[BC] Foundations

Ever since I was young, I longed for the arts. At that age it was a broad goal, something to grow on; however, it was something to be passionate about. Colors, shapes, ideas, when it came down to how I worked with art, the possibilities were nearly endless. To most people, art belongs in a museum or on the refrigerator door. It’s almost laughable to think of an artist other than Van Gogh or Monet making any kind of money. To them art is only worth something when the artist is long gone. I have a much different perspective on art.

Museum art is a very fine and beautiful thing, but it’s not how I see art. I see art in everything around me. It’s in the movies you watch, the games you play, art provides a foundation for a lot more than we give it credit for. It took me a long time to learn that lesson, and I have to give a majority of the credit to Disney for inspiring me in such a way. Everyone knows who Walt Disney is, his movies are known world-wide. We all know about the movies he’s produced, but sometimes with the growing technology we forget where that final piece came from. When I turned about 12, I actually noticed that the frames on the screen were done one at a time. I could notice the different strokes of the lines every split second. I believe it was somewhere around there where I got interested in animation and the art behind bigger pictures.

Throughout my high school life, I’ve learned a lot about colors and contrasting and what works with what. I’ve found that the finite details put into a foundation are a lot more appealing to me than they are to the average person. Even when I’m playing a video game I’ll stop and notice how they created the correct atmosphere. There’s a lot more thought put into it then one would ever imagine. Just last year was a great turning point in my life, I was taken to a Pixar exhibit in Oakland, CA. Needless to say, I was astounded by what I saw. Everything from every movie came from an idea, a simple concept drawn by a simple artist. I think I’ve always wanted to be that artist. To be a ‘behind the scenes’ worker, to be able to watch a movie and say “I helped make this possible.” I wanted to be a conceptual designer.

Naturally, I hade both positive and negative feedback about this. My family pushed me towards the ‘norm’, a standard lifestyle of books and mathematics. My friends, though, told me to persevere with my goal, as it’s not a completely impossible one. I think I can stand on my own two feet and follow the path that I’ve set for myself, not the path that people set for me. In essence, I know who I am and I know what I want to be; all I need now is a chance to get there.