September 10, 2019

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Long time no update! Have a lot to unpack from the past 7 months, including transitioning from illustration to software engineering, moving, and just finishing up my first artist alley experience at LightBox Expo this past weekend!

I only told a few friends but these past few months I've been stealthily switching industries. I was pretty unhappy at Monomi Park and thought being in SF was the perfect opportunity to learn programming rather than the hassle of packing back down to LA for the chance to work at more relevant studios (the curse of owning furniture). My first experience with programming was back in my senior year of college. I'd fallen in love with the flexibility + possibilities of exploring interactivity through code but wasn't quite sure how to develop my skills. So, although I had tried to teach myself some computer graphics and python through the years, I thought I'd try the fast track with a bootcamp.

I chose App Academy purely for the strong community vibe that reminded me of RISD's bonding through suffering environment (and I suppose the ratings) and it's been an interesting journey! The excitement of learning something new and meeting new people let me keep up a brutal pace of waking up at 6am, commuting for 2hrs, studying from 9am-9pm, commuting 2hrs back, trying to keep up with homework until 3am with 3 hours of sleep @ - @. And although I resented the program at times for some pacing problems, it was incredible to discover how much an individual is capable of in those conditions and I could never regret the people I met and continue to meet; the App Academy network is truly a family!

In art news, LightBox was a blast for meeting up with a lot of old and new friends I hadn't seen for several years; ran into multiple classmates and it's crazy to see where everyone has ended up! And also managed to snag a few things, including a print by Sophie Diao I had been eyeballing for 2 years!

Tabling was a different experience from other cons I had a chance to attend; a beautiful venue and a chance to explore Pasadena again; the audience was definitely more geared towards entertainment professionals and it was wonderful to be able to strike up conversations with anyone who passed by. I was sharing a table with HumanForScale and we got to test out a pvc display that he had thought up- super lightweight and breaks down easily for travel!

Overall, would recommend going as an attendee if coming from outside of the area (unless you've got a huge fanbase or industry clout; then go for it!). A great event to meet other creatives, get some autographs from industry giants ;), and check out some interesting panels! Until next time!