happy moments and disappointments, and of course a lot of sleepless nights and work. I got to meet so many talented people and made new friends (thanks to electives), work with a lot of new tools and softwares, initiate to lead people, attended different events and seminars, work in a company and see how life works outside the campus. Looking back, it has been a heck of an awesome year.

Here’s a little recap of how my junior year went:

Choosing what elective –  Photography, VMA, Fashion, Game Development etc. These are some electives you can choose from. I’m glad I was able to get my chosen electives and learned a lot (Thanks to my professor Sir Norman!). For 2 semester, you are required to choose one elective you want and I suggest pick what you really want and should help you in doing your chosen thesis for next year.

First semester: Photography, Packaging, Exhibition Design, Visual Merchandising Arts, and Web Design.

Second semester: Advertising Simulation, Photography, Fashion, Events, and Game Development.

Met talented people – I am grateful to meet creative and talented people from my batch. seeing my block mates excel from different fields opened new insights, perspective and opinions that helped me as an artist and student.

New school year, new software to learn – This year, I enjoyed learning to use various adobe creative suite like Dreamweaver and Muse from web design class. Animate, Indesign, Premiere Pro, and After Effects from my game development and production electronics media class.

Events, seminar, musical, concert, you name it! – Though my schedule is busy and the events might not always sound super appealing, attending various events might help inspire you and learn new stuff outside the classroom. It can re-energize you from your daily routine of academics.

Cutting? Cutting. – During junior year, a lot of work load will come and sometimes you cannot manage your time. I remember when too much work led me to skip class or orientation just to finish that certain plate/s.

Life of an Intern – We also held our On-the-job training where I tried to work for 2 companies but later transfer due to clashing of schedule. A Japanese and a Western animation studio. It gave me a different perspectives when it comes to animation and the industry.

OJT hunting was fun! going to various places just to walk-in or even get an interview, waiting for an email response every hour, overjoyed expression when a company responded from your emails, Weekly consultation with your adviser then heading to your company. These are some moments I could remember but it taught me a lot of experience and environment on the animation industry.

A few more days and senior year will start, how time passes quickly. Cheers to meeting more amazing people, making new friends, trying out new things and mistakes (and learning from them), sleepless days and nights and making the most out of my thesis year.

It’s going to be a rollercoaster ride.

Photos by Kara Cabarle, Jae Valencia, Gyanna Yumping, UST COMACH – CFAD Unit and me

The College that Never Sleeps

Location: Manila, Philippines

Beside the bars of España Gate lies the olden “Beato Angelico Building”, known for its famous name, College of Fine Arts and Design or CFAD. It currently sits near the España Boulevard and along the delicious and affordable food that lines the perimeter outside the campus. The college does not only occupy the whole establishment, yet rather, another art (and science) course, College of Architecture, partakes half of the structure. And because of this, both of the art courses has certainly formed a friendly bond among its students for untold ages.

The College was once from the College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA) founded in 1946, which in turn descended from the College of Architecture in 1930 and the College of Fine Arts and Design in 2000.

In 1785, the Dominicans made the first attempt to invest in art and painting with academic value and formal presence. They re-established their fine arts school with the primary goal of meeting the ever-present and increasing demand for good Catholic artists in 1935. Thus became one of the Estudios de Adorno that existed in the University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila, and Colegio de San Juan de Letran. From 1935 to 1939, students may choose from the first two areas specialization, Interior Design and Public School Arts. 

Timeline of UST College of Fine Arts and Design:

1935.  Opening of the Fine Arts Department.

1936. Produced the first three (3) graduates in Fine Arts (BFA).

1946. Opening of the School of Architecture and Fine Arts (two departments combined into a school, separate from the Faculty of Engineering).

1952. Opening of the Department of Painting and Sculpture (under Prof. Francisco Monti).

1954. Interior Design offered for the first time.

1958. Produced first graduates in BFA major in Interior Design and Advertising Arts.

1974. A two-year certificate course in Commercial Arts and in Furniture Design and Construction Supervision were also offered.

1973. College of Architecture and Fine Arts Batch 1973.

1978. Industrial Design was added to these programs. 

2000. Separation of the College into two-the College of Architecture (CA) and the College of Fine Arts and Design (CFAD). 

2003.  Transfer of the two Colleges to the Beato Angelico Building.

Sources:

http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/university_of_santo_tomas_college_of_fine_arts_and_design#Administrators

HISTORY OF THE COLLEGE

Photos by ustarchitecture and Arthur Castro

Balancing Life and Art

Location: Manila, Philippines

Many artists seems to have little trouble juggling schoolwork and making art. Dividing their time and attention between personal stuff, school stuff, hobbies, taking a nap, socializing and many more. Well in my case, as a fine arts student, allocating time for plates, doing paperwork and research, personal stuff etc. can be frustrating and tiring. If you’re a busy student, whether in an art or non-art related field of study, this may be useful for you!

