iLEAD Helped Me Improve My Art Skills

iLEAD Helped Me Improve My Art Skills

As a final year student pursuing B.Sc in Multimedia, Animation and Graphic Design from iLEAD, these three years of college life played a significant role in my overall growth and development. From being the one who constantly shied away from conversations to the one who is now a little more confident, iLEAD has helped me change for the better. This has been an extremely valuable experience for me since I have also been able to broaden my knowledge and skill in my field of choice, i.e. art, animation and media. I have always been attracted to all types of creative art and animation which is what inspired me to select this field for my higher studies and as my career. It was honestly a tough decision for me due to the unconventionality of this field but the constant support of my parents and friends made it easier for me to make the right choice. iLEAD also made me realize that there is a wide range of opportunities and a vast scope in this field that is often not talked about. In my freshman year, I was delighted to see the engagement and understanding of our mentors and was looking forward to an amazing college life. In just one year we had already covered a lot of topics from our syllabus. We were taught Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, which are considered to be really important in this industry. We also learnt how to design a website from scratch using Adobe Dreamweaver and HTML. We learnt photography too and were also taught editing on Adobe Premiere Pro. In second year, we mainly emphasized on learning 3D animation on Autodesk Maya along with doing storyboard and animatics using software like Adobe Animate and Toon Boom Pro. In our final year, we were asked to choose our fields of specialization and the classes were divided accordingly. The second half of my sophomore year was a lot different than expected due to the outbreak of Covid 19 which resulted in the declaration of a worldwide lockdown. Classes were on pause for approximately 3 months until it was decided that classes would be held online thereafter. We continued our classes from home and soon in a few months we were in our final year. Offline classes didn't resume until February, 2021 for some of us while the others had the option of doing their classes online. After I joined college I was able to get back in touch with my creative side which I had almost lost. Back when I was in school I was so busy with my studies that I barely got time to draw, paint and write. Writing articles and poems is another one of my hobbies just like drawing and painting. Writing and drawing has always been the two ways I generally express myself. While school helped me improve my writing skills, college helped me improve my art skills. It somehow gave a boost to my inner creativity which invigorated me to be more artistic, imaginative and also productive. In addition to learning practical skills, I also learnt a lot of theoretical concepts and ideas. For instance, I learnt about the history of animation and how it all began in the first place - The 12 principles of animation which is significant in order to understand and carry out the animation process. I also learnt about the two giants of the animation industry, namely, Disney and Pixar. I got to learn a lot of in depth information about their roles in this industry and how Walt Disney revolutionized the entire animation industry. Apart from this, I have also learnt and grown a lot as a person. It was a different world in college than in school. School spoon-fed us everything and kept us under its covers which I could never realize back then. College had us face the outside world and comprehend it a bit better. The mentors were definitely there to always guide us all but it was still on each one of us to do what we had to. I was exposed to the real world and had to learn and understand the functionality of the outside world. Although college somehow did provide a shell for me to stay in, it also showed how the real and practical world works. We're all responsible for what we do, no one spoon-feeds us since we're big enough to understand our own responsibilities. Personal development and growth was a big thing that happened to almost everyone in college. One thing that I have learnt in these three years is that as long I believe in myself, everything is possible. This phrase has more weight and meaning than it sounds and it is something that I think everyone should always remember. Believing in oneself is so important in order to achieve what we want to. I am extremely glad that I followed my heart and took up animation since it is something that I am immensely passionate about. Not only did I learn and improve my art and skills but I also learnt lifelong lessons and made strong friendships. My communication skills have also improved to a certain extent and helped me become a better person. I made many new friends and the old friendships became even stronger than before. I am extremely grateful for the experiences that I had in college since it has shaped me into the person I am today. College has given me a chance to sharpen my skills as an artist and helped me get some exposure and gain confidence in myself and my work. My college life has been an enriching experience and has provided me with the tools necessary to enhance my natural skills and talents. It has taught me valuable lessons, provided me with immense knowledge and given me many memories which I will always remember and cherish.