Group Hiking

For this hike, I hiked with 3 other people. My friend, Jaden, my mom, and another hiker we found along the way who was hiking by himself. In the book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Backpacking and Hiking, author, Jason Stevenson says, “Let’s say you’ve tried solo hiking and now you want to share the experience with someone else. Good news: going for a walk in the woods is a great way to meet other people,” (Stevenson 18). Hiking gives the opportunity for long conversation, story sharing, and exercise; all perfect ways to get to know someone (Stevenson 19). Though we weren’t planning on meeting and getting to know another hiker on the trail, we did, and it was a lot more fun. It was interesting to hear about someone else’s experiences on trails and compare them to my own, and to just have someone new to talk to in general.

A tip that Stevenson suggests when hiking in a group is “because slower and faster hikers tend to separate, stop and wait for the entire group to catch up at trail junctions, turns, or confusing sections,” (Stevenson 22). This was helpful and an important reminder to make sure that the group stays together. Although our group was small, it’s easy for a couple people to get farther ahead than the rest of the group, making it important to ensure that no one gets lost. Personally, I’ve never hiked alone and definitely prefer going on trails in a group. What do you prefer? Single or group hiking?  

Thanks for reading! 

Stevenson, Jason. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Backpacking and Hiking. Alpha Books, 2010.

Flat Terrain vs. Elevation Gain

This past weekend, I did a 3.7 mile hike up to Poo Poo point, shorter than I’m used to. There’s 2 trails leading up to the same mountain summit at Poo Poo Point, one with a total of about 8 miles and a much shorter one of 3.7 miles. I had previously done the 8 mile hike, and expected the shorter one to be much easier; it was not. Due to the steepness and less gradual elevation of the trail, it was actually a bit more challenging to hike. Something that Jason Stevenson, author of The Idiot’s Complete Guide to Backpacking and Hiking notes, is that despite the number of miles in a hike, it can still be very challenging, depending on the elevation. “Besides the number of miles, a trails difficulty is determined by how much it goes up and down in elevation. Some trails can be fairly flat, while others can climb and descend hundreds of vertical feet over the course of several miles,” (Stevenson 11). 

This did prove to be true, as the shorter trail was just as hard, if not harder, as the long one. The author even notes that for extremely steep trails, hikers may need to use their hands to pull themselves up to the next step, which wasn’t necessary for this trail, but still a useful tip. 

The constant steepness causes your body to work a lot harder to walk at a higher incline uphill, for a longer period of time. This puts more pressure on your lower back and legs of course, which is why it’s important to stay in shape when pursuing hiking more often. Stevenson suggests that the simplest way to achieve this is through a balanced diet and regular exercise, outside of the trails. This can be started with simply just walking your dog around the neighborhood, then taking runs, and moving onto strength training a few times a week, once you get a bit more comfortable. (Stevenson 63). This was something that I was already used to, since I am physically active 5 days out of the week for swim practice, but was still an important reminder. Going back to elevation vs. flat terrain, Stevenson explains, “And while going downhill is less tiring than going up, it can be just as time- consuming for many hikers because of uncertain footing,” (Stevenson 11). This was also something that I found to be true and was a good warning to hear beforehand, which helped me plan my time efficiently so I knew around what time I would be finished and heading back home. Overall, I’d say the most important thing is remembering that the shorter trail isn’t always the easier one, and take necessary steps to prepare yourself for that! What do you prefer: shorter, steeper trails? Or longer, flatter trails? 

Reality of time lapse similarities

Personality wise, I believe we can improve to be a better version of ourselves. I don't believe that we can change because we always have habits and reflexes when it comes to certain actions or thoughts we make.  From my perspective, I feel I used to be a selfish, rude, and cynical person as a kid. After going through so many life experiences, I "turned over a new leaf" and now I am more selfless, kind and thoughtful towards others. For this post, I decided to not only show some techniques and the process of my paintings, but to also incorporate meaningful interpretations, and other elements that create and bring emotion or lessons to a painting.

For the next 3 paintings I created, I used similar a similar outline of incorporating nature into all my paintings. The connection I am planning to make from the nature paintings are not exactly realistic pictures of how earth truly looks but the figurative way of how I will soon explain through the interpretations.

For the picture below, I decided to do a quartet of miniature paintings to come together as a meaningful piece of art.

