I decided to combine a pen and a missile together to create a “pen-sile”. The process of selecting two images that worked together and satisfied me was quite difficult. Initially, I tried to mentally visualize two random images that came to mind and somehow place them together, but soon I realized that I was not getting anywhere without looking at actual images. I also looked at some examples in order to have a clearer view of what type of images and combinations I should be trying to create. After searching through several different images and going through multiple trials, I finally settled at an image of a pen and missile cropped together. I decided to use the top of the pen and the bottom of the missile as those are the more defining parts of each item and I wanted to make it clear what each item actually was.
When deciding which notes I was going to choose for this assignment I really only had the choice between calculus and chemistry. I ended up choosing calculus because I knew I could have more fun with the designs. The page of notes I chose was based on continuous functions and I drew pictures of the types of continuous functions in styles that would help me to remember which kinds of functions have continuity. I decided to make the sketch with watercolors as well because I needed an excuse to use them. For trig functions I drew a sketch of a devil with a name tag that reads: sin. It’s cheesy but I like it. For polynomial functions, I have a sketch of a polygamous relationship. The root function sketch is self explanatory, so I won’t even get into it. For inverse functions I thought that having the Spider-Man symbol next to the Venom symbol would be a good example since they are foils of each other. Finally, for rational functions I thought that a quick sketch of President Carter himself would be appropriate considering that one particular line in his speech.
I thought that drawing out my notes using the method of visual note taking was very interesting and unfamiliar. Normally when I take notes I just scribble down information and review it later. Doing this exercise, however, forced me to go over all the information I recorded in class and choose the most important parts to rewrite. I feel like this actually helped me retain the information more because: 1. I had to review the information to do this Sunday sketch and 2. I rewrote it which made me remember the information even more than I had before. https://eng181f19.davidmorgen.org/assignments/sketches/sketch-3-visual-note-taking/
Your Tracing Pages assignment is due on October 3, so you should be working on that as you finish reading Spinning.
I had planned to move the McCloud reading up to Tuesday, since the page count over the weekend was light, but I forgot to get this post up on Friday, and with you working on tracing pages over the weekend anyway, it’s probably perfectly fine that it stays on Thursday. Just be aware that it’s more reading for Thursday’s class and plan accordingly.
For your Sunday Sketch this week, you’ll need to combine two photos to make one. Once you have your idea and the images you’re going to combine the actual editing process shouldn’t be too terribly difficult, but take a moment now to look at the example combophotos so that you can begin brainstorming and keeping an eye out for some images you might want to play with.
Reworking my film-class notes into a streamlined display of information seemed like an excellent opportunity to prepare a work of academic art for all the world to enjoy, but alas, what I envisioned — a masterpiece filled with factoids and worthy of my professor’s admiration — was no where to be found when I drew the final line.
It’s spot on my page was snagged by a most ugly-looking mash-up of film facts, yet though I fell short of my unrealistic imagination, I have found a few points to be rather proud of: the color examples for post-filming changes and special effects, my use of “range” bars, and one dapper-looking gentlemen holding a camera. The charm of the lastly mentioned stick-figure is obvious, but I will go into more detail concerning the prior items.
First off, the differences between two pairs of processes — tinting vs. toning and rear projection vs. matte work — were a bit difficult to remember, but the color examples I created juxtaposed them against one another and helped me understand which one was which. Furthermore, several other processes contained variations based on the “range” they existed on, and making vertical or horizontal progressions to show where the values laid on each range produced some somewhat useful visualizations.
Even though my notes are no where near the aesthetic excellence of others, they did help me understand what I was reading a bit better. In the future, I plan to draw out examples alongside my future notes instead of creating them on a whole new sheet of paper to make my visualizations more timely than time-consuming, for every minute counts for a college student.
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.” Having meditated on those powerful words by Confucius and completed my visual-notes assignment, I finally know how to understand the confusing contents of a class curriculum: through doodles and stick-figures. Talk about a win-win situation!
Going into this assignment I honestly had no idea how to approach this. I like to write down step for step in words my notes for my classes, I thought immediately that drawing would just distract me from the ultimate goal of the class topic but it actually did not. I am not the biggest fan of my first year seminar because the topic does not really spark my interest. But I do love learning and talking about women. So these pair of notes was what I thought about just to still be interested in something I illustrated for this weeks Sunday sketch. This assignment actually made me become even more interested in this topic of class because it made it look more fun than it sounds on paper. I also like to see a lot of colors in my notes and for this class I do not have to take that many notes so they’re never really in color, this allowed me to add that element to my notes. Lastly, the assignment made the information simpler then how it sounds in the book. I feel like this way, in certain circumstances, is a more approachable way to engage yourself in your classes and make it fun and cute.
When first thinking about this assignment, I struggled with the idea of how to turn simple notes into a visual piece of work. I couldn’t see how I could turn my boring, straightforward notes into art. However, I tried my best to do that, and I think it turned out pretty well. I was looking over my math notes from calculus 110 and tried to visualize them in a different way. I decided that the best way to do this would be to try and highlight the most important concepts and notes from that day of class. I also thought that the best way to make visual notes would be to add a lot of color and make it really “pop”. For example, the graphs of sin and cosine are crucial in calculus and that’s why they are highlighted in different colors and in the center of my work. Towards the end of my drawing, once it all came together, I was really able to see the point of this exercise. As a visual learner, I was able to better remember important formulas, rules, and concepts through this. Its definitly something I would do again in the future to help myself prepare for a test or quiz.
For this assignment I decided to convert a page of my ECON 101 notes to a more visual format. Similar to my regular method of note taking I utilized arrows and indicated subsections by using a smaller font. The difference however was the amount of time it took. The addition of a visual element slightly distracted me from the actual concepts, and upon completing it I realized I had mislabeled a section. Though this did help me identify the concept names I hadn’t internalized I think rewording and reviewing notes is a more effective study technique.
Once I knew what this week’s assignment was, I knew immediately I was going to draw my Astrobiology notes. It almost seems like too easy and cliche of an answer, but I genuinely did not fully understand what was going on in Astrobiology (in terms of types of planet migration and different theories on how solar systems work) until I sat myself down and drew it out. Part of that was due to the fact that I had to actually look up stuff I was confused about. Once I had to plan out the drawing I put a lot more effort into making sure I had an accurate understanding of what I needed to draw. I couldn’t just copy down what was on the board and not think about it until it was time for the test. I had to actually apply my knowledge of the material.
Once I finished it I realized that there was a lot of empty space. I still do not feel like I used the paper to its fullest. I didn’t want to crowd things, but, especially in the top right corner, now that I’m looking at the whole thing it feels very spaced out.
When I read this assignment the first class that came to mind to practice this style of note-taking was my chemistry class. Chemistry is the basis for any science subject and so I felt inclined to start my first year with a Chemistry class. Even though I struggle to understand the concepts we learn in class this visual approach to my notes helped me to organize and visualize how concepts work together to solve a chemistry problem. I learned through drawing all of my notes that it helped me gain a better grasp of what it is my professor was trying to explain to us in words. Even though the drawing process was time consuming, I believe that if I can just take a moment after class to visualize and analyze how everything I learned in lecture is intertwined, I will have an easier time with recalling information.
