Researching myself - class exercise

During an exercise in class I was advised to create a drawing that presents me. It had to show some of the things that shaped me as a person and as an artist. It was important to show who I am, who is important to me, what places are close to my heart, what is my personality and what brought me to where I am now, literally and in my mind. 

This is the piece I have created:

    In the background I have painted a panorama of my hometown - Toruń. 

    Starting with my early childhood, I decided to put my earliest memories on my hands and arms. I chose to do so, because children use their hands to explore and experience the world. On my right hand I put my family and a pet I had when I was little, a turtle named Tuptuś. Then I put Donald Duck and my teddy bear. Donald Duck is there to represent all the comic books I have read about him when I was younger. Definitely my sense of humor was shaped by those comics and characters. The teddy bear is one of my favorite toys I still have from my childhood, even right now - in the UK, I still have that teddy bear traveling with me. On my left hand I started with the visuals that were pretty much the first ones I have seen. The pattern of yellow ducks on a green background is a pattern I had on my wallpaper for about 5 first years of my life. Next there are characters from Monsters Inc., a movie that was definitely one of my favorites growing up, even though when I first started watching it, I was too young and I found the movie really scary which caused me having nightmares about it all the time. Next there is Winnie The Pooh. From the age of 6 my bedroom was themed Winnie The Pooh because of how important that character was to me. It is once again, on of my favorite characters of all time. On my upper arm, there are logos of two TV Channels  that I watched when I was very young. I was exposed to those cartoon programs when I was very little, because I have an older sister who would watch it very often. 

    Going chronologically, I have concentrated on the head when portraying my next stage of growing up. I used the head, to show that all the activities shown there have impacted my brain and the way it works to be what it is now. I drew a piano, because I played the piano when I was 7 and 8 years old, I went to a music school. Taking up classes in music school have improved my memory, which is now extraordinary. I have placed there objects connected to art, because I have been going to art extracurricular activities from the age of 6. That has impacted my creativity. I have put on dance and drama. I attended ballet for some time and then I switched to hip hop when I realized ballet was not for me. Both dance and drama affected my sensitivity and memory. I have put a UK flag, because school is when I started treating English language seriously and really tried to get good at it. I know it payed off and I am glad I did what I did to get where I am now. I also drew symbols representing mathematics. Mathematics is something I got really into in elementary school and my math hobby continues to this day. It definitely sounds odd to people that I am an artist with a passion for mathematics, but that is who I am. I have colored the background of the head in read, to represent the passion I have for all the things put there. However, with my mind running all the time, I need a place where my brains slows down and relaxes. That place is the little house I drew. It is my summer house in the forest and it is a place where I can relax and slow down. It is why I added color green in the background of it. It represents the calmness. 

    My legs take me places, and that is why on them I have presented the trip that shaped me the most. It is when I moved to the US for a year. There is a sunflower - Kansas state flower, to represent the state in which I lived in. I am wearing a Nike running shoe, to show that I was a high school athlete - runner and a basketball player, it is why on my left leg, there is a basketball. I also drew a little couple, to show that this is where I met my current boyfriend. There is a person wearing a cap and gown to present that I graduated in the US, just like in the movies. It was really important to me to place a FLEX logo, because FLEX is a program that made my whole trip possible, by giving me a scholarship. My trip was sponsored by the US Department of State and I was under the responsibility of States'4-H International. 

    On my heart I have placed people that are the most important to me: my family, my boyfriend and my friends. I have chosen to put them on my heart, because I do keep them in my heart at all times. 

    On my stomach, I have added things that brought me to where I am today. The place that showed me the art of animation is the Gallery and Centre of Artistic Creativity for Children. This is where I took my art classes when I was little and my graphic design classes when I was a teenager. I was watching Disney and Pixar movies from when I was really young and their animations definitely affected the route I decided to take in life. I have practiced my storytelling skills during various workshops, for example FLEX-Ability, where I was learning how to storyboard or do short films telling a story. I have been active during TOFIfest festival to enlarge my passion for films and filmography. I was in TOFIfest youth jury in 2017 and I have actively volunteered in 2019, when I got a chance to take care of festival guests from Canada. I always try to get myself acquainted with people who are in the industries that interest me. I made the decision to travel abroad for university, because I love seeing new places and experiencing new cultures. 

Lastly, I have added my personality traits on the drawing. Some are close to my heart and some are close to my brain. Depending on how I see those particular traits. I have added a medal that says competitive because that trait I see as a big one that got me where I am. I love any sort of competition, I study better when I know there is someone I am going against. It is motivating me. Above all traits, I have added BRAVE. I never really thought about myself as a brave person, but looking at everything I have achieved, and I am only 20 years old, I think I have a lot of bravery and courage. Looking at the fact, that I went oversees by myself when I was 17, decided to move out to England by myself when I was 19, spoke at a number of conferences as a speaker, attended variety of workshops and webinars to educate myself and decided to do two schools at the same time - year 0 at DMUIC and my last year of high school by homeschooling myself, I think I am very courageous, brave and I believe in investing in myself.