PERSONAL

EXPERIENTIAL
BY
COSETTE
LEARNING MANSON
 MY SKILL

The main focus of my experiential learning is digital

art. This includes:
Learning how to use my drawing application
Learning how to draw with an Apple pencil
Learning how to draw without tracing
Practicing certain skills such as
Shading
Line work
Proportions
MY WEEKLY LOG
 WEEK 1
This week I practiced line work. I decided that I’d practice this with flowers and
natural elements. One of my goals for this experience is to draw freehand, without
tracing. I used references for all three of these sketches; however, I did not trace.
It required a lot of patience, but I found it to be very relaxing once I got the hang
of it. I drew on Sunday, Tuesday, and Friday, for a total of 4 hours. Next week,
I’m hoping to make more complex drawings and to learn how to do some shading.
 WEEK 2
This week I practiced shading… which was quite the
difficult task. I started off with a simple drawing of a
coffee cup, just so I could practice lighting/shadows.
Next, I moved onto a face. I became quite
discouraged because I didn’t like how it turned out. I
realized that drawing hair is very hard. Drawing
faces in general is hard, too. I didn’t complete this
drawing because I was too discouraged. I moved
onto my next drawing, which was a latte. I was very
proud of myself after completing this drawing. I
learned a lot when I drew this picture; I learned how
to use many tools on the Procreate App. I learned
how to use different brushes, and I learned how to
use the blend tool. I drew on Sunday, Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday, for a total of 5 hours.
 WEEK 3
This week I didn’t have time to draw much because I was very busy with all of
my schoolwork, but I made sure to squeeze in some drawing time. I was able to
draw for around 2 hours on Tuesday. I also spent this time researching how to
make an animated GIF with my drawing program. I drew this cup of coffee, and
I was able to transform it into an animation. Unfortunately, I’m not able to add it
to this document. It took a lot of time to figure out, and I wasn’t expecting to
learn this type of stuff during this experience, but I’m glad it took this
unexpected turn!
 WEEK 4
This week, I didn’t complete a drawing; however, I decided to try new
effects and tools within my drawing app. I wanted to get to know the
program a bit better. I learnt how to use effects within the “layers”,
such as effects like “burn” or “multiply”. This kind of blends layers
together. I practiced blending using different brushes, and I also
practiced using the “liquify” tool. I also found some things out along
the way. I found out I could create colour palettes within the app by
uploading pictures with a colour palette that I want to use. I did this
for a total of 2 hours on Friday.
 WEEK 5
This week I practiced drawing people, and I
also practiced shading and shadows. I
practiced addings shadows to the hat, coat,
and pants. I had a hard time drawing the hair,
and I started to get very frustrated. I still
persevered through this drawing, though. I
enjoyed this drawing because I love fashion
and I had the opportunity to draw some
clothes and to try and draw different
textures. I drew for a total of 2 hours on
Thursday.
 WEEK 6
This week I started drawing my final drawing for this project. I
wanted to draw something that incorporates everything I’ve learned
thus far. I was talking to my boyfriend and he asked me to draw a
desktop background for his computer. I thought that this would be the
perfect opportunity to draw something for my PEL! The drawing I
decided on is a little goofy, but I’m excited to finish it. My boyfriend
loves ramen so I decided to draw a ramen bowl with his head peeking
out of it. I started drawing the bowl, the background, and a few of
the ramen toppings. This took 3 hours. I drew for 1 hour on Tuesday,
and 2 hours on Friday.
 WEEK 7
This week, I completed my final drawing. This drawing allowed me to incorporate everything I
learned during this experience. For this drawing, I did some line work, drew a human face,
added some shading, added some shadows, added some light, and I also used some pretty cool
tools from my App! I used the liquify tool to make this funky background. I also used some
interesting smoke brushes to draw the steam. In addition, I got to work with different brushes,
layers, effects, and colours. Even though this is kind of a funny drawing, I’m proud of myself
and I love this drawing! This week I drew for a total of 4 hours. I drew for 2 hours on Sunday,
and 2 hours on Monday.
WHAT DID I LEARN?
 HIGHLIGHTS CHALLENGES
I learned many skills throughout this experience. I learned During this experience, I learned a few things about my
how to use all of the mechanics and effects on my temperament and the way I deal with stress. Sometimes,
drawing app. I also learned how to use many different it was a little bit hard to find motivation to work on my
brushes, how to create colour palettes, and I also learned skill, especially near the end of the semester. I had a lot
many drawing techniques, such as line work, shading, of schoolwork, so it was hard to manage everything. I
shadows, and highlights. I drew many different types of would sometimes procrastinate a little bit, which would
drawings, such as nature, faces, and objects. This stress me out a lot. I came to realize that I am not a good
experience taught me a lot of things about myself, too. It procrastinator, and actually doing the task that I was
taught me that learning a skill takes a lot of hard work putting off reduces my stress levels. So... I did just that!
and dedication; however, the hard work is worthwhile. Every time I felt as though I was starting to feel stressed,
Not only was I able to create art pieces that I'm proud of, I would take out my iPad and I would draw. Not only
but people who I am close to were proud of me, too. I would this relax me (which is something else I found out
heard countless people in my life compliment me on the about myself - drawing relaxes me), but I would also
art pieces I completed, which was extremely encouraging. create art pieces in return! Another challenge that I
I learned that sometimes, when you feel unmotivated, all encountered is constantly trying to make everything look
it takes is words of encouragement from someone you perfect. I often got frustrated when something didn't look
love. For me, it wasn't too hard to work on my skill for the way I wanted to. This is still something I have to work
more than 6 hours because I received many words of on!
encouragement from my family and friends, I chose a skill
that I am passionate about, and I took this opportunity to
make art for people I'm close to. I personally love making
and giving gifts to people, and this was the perfect
opportunity to do so!
 HOW DOES THIS
EXPERIENCE RELATE TO
THE COURSE MATERIAL?
 ANALYSIS
This experience was closely related to self-regulation, and it taught me a lot about this concept. Having to set
goals, having to teach myself how to use my drawing program, and having to manage my emotions when dealing
with stress are all related to self regulation. In order to properly self regulate, I had to listen to my body. When I
started to feel on edge, I took a break. When I was drawing for hours and began to feel tired, I stopped
drawing and took a bath. I think that knowing your own body and knowing how to regulate your emotions and
stress is crucial when trying to learn a new skill. In addition, self regulation is closely linked to rewards and
motivation, which is another concept we discussed in the readings. We learned that there are two types of
motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is when you do something because you want to do it. This
is linked to high quality achievement. Extrinsic motivation is when you do something because you know you’re
going to receive something in return. This leads to many negative outcomes. When learning my skill, I never
gave myself any rewards, simply because I was learning something that interests me. This may not have been
the case if I did not have any self regulation skills.
In my case, this experience relates to the readings we did about creativity, especially Sir Ken Robinson's "Do
schools kill creativity?" He explains that the human race is diverse, and we are all different. Human are
inherently creative; however, this creativity often diminishes due to the education system. This experience
allowed me to be creative in an institution that may not always promote creativity. This also reminded me of a
quote we discussed in my reading recap group. It said: "The creative adult is the child who survived". This quote
was extremely touching to me, and I believe that it's important to allow students to be creative, which is what I
was able to do, as a student, during this experience.
 HOW DOES THIS
EXPERIENCE RELATE TO
LESSON AND UNIT
PLANNING?
 LESSON AND UNIT PLANNING
This experience is related to lesson and unit planning for many different reasons. First of all, I had to
organize my time effectively to properly learn my skill. As a teacher, I also have to effectively organize my
time to properly cover all of the material I want to teach. In addition, students learn skills at school, too! They
learn math skills, reading skills, writing skills, etc; it's important for me to know what it takes to effectively
learn a skill to help my future students learn skills. Furthermore, like I mentioned previously, it's important to
not kill creativity in children, and because this experience taught me that creating art pieces can be
extremely soothing and relaxing, I'll ensure to include creative components to all culminating tasks I assign
to my future students. This relates to the short film we watched in class, Including Samuel. Creative
assignments allow all students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. Lastly, this experience
will help me create lessons and worksheets in the future. Learning how to create digital art is extremely
valuable when you're a teacher. I can use this skill to make unique clipart and to design worksheets. I could
even create posters and decorations for my class!
 SELF-INITIATED
LEARNING, TEACHER
SELF-CARE AND
WELLBEING
 FUTURE GOALS

