In our project, Toxic City, we learned that most houses in Philadelphia have one problem in common. That being that they were built before the lead paint ban of 1978, this means that almost all of the houses that haven’t been renovated, re-built or destroyed, still have lead paint in the walls. A really bad hazard that is accessible to people who live in the house and most vulnerable of all, children. Because it is a hazard, we consider it an environmental injustice and a basic crime for threatening the lives of those who live in said house that contains lead paint. Environmental justice is the equal treatment between people and the environment. How we manage, develop, implement and maintain laws and policies between both nature and humans. An environmental just society would look like a greener and more sustainable place. One full of ways to achieve sustainability and one that does not harm the environment as much as how we do now in current society. In order to sustain an environment just society we just need to keep ourselves, humans, sustainable, not over do anything, such as waste food, buy products that you will never use, and practically living out of just what you need. Something that stood out to me and that I found surprising was the fact that there are other many cities in the US that are also suffering from lead toxicity apart from Philadelphia. I am also wondering why the US hasn't taken any measures to address this big issue that affects a lot of people? Can't they at least provide some sort of help to those affected?

Info-graphic link:

https://infograph.venngage.com/ps/FOen9I5ECY/toxic-city-philadelphia-infographic 

Google doc link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NkcA_XRKZYV7y-w7WiC-wD2iqaQsoKRj4o8UWRworBY/edit?usp=sharing

This is a reflection of the fast plants project made by: Alexander, Bahiya, and Samantha. As my teammates and I looked at the new generation of plants while they grew everyday, we made a few small predictions that we thought would have been passed from the parent seeds to the new baby seedlings. One of the predictions that I remember was that we thought that at least one of the ST/ NP plants will grow a purple leaf, since two of the four parent plants grew the same leaf over the course of its life. With much accuracy, we found out that it did in fact happened, and something else as well. Our new ST / NP plant had not only grown two purple leafs but it also had half of the stem in the same color. Meaning that the trait was there in a more abundant state than in the parent’s. As time went one, we felt that some of the stages of the newer generation were faster, while others stayed the same as the parent. For example, the early stages of the seed having grown a bud or small root system was faster in the newer F2 generation. Not only that but the last stage of the plants preparing to die for the new seeds was also faster than the first generation. That said, we do think that half of the reason for the plant’s death coming faster could had been due to the fact that they weren’t watered as often as the first generation. Though both generations had a root system, as well as gotten supplied with water from the shells they were in. The first generation also recieved water from outside sources every so often (every class day), while the F2 generation, only received water very few times (from outside sources). I think that this might had hindered or fasten the last stages of the plant but apart from that, everything else was normal. The plants looked healthy, they bloomed and they even were more colorful than before. As the plant grows, temperature, water absorption, and other factors can affect the plant’s genetics in order to adapt to a better situation in said environment. For example, if a plant experiences a draut and survives- the “experience” could potentially change the plan’ts genes through a mutation (if it happens) and change the way the plant reserves water or adapts to the situation. This new mutation can then probably be seen through the phenotype of the plant (what can be seen) as a change. In the end, the project was very enjoyable, and though the project did took a long time, it was a fun time to experiment with the different generations and seeing how they changed, and acquired traits from past generations.