"Four Seasons of  Reflection"

Now to be honest, this is not my own original idea behind the Four Seasons. Although I am not exactly sure who created the graphic I was inspired by, I used the picture to help me look at for an outline. This painting I originally did not have any meaning for why I was painting it, I wanted to simply do something relaxing and fun while I had the free time. As I painted these four pictures, I eventually began to break the pieces apart to find what important message I could think of interpreting to relate to humans. If one were to see this painting at a gallery, they probably would have tried to find a connection to the song "Four Seasons" Composed and written by Vivaldi. My intention was not trying to connect those two examples. Figuratively thinking, I found the meaning of change over time, or also known as a time lapse. Everyone believes they change after periods of time, or they change their personality or clothing styles to fit in. This painting I interpreted as although we all believe we change, we are actually growing into different parts of ourselves "phases" we go through as teenagers to try and find who we truly are. In the painting I did not remember to make the tree branches similar but I wanted to show that trees change seasonally and so do we. We all improve and go through many cycles of trying to find who we are as a person and look for our personality and reflect about morals.

Colors play a big role in the complete quartet of paintings I created above. We all think of Happiness when it's the summer time. Some of us are connect sadness and gloomy days to the fall or winter time. Spring is seen as a chance of renewal (crops and flowers).  The "Four Seasons of Reflection" can be interpreted in many ways. In the book, "The Painter's Eye Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art" By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, explains a lot about the influence meaning behind color from any piece of artwork. "Artists use intensity of color to convey mood. Value refers to light or dark aspects of color. The lighter the color, the closer it is to white, the darker the color, the closer to black." (Greenberg and Jordan 32). The color of the seasons show how the weather affects mood as well and incorporate multiple impressions of happiness, relaxation, sadness, etc.

Graphic Inspiration photo 

The photo pictured on the left was an inspiration I found while just randomly searching on google what to paint. The seasons as I mentioned before meant the different phases of change we go through to reflect over our inner-selves. I personally really believed this painting connected to me well because I have multiple personalities with different people and I believed that I have changed and matured. Leaves change color and fall representing death is to me giving up a dream that was not fulfilled to create a new adventure of finding what life is to us. Although my painting skills are not at standard yet, I will be explaining the materials and how I use them to create different visual effects on my painting.

Tree Trunk Process

First, to create the tree trunk, I used dark brown paint and painted the bottom first to create a general outline of what shape tree I wanted. Eventually I added branches to show more whimsical affect. 

Brush definition 

When I painted the winter themed tree, I used a very dry and stiff haired brush. If the brush was smooth and had flexible hairs, the snowflakes would not show definition or precise lines. This effect made it easier for me to learn and go through a simple process of using a soft hand grip. 

Resourceful Painting

For the green tree representing summer, I used only the curve of the eraser to create leaves on the tree. Using things around my house besides brushes makes it easier to craft different shapes. The eraser technique I used as a stippling effect in my previous painting.

Art Connection 

For Fall seasons, I used a brush to emphasize the multiple colors of leaves. Since they fall down to the ground I painted the photo by using a brush to mix three to four colors. Seeing nail art videos made me relate the mixing of colors at the bottom of the painting as a marbled look. 








After finishing the final product, I realized and reflected back on how much I have changed over time. Since I'm a very emotional person I began to bawl my eyes out for multiple reasons and the experiences that have changed me. 

The next painting, I created was more of a scenery and time lapse effect.

Blending Colors 

Before I began painting, I looked up pictures of nature in general and tried to find graphics that I could take ideas from to incorporate in my paintings to make meaningful interpretations. I came to a picture of a moon and instantly remembered my eighth grade science class. The phases of the moon gave me an idea to connect back to my first painting of the different seasons.


The process of painting the background is quite simple. I chose similar colors and shades of blue, green and shades of purple to show contrast in the beauty of night skies. To create the soft blend of colors, I made sure to mix multiple colors from gradient levels to show transitions from different colors easily. To do this, I used a wide and thick brush to make it faster while creating full strokes. Doing full straight lines across the canvas will make it easier for no mistakes to come along the road while doing short motions of the brush will create a more curved mark when viewing the painting as the brush lifts up. The movement and marks a brush leaves on a canvas can indicate various interpretations of feelings. For my Quarter 2 IRP project, I have been reading the book, "The Painter's Eye Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art" By Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. Every mark made on the canvas has a symbolic meaning behind it. The language of art takes a lot of analyzing and patience.

