Weekly Reflection: 8/27/21

by Thomas Pulsifer

While this week was certainly a handful, it wasn’t without it’s valuable lessons. In terms of the course material itself, while there was quite a bit of it, it was all very fun and came with an immense amount of creative freedom. As someone who does their best to avoid social media, having to create accounts for so many websites was daunting. Despite my initial disdain, I was able to discover just how many outlets there are for creative expression. I can share my thoughts on Twitter, express myself musically on Soundcloud, and show off my video-editing skills through YouTube. These platforms also present an excellent opportunity to grow an audience around your artistic abilities, which is invaluable. My first posts on these platforms can me found on my home page.

Next up on the agenda was our class’s reviews of The Joy of Painting episodes. Seeing as I’m already a big fan of Bob Ross, this was definitely my favorite part of the week. Something I’d never considered, however, was focusing on Ross’s words rather than the art he was creating. The stories he interlaces into his painting process can not only give you a window into Ross’s inspiration, but they can also serve to inspire the viewer as well. I resonated a lot with the Ross’s statement about using art as a form of escapism to create your own ideal worlds.

Our final assignment of the week (besides this weekly reflection, of course) was to discuss our goals for this class. While obviously not as engaging as discussing Bob Ross episodes, it’s still important to establish our goals as early as possible so we can spend our valuable time working towards achieving them. As stated in my blogpost, I hope to have my creativity tested and to complete my assignments in a timely and stress-avoiding manner. After this week, it’s become quite clear how important that second goal is. With the benefit of hindsight and better time management, I’ll make sure next week’s reflection comes from a place of less time-induced stress to ensure much higher quality work.