I thoroughly enjoyed this experience and I can't wait to teach myself new skills in the future. I think
it's extremely important to take time for myself and to learn things of value, instead of being on my
phone and watching tv. Having goals is extremely important and makes me feel like I'm not wasting
my time. Learning a new skill is so motivating. Allocating a few hours a week for myself to learn a skill
is something I will continue doing. I know my body (and my brain) better than anyone else; I know that
I can start to feel stressed when I'm not doing anything valuable with my time. I will continue to polish
this skill in the coming months, because I know it will help my mental health. In addition, I hope to
learn more skills linked to art and technology. Now that I've learned how to use the app Procreate, I
can now move on to more complicated applications, now that I know the basics!
THAT'S A WRAP!

Thank you!
 REFERENCES
Habib, D., McNamara, B., Ḥabīb, S., Habib, I., Jones, K., Malfy, A., Orellana, N., Huff, E., Jorgensen, C., & Schuh, M.
(2009). Including Samuel. DH Photography.

Rewards Are Still Bad News 25 Years Later. (2018, November 27). Retrieved from
https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/rewards-25-years-later/

Rootsofempathy. (2015, July 13). Dr. Stuart Shanker - Self-Regulation [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84GHcfzXsmw&t=3309s&ab_channel=RootsofEmpathy

Robinson, S. K. (February 2006). Do schools kill creativity? Retrieved from

https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en