My artwork consists on the main character of a pretty famous manga and anime called Tokyo Ghoul. In my art I drew the main character, Ken Kaneki, with his mask in ghoul form. His mask covers all of his mouth and half of his face (downwards). It has an eyepatch that is also attached to the mask and covers his right eye, which is the eye he can’t turn into ghoul form. My second artwork is Kaneki’s best friend, Hide. He has very punked up hair, always seems happy and is also smiling, unlike his friend Kaneki, which is in the drawing, saddened. Lastly, my last drawing is based on Kaneki’s crush, Touka. She is a girl that wears a bunny mask and is a ghoul, unlike Kaneki, who is part human. The reason why I choose this trio of characters is because each one of them is equally important. Hide, Kaneki's friend, as a character, plays off the remaining human aspect of Kaneki while Touka plays the ghoul side. That is the basis of my artwork. In my artwork I just wanted to reflect how much time and dedication I gave towards Kaneki. He is a combination of two worlds and is a very conflicted person. Besides being a ghoul and being conflicted, in a way, I can kinda feel related towards the character as I am come from a different place than where I am from right now. Also I understand concepts that other people cant due to me having experiences from two perspectives, the hispanic side and american side. Due to these reasons, coupled with the fact that the artist I choose to do my artist study, Mark Crilley, also did the same drawing some time ago.This gave me the motivation to do this project based on the series and the style in which it was done. The only tools I used when drawing the whole thing were a point 2 pencil and eraser, no other special tool. As for this artwork, I kinda find it standing out from the rest as it is very different from my past work. This one involved me more time as well as effort, while my usual drawing and work don’t.

When I started creating the work, the thoughts that mostly came up in my mind where two, where does everything belong, and where is the light hitting the character from. This and some images of the characters allowed me to draw the project. When I needed to add more darkness to a certain spot, I just cutted a piece of led from my pencil and with a fresh side, I would add more detail to the drawing. As mentioned before, the artist that inspired me to do this work was Mark Crilley, the reason being was because I loved the styles of art he made due to them being similar to mines, and the fact that he drew the same character a long time ago. This made me even more motivated to draw, and made me do the work in a more dedicated manner. A technique I used a lot in this type of drawing was to always look ahead of the drawing, kinda like foreseeing the future. The reason for this was because I was working a lot with lighting and if I were to redo something then it needed to be before I drew it, since if I did it after, then I would have the eraser marks in the final drawing, which would look awful. So planning ahead was a very helpful technique I used. I am most proud of this work due to the fact that I was able to do such a high detailed drawing with lots success. All that I got was positive feedback and it made me very happy to finish the drawing the way I did. If I could change one thing about the drawing, then it would be to change the neck size, since in the final drawing it was a little too big. In conclusion I can say that the making of these drawings were very helpful to me and made me notice that I could accomplish very complicated things, as well as be able to do it on my own.

My work is called the tree of life through the use of only 5 different colors (White, Blue, Black, Red, and Yellow). The basic description of this work is that it is a sitting tree in a moon, on space. With Astor bodies (meteorites) and stars surrounding the tree. In the backdrop of the painting it has a blue-ish shine to the tree. I want for my work to represent the ever living tree of life, ruler of life and space. I am very scientific and because Earth is the only planet in our universe to have life I wanted to put the tree of life as a celestial being of some sort - Making the tree special in a way. When I was painting the tree I used a pencil to trace the tree and overall design of it, I used three different brushes from thick to thin, a canvas (made of wood), a pallet, and five colors (blue, yellow, red, black and white) which I mixed in order to make any other color I wanted. My current work can relate to my previous one in a sense of location/ scenery. They are both located in space and have a “spacy” theme. My colors are different however, as this current one is more eye popping then the last due to the variety of colors.

When I was making the painting I first started with a drawn outline which I could then color with paint. Then I used a thick brush to make the outline of the moon and space, after that I painted the tree, making the roots and small details of it. After that, I painted the astro-bodies to give depth to the painting, which worked however, currently they pop- too much, which is something I want to fix about it, and that was how I made the painting. In my personal experience, outlining a painting with a pencil should be the very first step that you should take as it would make your work easier to make and you won’t have to think how to do “this and that”. I am most proud of how I managed to make good astro-bodies and a very nice tree. Which was something that I had always had a hard time with. If I were to redo or change this project I would probably delete some stuff of the drawing like the moon and stars, even though it would give it an emptier theme. It would just be more organized and neater. In conclusion I am proud of this project and would likely follow the same steps that I made here, in future projects.

