Sana Mills

Tools I already have:

the ability to illustrate

the ability to feel what I am creating

the ability to create what I feel

Tools I have that need developing:

expanding my creativity, expanding my knowledge of possibilities

my ability to use adobe suite

my ability to fully render pieces.

• patience
• the will to complete my work
• the will to push past blocks and to take the time to learn new skills to move past said blocks

Allotting time to hone the skills I already have.

Drawing Anatomy

Tools I do not have that I need to learn:

3D rendering, such as Blender

digital landscape/background painting

Layout of type, in a creative sense.

Blender is an open-source, FREE 3D computer graphics software used for modeling, animation, sculpting, rendering, and more. It’s used largely in the gaming and animation industries, and it offers a massive suite of tools for creating amazing visual content. 

Blender stands out for its powerful features like a fully integrated 3D creation pipeline and advanced rendering capabilities. It has a large community of users; its open-source characteristic encourages collaboration and constant improvement. Given that it is free, it makes high-quality 3D design and animation accessible. It’s an awesome tool that I’ve been watching people use from the sidelines for a long time. 

Blender is known for its 3D modeling and animation, but it also includes tools for 2D graphics and video editing. This makes it very suitable for graphic design. It can be used for tasks like creating textures, designing logos, or even producing complex visual effects. It’s extremely versatile, and the sheer number of tools available in it, combined with its accessibility, makes it a tempting software to give a try. I just wish I had the time for it. 🙂

Please Don’t Read this it’s basically a feelings dump

I’ll talk about this with the understanding that a “disruptor” is someone with a unique perspective, and can use said perspective to influence an environment, and the people in it, with it.

So, what makes me unique?

It’s hard to say. I feel like there are a lot of people like me; Asian-American, queer, a female at birth, neurodivergent. I grew up poor, with an Asian tigermom with helicopter parenting tendencies. My parents divorced when I was 10, and to this day I have unresolved feelings regarding a new family he started. I don’t really think these make me unique; people experience such things to varying degrees, which in turn changes them as people.

I’m an illustrator, a visual storyteller at heart. In a perfect world, I would be illustrating books, preferably children’s books. I adore the illustrations in the Pixie Hollow books, Winnie the Pooh, Frog and Toad. I find a thrill and satisfaction in turning my feelings into art; I can spend hours with my eyes closed imagining how I could turn a feeling into visual expression. I spend hours looking at @onehillion ‘s art and drown in the awe her creations brings me. I love the human in art. I love the human in visual storytelling.

So, I suppose that’s where my uniqueness lies. It could also be where my weakness is. My personal feelings are strong, and it is difficult for me to stray from an idea despite another being more in favor for the circumstance, provided I am attached to it. It’s hard for me to separate my feelings from my work. I’m not sure what to chalk that up to; maybe it’s my lack of experience. Maybe if the situation was serious enough, say, I’m working for a client, rather than for a class, I would proceed differently. Or maybe, it’s not an issue at all, and I just have a “style” I want to work in… Jason talks about that a lot. I’m really not sure.

We are 10 weeks in and I’m still wondering if this is the right path for me. When I first applied for this program, I was rejected; they actually recommended I apply for the illustration program instead.

Really, it comes down to “in a perfect world”… in a perfect world, I would be an illustrator. “In a perfect world”, I would have the funds to illustrate for a living. “In a perfect world”, I would have direction, “in a perfect world”, I would have faith in myself… “in a perfect world”…

My letter- D- found in the railings of the stairs a block down from my house.

I would like to live in Madrid, Spain, at some point in my life. 🙂

The job I would have does not need to be my dream job. I would simply like to experience living in Madrid; but hopefully, I would be able to work remotely, and keep whatever job I may have obtained before (Provided I enjoy it).

Otherwise, my options are:

• Front Desk Agent- Four Seasons Hotel Madrid
  • good benefits such as health insurance, flexible hours, good salary
• Junior Product Designer
  • UI/UX based, using Figma and Sketch
• Junior Graphic Designer
  • develop branded marketing materials
  • develop new ideas for the brand, with consistent aesthetic

My roommate and one of my best friends is currently studying abroad in Madrid. She also has family that lives there; I have a lot of insight into what it is like. The city is lovely, and the people seem friendly and kind. It’s so drastically different from Seattle, where I’ve lived my whole life, and with everything I’ve been hearing it’s so hard not to want to visit at the least.

For a single person household, the cost of living is estimated to be around $760/month. It seems that Spain is 123% cheaper to live in than the USA… and they have universal healthcare as well.

