Multi-Exposure Panorama

I take a deep breath as I step onto the plane. Nine hours and I will be in Brazil. I've been planning for this trip for a month and it was finally here! I had made sure to pack all the necessities including swim suites and dinner outfits. Shortly after boarding, I feel the familiar rumbling of the engine and the pilot begins his usual pre-flight speech. I sit back in my seat and turn on my music, trying to relax as I know this will be a very long flight. I feel myself drifting off, just as the plane takes flight, getting transported into dream mode. After a strange dream about being chased by burgers, I wake up to find the beautiful country of Brazil smiling up at me from the ground. The rolling hills, the busy street, I could almost smell it already.


We had a full day ahead of us after we checked into our hotel at 8:30 am. What's a better way to spend it then right across the street to the beach? The moment I stepped outside I could smell the  salty air that I hadn't smelled in so long. A cool breeze lifted my hair up off my shoulders as my family and I walked across the bustling streets. My got our chairs that the hotel provided us and my sister and I tore off towards the water. Oh how I've missed that feeling of the sand between my toes! I jumped into the ocean and started swimming out. I tasted the salty water as I dove under, feeling seaweed tickle my leg and the sea shells crunching under my feet. Five times, I got knocked over by the monstrous waves but each time coming up laughing. This was glorious! Then, we ventured into the heart of Rio where I got to get up close and personal with three popular sights; Sugarloaf mountain, Christ the Redeemer, and Escadaria Selarón, the popular steps. Along the way, I got to witness the incredibly amazing, but also dangerous, Favelas, named due to the fact that when the poor people of Rio were offered no government aid, they had to build their own communities. The land they chose to build on, which was up a mountain,  was covered with favela trees. The name stuck and even today these civilizations are still called the favelas. After the tour, we went on a helicopter ride in which I got  to fly over Christ the Redeemer and Copacabana beach, the view was breathtaking and I loved the thrill of being in a helicopter.  
After hours of playing in the waves and relaxing on the shore, my family headed down the beach in search of lunch. Luckily, we happened to be near one of my parents favorite seafood restaurants so were more then happen to drop in and eat some food. We ordered fried jumbo-shrimp, garlic shrimp, and my picky sister got a burger. As I bit into the shrimp, a rich, buttery taste filled my mouth. Yum! All of the food was fantastic, even my sisters burger, just as my parents had said it would be.
I ended up really loving my finished product. It was so fun to make and the pictures all seemed to be in favor when it came to fitting together. I spent a lot of time blending the pictures together so it looked natural and all like one continuous image. I blended several buildings together and I also blended the favelas image with the helicopter view image. All in all this project was fun, exciting, and turned out great!

Printing Processes

Relief

Relief printing is where you cut away at a surface, creating an image from the raised area.  The process is quite simple, first you draw directly onto some kind of surface such as a wood block. Then, you cut away all that you have drawn, the actual lines will be white and the empty space will be inked. Next, you coat the surface in ink with a roller. Lastly, place a piece of paper over the block and apply pressure so the ink transfer onto the paper.  Let the ink dry, and the process is complete!

Intaglio

Intaglio printing process is where the image area is below the flat surface, meaning the cut out part. Two different types of intaglio are dry point and etching. The first step in this process is to start by polishing and cleaning your surface so nothing obstructs your work. You also need to add a ground which protects the white parts of the image. You then smoke the plate until the surface black. Next, you scratch away the ground on the plate to reveal the metal surface on which you are working underneath it, these scratches will be the black part of your image, because the ink settles into it. Next you etch the plate, which eliminates all bare metal areas on the plate. Next you clean the plate, removing the ground. You then apply ink to the surface and clean away all the extra. Lastly, you place a sheet of wet paper on top of the plate which you send through the printing press, finally revealing the finished product.

Lithography

The lithography process is made up entirely of how water and grease resist each other. You start by using a pencil specific to this process called a "lithographic pencil" to draw your image on stone. You apply gum arabic and TAPEM to the stone, then begin etching it. After that, you reapply the gum arabic, a process called cooling the stone. You then use a cloth to make the stone absorb the chemicals.  Next, use lithotine to wash your drawing, this will cause it to seemingly disappear, creating a "ghost image". Now you add on asphaltum then go over the image with a wet towel, dry towel, then sponge. Follow with applying ink immediately to the surface, making the image appear. Put a piece of paper on top of the stone and press the ink further into the stone. Lastly, put a dampened piece of paper on the stone and press the image on the paper.

Conclusion

I would like to try relief print making sometime because it seems to be fun, relaxed, and made the most sense to me. This older methods helped give current artists a base to build off of and grow from.

Coding Challenges and Process

So far, this year in web design the biggest challenge I have faced would be on the very first assignment when I didn't even know what HTML meant. I had absolutely no idea what to do, despite having intricate explanations and a step by step tutorial to follow. After the first one or two projects though, I began to develop a basic understanding of how to code, with a lot of help of course. Now, I can do nearly all of each project completely on my own. I would definitely say that I overcame those challenges. Coding becomes much easier when you know what a "tag" is. 

I was most surprised by the fact that I wasn't very behind in relation to rest of the class. Naturally, there were several people who had a very advanced understanding in HTML and CSS but most of class had little to no experience which made me feel more welcome and comfortable. So far, my favorite thing about coding is simply being able to type seemingly nonsensical things into the computer but then ending up creating something that I never thought I could do. I have learned so much even just in this first quarter but nothing compares to the proud feeling I get when I can figure out what I did wrong and fix it all on my own. I can't choose a specific thing to further explore, as I would like to enhance my knowledge in everything we have covered so far. Although I found a lot of interest in using the hexadecimal code of a color to change the text color of my writing.