3/31/24: nearing the end of summer vacation; my final thoughts on AP art

summer flew by way too quickly. today is august 3rd, 2024. i have just about a week before school starts again. this summer, as per usual was a bit bleak. i find that i either become stressed because i have too much to do, or because i have nothing to do at all. i think my poor mental health during summer is because i spend too much time cooped up in my house. i share a room with my younger sibling and it is very tiring to rarely have a moment of peace. i'm also not allowed outside by myself, not even for neighborhood strolls. i long for the day when i will move out and be able to explore as i please.

last school year felt short in comparison to others. somehow i ended up finishing last semester with all a's! hooray!! a notable class i took last year was ap art. it was INCREDIBLY exhausting. my theme was something along the lines of: exploring the difficutlies in relationships between animals/wildlife and humans. we basically had all school year long to work on our portfolio. making 10 pieces starting from september to may. it doesn't sound too bad but the experience proved otherwise. i was constantly pumping out incredibly thought out pieces only a few nights before our teacher's deadline. these pieces had multiple subjects, all in semi-realism/realism, with carefully planned compositions and color palettes. it is not a good combination to be a procrastinator and perfectionist at the same time. looking back on my portfolio, i'm honestly shocked i managed to create all these in only a few days. i was definitely pushed outside my comfort zone, tackling drawing backgrounds and animals. i guess my efforts paid off though, since i got a 5/5 on the exam! yet at the same time it worsened my relationship with creating art, and i feel very burnt out. i only wish that it'll pay off more in the future.