The pros outweigh the cons, based on light research, at least. I just need to learn Spanish to some degree… my fluency is NONE at the moment.

I treated this a lot like a diary entry. I’m surprised I remembered to keep track of my days as much as I did, but there were some things I needed to track down via reading back on texts I’ve sent to my friends and family.

Saturday, 21

9:30 AM- Alarm. I get up and sit for a while. I wash my face and do my skincare.

10:00 AM- I make my tea and some breakfast. Today I decide to eat some leftover pasta. One day my body won’t be able to take cheesy pasta at 10 am. But today is not the day 

11:00 AM- Sometime between 10 and now I have finished eating and have randomly decided to clean my room. I want a clean space to do homework. 

11:30 AM- I’m done cleaning, my desk is clear. My laptop is dead. I wait for it to charge and meanwhile I do some daily tasks in my video game. 

11:45 AM- My laptop is charged enough to boot and my game tasks are done. I start some homework. 

11:45 AM – I’m researching for my Monday history class. I have a headache behind my eyes. I close my eyes.

1:00 PM- Rise and shine. I see Jason responded to my email regarding my sketches for his assignment. I take a look and edit them according to his recommendations. This exchange happens a couple more times. 

1:45 PM- I make lunch. 

2:30 PM- I clean up after my lunch. I put some clothes on for my job. I think about how I hate my job. To cope, I sit on my phone for a bit. 

3:00 PM- I start driving to my job. What’s supposed to be a 15 minute commute always somehow takes around 25. This area always has those Porsche SUVs. I never understood why you would get a porsche and decide on an SUV. I think about this as I drive

3:30 PM- I clock in around 3:32. I start my shift.

9:00 PM- My manager lets me off early since we have an extra person. Awesome, because my headache never went away. I look forward to getting home

9:20 PM- I’m home and run to the shower. 

9:45 PM- I’ve showered and done my skincare. I think about how I really got nothing done that day. I think about how I hate my job. My head hurts. I make a peanut butter and banana sandwich and some tea. 

10:00 PM- I’m eating my snack and drinking my tea. This is a typical weekend night for me after I work. A snack and some tea. And then I go to bed.

10:30 PM- I probably fell asleep around this time. 

Sunday, 22

8:00 AM- Thanks to my early bedtime the night before, I am up at a reasonable hour. I get up and wash my face. I put some clothes on that aren’t my pajamas. 

8:30 AM- I make a smoothie. I chug that shit down. I do a light cleaning of my room so that I can sit down and do some homework. 

9:00 AM- I do my daily tasks in my video game.

9:15 AM- Homework. I finish my research for Gabriel’s class. I see Jason has given me the ok to start illustrator. I go through and watch some of his tutorials as I create my designs to remind myself of what tools I might need to use. 

*did not keep track*

I finished 2 illustrations. I did some scrolling on tiktok. 

12:00 PM- Lunch time (again). I make dumpling soup with trader joes chicken postickers. It’s pretty good; I threw in onions, carrots, green onions, tsuyu, tofu. I have a small helping of rice. It tastes like home. 

12:30 PM- I put the rest in tupperware for later or tomorrow. I decided to watch an episode of the Boondocks. I love this show. 

1:00 PM- I work on “calm” and “excited” for Jason’s class. I’m losing my mind trying to make sure that all the lines on my designs are the same distance from the dot. I spend way too much aligning. 

2:30 PM- Another snack, and changing before work.

3:00 PM- I leave for work. Same commute

3:30 PM- Not sure when I clocked in but it was around this time

8:45 PM- On sundays I typically get off early, since the restaurant closes at 8:15. This is nice especially because this shift was terrible. I contemplate quitting on the spot. I feel awful and I’m so tired. I want to cry

10:30 PM- After showering, some homework, some food and tea, I’m in bed. Goodnight 

Monday, 23

4:24 AM- I wake up with heart palpitations. I struggle to fall back asleep. I stand on the balcony for a while and look at the sky. It’s cold and when I go back in bed the warmth helps me fall asleep again. 

I’m in a half asleep uncomfortable stupor until then and :

7:00 AM- I’m fully awake and I accept that I won’t be falling asleep again. My heart is beating too fast and I can’t take full breaths. I wonder if I would be able to make it to school. I put headphones in and listen to breathing guides to help myself calm down. I do this for a long time. 

9:30 AM- text Gabriel that I won’t be making it to class. 

