Michael Wheeler – Digital Arts<\/p>\n
Spring 2018 – Expected Graduation: Spring 2019<\/p>\n
Being in the\u00a0digital art field, there are so many different aspects that one can focus on. Personally, I believe that my\u00a0strengths are in illustration and html5 coding. I have always been into illustration ever since I was a little kid, and\u00a0I\u00a0only recently started getting into coding. Coding is by far the most\u00a0rewarding form of art\u00a0I have ever done and goes hand in hand with illustration. Being a good illustrator means having a vision and\u00a0seeing it come to life while drawing, whether it be digitally or on paper. Coding is the same concept, but instead of having a pen and paper or the pen tool and Illustrator, you have a language that is comprised of different commands that produce an output.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
Recognizing your strengths is only beneficial if you can\u00a0recognize your weaknesses as well. Within my art,\u00a0I think my biggest weakness is 3D modeling. Using the Adobe Application Maya, I was able to model digitally during my sophomore year. I think that this has been my weakness because\u00a0I have only taken one class on the subject and was very\u00a0overwhelmed by the new media and program I was using. I think that with a few more classes and maybe some personal teaching I can better these skills, but\u00a0I know that\u00a0I\u00a0don’t excel as well as\u00a0I would like to in modeling at this point in my education, and that is at no fault to any of the classes or professors that\u00a0I have taken up\u00a0until this point. <\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0In regards to my classes and professors at the University of Tampa,\u00a0I have two in particular that\u00a0I\u00a0strongly believe has shaped me into the artist and student I am\u00a0today. \u00a0In the spring of 2016, I took Beginning Digital Arts with professor Alan Hampton. Professor Hampton truly helped me get an amazing understanding and\u00a0foundation for the Adobe programs\u00a0I longed to be good at: Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. His\u00a0projects were engaging and his method of teaching really helped me to understand the basic concepts of these\u00a0programs and gave me the backbone that\u00a0I needed to continue within my major. The\u00a0next\u00a0class and\u00a0professor that has helped me\u00a0grow as a person and an artist is FMX 310 – Creative Coding\u00a0with Santiago. Santiago is by far the most\u00a0intense professor\u00a0I have ever taken at UT but because of that, my skills have grown tremendously. He pushed me to\u00a0challenged my\u00a0artistic abilities and got me to learn a new program, Dreamweaver. Learning html5 has been one of the most fun\u00a0art forms for me and has\u00a0skyrocketed my progress and has broadened my application\u00a0range.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
\u00a0After\u00a0graduation,\u00a0I plan to stay in Tampa for a while,\u00a0hopefully working in a swanky graphic design firm. I want to be able to express myself and make a difference using my artwork. I\u00a0hope that my\u00a0major will give me all the tools\u00a0I need to be a successful new partner for any company and will continue to inspire me to reach my potential and produce stunning\u00a0artwork that can bring back the importance of art in the workplace and further. I hope to eventually travel and end up in San Francisco, doing either digital artwork or\u00a0tangible\u00a0illustration.\u00a0Because of my major and the amazing\u00a0resources that UT has\u00a0given me,\u00a0I hope that my BFA in Digital Arts can change my life for the\u00a0better.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
My Senior Project was dedicated to creating a restaurant from concept to completion. My project was titled “The Artist’s Kitchen” and revolved around a restaurant that acted as both a restaurant and a gallery, where people could come and submit their artwork to be displayed on the walls of the building. This project completely pushed my boundaries of 3D modeling in a way I never thought imaginable and brought me outside the realm of what I was used to. With developing a 3D model, a complete business menu and business card, logo and character design, and an infomercial, this project challenged me to work in all aspects of my field to create one, cohesive piece. I am absolutely so proud of it and can’t wait to see where my skills continue to grow to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"