Seeing Sideways is the type of class I feel everyone should take in their schooling career.
There aren't enough classes out there that don't just focus on the student's ability to retain information, but to explore oneself as a person and a creative being.
Being able to focus on myself and on my creativity is something I needed.
For me, school was always something that needed to be taken seriously, study, pass the test, get the grade.
It was refreshing to take a class for pure enjoyment, to be able to learn something that you can't find in a text book.
Seeing Sideways is a therapeutic class for the creative soul.
Many things I have learned, the 4 S's, learning how to define your creativity, different ways to conquer fear, are all things I will continue to study out of class.
But I think one of the best things, one of the most helpful ideas I developed, was to not take things so seriously.
I feel that will really help me for the rest of my life.

Altered

For my altered book I created a stop motion movie.

I have never created anything like this before,

 and I wanted to use my altered book to do something new.

I am still learning about myself, and trying to define my creativity.

I still have much to experience in this world before I feel comfortable defining myself as a person,

and before I feel comfortable defining my creativity. 

I chose this book for it's blank white canvas.

White represents a lot for me, new, pure, empty, lifeless.

But manly, it makes me nervous, I have a very negative reaction to blank white surfaces.

I am not plain or empty, I am colorful, my energy is flowing around myself, the people in my life, and throughout the universe. 

I feel happy with my creation, but I feel that I can create so much more.

Bliss

I have always had a strong relationship with water.  When I am surrounded by water it is an intimate experience.  Just as water flows down the river, water also flows through me.  I feel that the flowing movement is much like I live my life.  I'm not known to stay in the same area or with the same people for very long.  I never stop moving, and my mind never stops moving either.  I seem to relate to this flowing movement, to connect with it, so the cover of my book should reflect that.

Of all the fear projects presented in class, the one that stood out to me the most was Stuart's. 

He brought in envelopes with everyone’s name, had us write down our fears about ourselves, then had us shred them in a shredder he brought to class. 
His experiment was extremely symbolic and really spoke to me. 

Fear has kept me from experiencing a lot in my life so far, it has had a hand in ruining some of my relationships with people, and I fear it will keep me from enjoying the rest of my life at its full potential. I do believe fear is necessary in life, it can keep us from danger, and help us make important decisions, but you should not let fear take control of your life. 

I believe to some point the only thing to fear is fear itself, and I believe if I can just “shred” some of those fears out of my mind, then I will be able to accomplish so much more. 

Experiment

What makes me fearful is not succeeding in my field of study.

 I want to be an animator, I want to work for an impressive company someday such as Disney or Cartoon Network. I love drawing and I love cartoons. I would love to be a storyboard artist and help create great shows for people to enjoy.

The animation business is very technological these days. People don’t just hand draw cartoons any more, they use computer software and devises such as drawing pads hooked up to their computers. I am scared of these things because they are hard for me to use. I feel like I am behind the times and won’t be able to do what I love because I am not talented enough.

I have noticed that when I am afraid of something, it is hard for me to face it. Most of the time I just try to ignore my fears and do something that brings me joy. This is extremely counterproductive because without practice I will never get better. Fear keeps me from bettering myself. Fear doesn’t motivate me, it holds me back.

For my fear experiment I decided to work with my INTUOS drawing pad to recreate something I hand drew.

It was just a doodle I drew while watching cartoons, but I liked the way it turned out.

Then I hooked up my drawing pad to my computer and tried redrawing it with the ArtRage app. 

In the end I am not very satisfied with what I created, but I am proud of myself for trying.