I’m not sure what I did for most of this day. I was in a weird dissociative state. Hours seemed to pass without me realizing it. 

8:00 PM- (according to some texts I sent to my classmates), I’m all done with my illustrator designs. I spend about an hour trying to figure out the formatting for submission. I enlist help from Jenny. 

9:00 (or something like that)- my assignment is submitted. 

Sometime between then and 10 pm- I showered, had a snack, brushed my teeth. I’m in bed. 

11:00 PM- Definitely asleep by then. 

Tuesday, 24- 

6:45 AM- Get up, get ready

8:08 AM- The time I am set to leave in order to make it to class early so that I have enough time to print Jason’s assignment. 

8:35 AM- My first print does not look right. I edit the stroke size and reprint. It is still too thin. But somehow, it is already close to 9, and I have to put up what I have. 

9:00 AM- My designs are up. They look alright but I should have definitely gone for a thicker stroke. 

9:10 AM- class, critique. 

I did not keep track of my day during school. 

2:00 PM- I stay after class to do some work. I receive concerning news from a friend and decide to call her. We talk for an hour or so. 

3:00 PM- I did some work.. Not sure what. But I stayed for a reason. 

4:15 PM- My boyfriend picks me up, and we go get spooky donuts from krispy kreme. Costco is right there so we each get us a hot dog as well. 

6:00 PM- I come home. 

6:15 PM- I made the mind map for Jill’s project.

6:45 PM- I start sketching the 30 ideas. 

7:45 PM- I pick 3, and refine them a little bit. 

8:30 PM- Knowing I have work tomorrow, and then the interactive the next day, I decide to do some coding for Erik’s class. It is a headache but I manage to get some things done. 

9:30 PM- shower, snack, bed. 

Wednesday, 25

6:45 AM- Alarm, wash my face, out of my pajamas. 

7:15 AM- Breakfast

7:45 AM- I do my makeup 

8:00 AM- I pack my lunch and some snacks.

8:20 AM- I walk to the light rail station. 

8:50 AM- Arrive at school. 

9:00 AM- Class begins. 

*I did not keep track of my school day*

1:45 PM- left a little early so I have time to eat before heading to work after getting home from school.

2:15 PM- arrive home, grab a snack, eat some food, phone scroll

3:00 PM- Leave for work

9:00 PM- Off shift. Drive home full of bad feelings because I hate my job

9:20 PM- arrive home. Quick shower, snack. 

9:45 PM- more website updates for interactive class. 

10:45 PM- I’ve put in photos and changed type. There is something weird happening with the boxes that I cannot figure out. I go to bed.

Thursday, 26

6:45 AM- Wake up, wash my face, out of pajamas, get ready for school

8:00 AM- pack my lunch and everything else needed for school

8:20 AM- Leave to catch the light rail

8:40 AM- the train came early so I miss the first one. I accept my fate of being late to class

9:16 AM- Arrive class.

*I did not keep track of my school day*

1:50 PM- I stay after class to figure out some finances & schoolwork organization

3:00 PM – leave to go home

3:30 PM – arrive home. Headache as usual, so I lay down and take a short nap

4:30 PM – wake up. I think about what to make for dinner. I make dinner.

5:45 PM- eat dinner, clean up

Persisting headache- I cannot stand to look at a screen. I ultimately get no school work done today. 

8 PM- bed

Channel Tres is a techno/house artist who incorporates rap and elements of funk into some of his tracks. 

I decided to use a “futuristic” font based on his techno background; this one is called “Orbitron”. The green background is for a similar reason, but also because the color contrasts nicely with the image I used of him. This image choice is based on the fact that it is a recognizable photo of him, which I believe is important for a promotional poster. 

I saw an opportunity in combining the two parts of his name; the “L” at the end of “Channel” and the “T” at the beginning of “Tres”. This however created a large space in the bottom left corner; after some trial and error, I decided on a mirror image of himself, stylized differently.

This choice of stylization is based off his target audience, who gravitate towards “trippy”, or more “psychedelic” music. It’s no secret that festival goers engage in psychedelic drugs, so I wanted to replicate that in the design. 

In order to keep it fairly balanced, I also added the yellow “doodles” in the “normal” image of him. I opted for straight lines for both contrast from a visual standpoint and to also represent the more “straight laced” side of his music. 

The “Cap hill block party” in the left corner is hand written. I felt it helps make the poster look less 2 dimensional. 

His music is honestly not for me, but I do enjoy this song:

https://spotify.link/CANexRMHRDb

“Tunnel” by Channel Tres.