According to the book, "Each of these lines conveys its own mood to the viewer. Vertical lines can be seen as strong, rigid, formal or even religious. Horizontal lines can be interpreted as peaceful depressed, or serene. Jagged lines may indicate excitement, anger, or energy. Curved lines often are sensuous, organic, and rhythmic." (Greenberg and Jordan 21).

Every mark made has a meaning, some could just be for detail and fillers. Art is a language that is made from the heart to analyze every mark, stroke, color, and alliteration that pieces together into a puzzle of imagination.

"Same Moon, Same Person"

The final product of my painting, I wanted the picture to capture a time lapse of the moon's movements and phases over a month. The background is the sky and the details added in the bottom left corner are stilts with features of rocks to add detail on a beach. The whole takeaway I want viewers to see from this piece of art is the change over time. The moon changes its position, color, times of presence, and overall the moon is constantly changing. Technology, fashion trends, and our own personalities are constantly changing to fit into societal norms. I have seen this trend when teenagers move from grade school, secondary, and finally high school. Many try to be something they are not and constantly change fashion looks and flaunt what they have to grab other's attentions and make friends. The moon is the same, and so is everyone around us. We all put up an act to get through the day and so does the moon. Each day, different and new. We will always still have parts of our past reflect in our daily actions no matter how hard we try to mask them in disguise.

This painting was originally made because I had excess paint from my last painting "Same Moon, Same Person". I have made similar paintings like this during the summer when I had the lack of knowledge for finding meaningful interpretations of artwork. Now that I have been reading and teaching myself to think in a critical and new perspective, I was able to create an interpretation of nature and the effects of human actions that threaten our environment.


Now this painting I created is not that creative or one of a kind. I'm sure many painters or freelancers have done the majestic look of skies before as well. I used the same technique of combining similar shades of blue, green, and purple to give a nice contrast. The black is simply just mountain scenery and the nude dots are stars.


In this painting I used the technique called " A matter of space". In the book it states that, "But whether their art is abstract or realistic, they still make use of many of the same techniques to create perspective or the illusion of depth." (Greenberg and Jordan 70). The overlapping colors shows the depth of converging lines and colors while I didn't make the mountain too big to take away the beauty of the sky.


Now my question for you is have you ever seen anything like this in your own bare eyes with nature? I'm sure many of us would say no, but I would love to experience that beautiful night sky. After finishing this painting, I realized how much technology and industries have sucked in and taken over our natural beauty of a city that once was clear and not full of pollution. We don't see as many stars as we should because of the clouds of gas and industrial works that have harmed our environment. While thinking about this after, I changed my views on many things I normally do. Not only are vehicles harmful but electricity as well. My hope for the future is to find a way to get rid of many harmful pollutants in the atmosphere and go back to the clear skies before the Industrial Revolution.

Greenberg, Jan, and Sandra Jordan. The Painter's Eye: Learning to Look at Contemporary American Art. New York: Delacorte, 1991. Print

Overall, this book has helped broaden my thinking skills by thinking deeper about every small detail that is present in an image. This post I moved away from finding inspiration from the book but connecting it to nature and finding ways to connect them with human actions, emotions, and development.

If my clue was "Humans" for all the paintings I created above, how would you have interpreted either one of them? Do you think it would have been difficult and confusing?

Besides the connection of Nature and Humans, what ideas did you have in mind for me to work on next?

Leave a comment down below :)

Photography - Keeping Everything In Focus

Keeping Everything In Focus: Gatcum, Chris. The Beginner's Photography Guide, 2nd Edition. New York: DK, 2016. Print.

"When you're presented with a stunning view, it's only natural to want everything in your photograph to be as sharp as it appears to the naked eye." (Gatcum, 56).

There are certain steps one must take to ensure that the picture you take are the sharpest they can be. To ensure that your photo is the best quality it can be, auto-focusing may be the way to go. The book I have helped explain how the amount of light given to a photo can affect how you focus. Where you take the picture from determines what is and is not in focus. Also the amount of time given to a photo, the shutter speed, will affect how clear or hazy a photo turns out. Taking a step back can help fit everything in shot, too. 

In this photo, I was in a situation where it was a very bright and sunny day, with a bit of cloud coverage. I choose to take my picture of the side of the building, facing my back to the harsh glare of the sun. It helped my lighting and I was able to take a nice, clear, focused photo.

What do you think is best for a quality photo - a photo with everything in focus and clear or a photo that is not focused or clear, yet has a narrative?