1. Identifying one’s goal

Figuring out how seriously you’re going to take art. Do you intend to become so good at art that you become popular (like the ones on social media) or do you want to become professional, so that you can be employed in an ad agency, animation company or any art-related field? or you just intend it to be a hobby, something to relieve your stress? Your goals will become your inspiration to further harness and become more confident of your skills.

2. Allot time to create

Once you’ve decided on your goal, fine tune your expectations to meet goals. We all know that you only have 24 hours in a day and you’re only a human. plans are going to change, things are going to come up, your attention will be divided. If you decided to become really really good, the only way is to spend almost every minute of your free time doing something productive. Setting your priorities will help you focus and be motivated.

3. Art Lessons/School

They aren’t necessary until you reach a reasonably high purpose such as becoming a skilled artist or professional in the field of art. Art schools are an expensive investment and need quite a lot of time to figure out how serious you are about art. It will be beneficial for you will meet different artist, best teachers that will give you tips and skills that you are lacking. Learning art by yourself, through exploration and trial and error is another way to constantly gain progress and at the same time having fun.

4. Work Smarter not Harder

A major problem for most people is having too much work and not enough time to do it. Fine-tuning your time management skills by using working hours more efficiently will gain more in control, be more productive or giving yourself more time to relax and enjoy life. Having smaller goals that lead up to bigger goals means you can make the most of the hours you can put in.

5. Aim for Constant Progress

There will come a point of time where you don’t see significant improvement and starts to question why you’re working so hard. You’ll just go back to number 1 and remember your goals in doing this.

Treat your art like a game. You’re gathering XP to level up every time you play. Make your new piece an improvement from the last. At the end of the day, celebrate every accomplishment to motivate yourself. Setting yourself up for failure and then beating yourself up for it isn’t healthy and is eventually going to destroy your creativity and confidence.

These are the things I learned in my 2 years in college. Time really flies so fast and now I’m a 3rd year student next semester and I expect things to be a lot tougher, in terms of standards and number of requirements. I’m just on the halfway mark of my college life. A little more push and it’s done!

Fitting It All In

Location: Manila, Philippines

Hey! What’s up you guys!

So this week I realize that its been a only a month since the start of 2nd year. and I am tired. As you leave school, you take a deep breath and give a sigh of relief. You get home and begin taking the nap that you had been looking forward to all day. (But that’s not the scenario).

Doing the same routine everyday – little amount of sleep, irregular eating routine,being late in class because of heavy traffic, unending workloads etc. what more in preliminary and final exam week.

While it may feel good at the moment, this story may be a little too common in your day to day life (in this case, as a fine arts student). Don’t you wish that sometimes you didn’t feel both physically and emotionally tired and just sleep the stress away and when you wake up, everything is done.

just like other colleges, being a fine arts student is not easy. Putting your butt on the chair and spending hours thinking of concepts/ideas, creating numerous rough sketches and showing you final output to the professor until he/she approves your work. Managing your time in major and minor course and other personal activities.

But what I learned through this is Life is Exercise: it’s OK to be tired.

You are a runner, so you will become tired and out of breath; therefore, keep at it. when you’re tired and gasping outside, don’t give up. That’s you getting stronger and faster. Stay with it, keep going, and grow strong And when you are tired, don’t give up at that point. Just keep at it: this will also make you better and grow stronger.

you’ve gone this far, run like your life depends on it, because it does. 

Perks and Pitfalls of being a Sophomore

Location: Manila, Philippines

There’s no doubt that going to college especially freshman year was the most transitional time of my life up until that point: Some living without their parents for the first time, Commuting from afar through Jeeps or LRT/MRT, and starting again from the bottom made it a very scary and exciting situation.

Most people seem to express everything they’ve learned in their first year of college because it everything is so different and new. Don’t get me wrong, I learned more life lessons than I can count my freshman year, however, with my sophomore year starting, I’m realizing that I’ve had a great deal of learning a lot more moments this year, too:

1.  Transitioning from Traditional media to Digital one, The First Semester of 2nd year will be hard for some who have never been to the world of Digital. Photography and Design Workshop are few of the courses that involves digital media.

2. Traditional media will never leave us, even though we’re transitioning for digital, will also have traditional  (Figure Drawing, Visual Design and Design Theory) our professor said in FigDrw that “If other colleges have math, we also have one and the most hardest of all which is Anatomy/Figure Drawing.”