My art is located in space where a NASA rocket cruises around the earth with a cat who has a headset, spouting music, driving it. What I want for people is to identify me, through this drawing. The setting where the drawing takes place is in space with a rocket ship surrounding the earth, which is my dream for when I grow up. The NASA logo represents where I want to work. The cat represents my search for curiosity. Finally the headset he is wearing and the piano looking thrusters at the end of the rocket represents my love for music and dubstep. For the drawing, I used simple tools which included: a pencil, an eraser, a black charcoal pencil and a grey charcoal pencil as well as some colored pencils (yellow, red, orange, blue, light blue, and brown). Every material except the charcoal pencils where used to draw the entire drawing. As for the charcoal pencils, they were used to make the drawing have an “accent” as well as a smoke and steel tone on the rocket. As a whole, I have never worked with charcoal materials until now, because they seemed too messy and add too much “accent” to drawings. As for the style of drawing, I have done “toony themes” before as well as drawings involving rockets.

Relating to my past work, this is definitely not my best, however, I can say this is the most “toony” I have done. While doing the drawing I always thought in my mind, what else, what could I add that related to me and the drawing. Every step I added new stuff and almost every detail in the drawing means something (ex. The cat meaning me, and the headset- the music I  like, as mentioned earlier). With this work and any artwork I do- I never get work from “popular artist” instead I go for the media and get motivated from 3 or more drawings of others to make my own. In this drawing, I used at least 4 different separate artworks of rockets to make my own. While doing this I used circle techniques which involved over tracing circles and other shape techniques which involved sketch work. Something new I learned while doing this project was how to draw with charcoal pencils and how not to be “messy” with them. While doing this I was proud of being able to draw a “visually appealing” cat since I really don’t go well with animals. If I could change one thing about this project, it would either be the white background (since space isn't white) or the stars (which some looked funky). In the end, I really liked the project and my artwork as it displays me and who I am.

Life’s maze; you’re the puzzle solver

Alexander Delgado

When i am online people mostly perceive me as a gamer or someone who likes to watch internet videos and stuff, it is true, but what they do not know is that i also watch the news, i find internet posts and comments and also do a lot of other fun stuff when i am in the internet. It is a huge other world, separated from reality where unlike the real world, anything is possible. You can say i am most likely a poster or commenter, that is what people would say in the internet right?, but in reality everyone is almost the same, they post, they comment, they argue, they solve, but there are some people who are not cautious of what they post, and that it can be a huge impact on the people who get affected by it in any way. Before posting or commenting or doing anything in the internet, you must remind yourself that everyone in the world is gonna watch you, and that anything you say can affect someone else positively or negatively (always remember that). You should also consider what will happen if you lost control over a post you did, or a blog. People might wanna use it against you, or for their own benefit. You can lose control over anything you do on the internet in matter of seconds, heck, at the same time you post something it is in danger, you must always be cautious. Personally i think that when you go to a job that requires you to have social media background checks, i would say OK, but i am still concerned because they will be looking through my stuff and what would happen if some of my stuff gets exposed or even worse, people make lies about my own personal stuff? ( What do you think). This next theme is a common misconception on the internet, freedom of speech. Some people think that because they have the right of freedom of speech they can say whatever they want, that is totally wrong. The freedom of speech right says:” the right to communicate one's opinions and ideas without fear of government retaliation or censorship, but sometimes including any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used.” Not to offend or harass people because of the likes of someone ( it has it’s limits). Another theme that needs to be talked about is Online Trolling, it can be funny but it can also bother a lot of people. Internet Trolls are people that start arguments trying to upset people, by posting inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community. Now there is a way of stopping Trolls, simply just ignore them, that is all it takes. Anonymous posting, the act of posting something without a trace, data, and/or personal information. Anonymous posting has its own benefits like, being able to post something without being noticed, not having to worry about people trolling or harassing you due to your post, and basically not be noticed. Some cons of this is that people might blame other people because of not knowing who posted, due to not knowing who made the post, and the “severity” of the post it can make a big fuzz around the internet and even reach the world.    So if possible, post good and meaningful stuff online, not just any random/ harmful comment, be polite, be honest and express your feelings without hurting anybody. Thank you.