Setting up a blog. Done!
Know what to do next? ERM, no.
OK, not a problem, let's be proactive and see what
we can do.
Check BlackBoard! Right OK we are getting
somewhere... and it looks nothing like it does any more! Never mind
carry on navigating around... and... ahhh holy crap how the fuck did
I do that?!
Right! First entry. (This is a little weird!)
Name: Olivia Davy
Where are you from: A small town no one has heard
of in Hertfordshire (yay?!)
How and why did you choose this course: Let's
start with "How"....
For starters, I don't know. I found out about this
course when I started Sixth Form at my school. At GCSE I wanted to do
the Sciences. Hence doing Biology, Chemistry and Physics. I wanted to
do Biology, "oooooo look forensic and fingerprints and all the
dusty stuff you get to put everywhere" and "oooooooo look
at all the animals that are ill and you get to cut them open and
operate, but look how CUTE they are". In the end I did better at
Physics! Go figure! That was not what I wanted, everything that I
wanted to do went wrong and everything that I didn't want to do I got
right? How?
So why at A-Level decide to change everything? Why
look like a mad cow going from Science to Art? To be honest, they are
no where near even related. Only similarity the look at body
structure, but yet again COMPLETELY different views on it. Ones how
do muscles pass oxygen and all that shit and art, look at how the
body is shaped and how it moves and the light and the shading and
blah blah blah! But I admired my friends GCSE Art. It was somewhat a
calling? I looked at it and wanted to draw. I admit, I enjoyed
painting and drawing and whatnot but that was painting by numbers and
having a colouring in book. Even then there was some satisfaction.
But coming from not having done any Art whatsoever for 2 years and
jumping straight into the lions den at A-Level. I'll be honest. I
shat myself.
I had some knack, only a little but nothing
spectacular. I had to work for the skills. Work for the
understanding. Some will never understand the amount of principles
and rules you have to work by to even start creating an art piece!
You can't draw a face if one eye is wonky and the nose is 100x bigger
than the lips? It's not going to work?! I needed to understand, I
walked in blind and I had to catch up fast. But this motivation, this
lack of understand is something that got my butt in gear? I didn't
want to feel left behind. I wanted to be in the know. Research
artists and taking your own photos having an understanding of
everything is only the start. You can't copy the great masters! The
great masters made mistakes and made it their own! That's why now,
they're so fucking hard to copy (trust I know). But in the end of
thinking all of this, that in my final year, year 13 I was doing an
A2 Fine Art, A2 Product Design and an AS in Photography (yes I did do
AS Biology, I thought there would be some crossover.. no... oh no, I
was wrong).
But how did all of the above lead to "Games
Art". No one knows what it is. It is such an unknown course to
the outside world that whoever asks me what I’m doing at Uni they
look like they know what it is.. but inside they're think "what
the hell is she talking about? Is that even a course?". Yes! Yes
it is. It is even recognized by the industry.. That's when it gets
their attention, "It's recognized by the industry!".
In my own mind I liked Games. I played them, I
lived inside them, I created special scenes in my head and in my
dreams. Or that was just by playing to much of them! I don't know. I
enjoyed playing games, I enjoyed Art. Why not put two and two
together? I thought about it but thought no. This is ridiculous! But
after reading a magazine "Imagine FX" that's when I saw it
was true. The concept art, the digital painting, the traditional
drawings, the workshops, the workspaces, the games and the art all in
one magazine and it was a dream come true. It mentioned Games Art. I
finally believed it was out there. But where in gods name is there a
Uni that will do a "Games Art" course?! My determination to
find this magic was unbounded, limitless until my head was on my desk
and I was sleeping in a pool of dribble. I found some Universities
that did this course. But were they "THE" course? A lot
were just full of bullshit. Just thinking they were doing the right
thing? So in the end I rounded it down to 5 Unis. 3 were shit, 2
left.
Hmmmm... Leicester. Lets have a look!? 1 hour 30
mins away from home (including traffic sometimes). Perfect! Skillset?
What's that? Basically the industry loves this course. Awesome!
Grades? Ahhh.. maybe. I'm going to have to work for it. I was
sceptical. Very sceptical about how to get into this course. I was
scared, nervous, anxious and I spent many tears and long nights
debating on how I can do this. I knew it was hard work, but I want
this. I said to myself why the hell am I even debating, just go and
fucking do it Olivia! Seriously! GO! I. CAN. DO. IT!
16th August 2012. Check UCAS.
Miss Olivia Davy,
Congratulations....
I didn't read any more, I cried with joy. It's
like the saying:
"A journey of a thousand miles, begins with a
single step"
This is my journey, I’m going to start Uni, at
the Uni I want, on the course that I want and get the skills and the
job that I want. I'm going to blood, sweat and tears into this and if
there isn't then I am not working hard enough. This is my first step.