3. Meeting a whole new bunch of Professors, From professors who talks a lot that you may fall asleep to professors who are strict especially to dress decorum and plates.

4. Sophomore year is Chill year, One professor said that 2nd year is the most chill year of CFAD. he mentioned that 2nd year students think they knew all about college like how to please different professor or various food stalls and fast food chains, so students don’t strive and instead relax. It’s the most common misconception of sophomores because when you don’t take it seriously, you’re going to have a hard time during your third year.

5. New Schedule to adjust, means having a higher chance of night classes or worst cases, having classes for 6 days plus nstp.

5. Deciding where to intern, when I and my fellow block mates were having fun talking, one friend ask if where will I intern for next year. Then I had that question in my mind for 3 days deciding where to intern. I know its kinda early to think about it but time fly so fast and eventually will become a Third year. I still haven’t decided yet.

These are some of my realizations of being a sophomore student, and eventually I’ll add more as I start my new journey as a second year college. // badumtss

Messed Up

Location: Manila, Philippines

Hello Everyone! It’s me again *smirk*

So I thought and planned my break to be a productive one but unfortunately my semester break is kinda.. you know.. MESSED UP…

And I only have 1 freaking month to get all in my list done!

Here’s what kept me busy in my break:

Ongoing Art Competitions – recently, many contests start popping out of nowhere. So I have picked some contest that I can somehow do and luckily win some cool prizes!

11705283_10153121110198049_4948888517403363318_nArtwork’s “Happy in Black and White” ( The 6th Artwork T-Shirt Design Contest)

Artwork is one of the leading t-shirt brands in the Philippines dedicated to the young and passionate; a brand that never tires out of pushing the limits of t-shirt fashion and art.

and they always celebrate their contest annually with different themes and new twist to it.

If you are interested to join, just visit http://www.artwork.ph for full details.

11709399_10153055831319163_5241316332694447892_n

Power Mac Center’s Mixed-Media Competition ( Defying the Everyday Grind)

Power Mac gives consumers the complete Apple experience – from exploring Apple products and accessories first-hand at our retail stores, to providing products that suit personal, corporate or educational needs, to knowledge and skills enhancement through training with our Apple Certified Trainers, to product care and service of the highest standard with our Apple Service Providers.

I happen to stumble this contest in one of their branch and thought might try this for exciting prizes ahead!

If you want more details about this contest, head to http://www.powermaccenter.com/Pixelworx2015Competition

W.I.P Artworks – Another one is a pile of artworks in my W.I.P. folder. Almost 10+ artworks are still not yet done and needed to complete before school starts. *cries*

Meeting High school Friends  – Potentially meeting up with old friends seems kinda relaxing. So every now and then, we meet up and play some board games or talk about our life in college while we have no classes yet.

Lastly….

Learning how to digital – So I been searching how to use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Paint tool Sai to prep me up for my 2nd year courses. I literally have no idea making artworks on computers. so as much as possible I need to learn the basics of them.

So that’s all. I had a hard time squeezing myself to all this stuff going on.

Stay tuned for more updates. This is Marvin, signing off for now.

College Feels (Freshmen Year)

Location: Manila, Philippines

As I walked pass through every building of the University of Santo Tomas, I realized that so many happened to me in the past 2 semesters. From the events like Thomasian Welcome Walk and Paskuhan to Sleepless nights of unending plates and paper works, I gain much knowledge and experiences in various situations.

And as I looked in my previous plates from 1st semester up to 2nd semester, I improved so much I can’t believe that I did this much!! *drama post on*

As I entered college, I didn’t know if I can make it through the end because all I knew is that High school is very different from College. New people, professors, courses, environment etc. And I remember when my first course is Visual Perception and we’re assigned  to make a lettering. I got nervous and stress because of the pressure of the new environment… and what I got?

75% I cannot believe I got a line of 7 in my first plate!? and that’s when I said to my self ” Marvin, You need to focus and improve! don’t just settle with that and do your very best ! Never give up! “.

And that’s when I realized I need to challenged myself, compete to become the best, never surrender and keep moving forward! And as time goes by.. I saw a lot of improvements to myself. from 75 to 84 to 90 and now I get grades like 93, 95 etc. *drama post off*

And I also thought that ” Hey, College is not all about grades. It is also about Orgs, and Adventures with Friends and Block mates, Enter exhibits and Contest, try something new etc. “

I couldn’t do all of this without the people who I’ve met this school year! Thank you and cheers to many more trials and adventures that awaits us!

So as 2nd year comes, I also need to focus on these stuff at the same time balancing my academics //that’s my goal.

(On the other news, because vacation starts now, I can finally clean my room and have it a little makeover *feels of an interior designer* Stay tuned for my blog post on that.)