Sunday, February 8, 2026

Wolf Spirit


 Analog


Digital




Notes and Rough Drafts

 



Reflection:
The subject of this illustration that I chose was a self portrait with my spirit animal. The image portrays a portrait of me and next to me, the spirit of a wolf glowing bright as well as my eyes glowing as well and we are both surrounded by mist and smoke for more spiritual effects. The analog version is a pencil only drawing mainly focusing on line work, especially with the hair and the spiritual effects around the figure of myself. When translating the work to a digital version, I decided to go for a style that portrayed more surrealism. Something unusual, fictional, and something relating to the fantasy genre. With digital, more colors were used due to not being limited to just a pencil and there was more rendering done as well. Digital painting also assisted more with the portrayal of surrealism as it helped the spirit of the wolf have a much more supernatural appearance with it being one solid color with lower opacity for a spirit look, as well as bright and glowing effects. The idea for this illustration was because when I personally think of spirit animals, I picture an actual spirit with a person as if they were their guardian. That idea opened many ideas for a surreal image of something supernatural and fantasy based. As for the wolf, although wolves tend to stay in packs and I consider myself more independent, wolves are actually pretty independent as well except when it comes to their pack, which are the ones they are closest to and loyal to. I tend to stay close to the ones i am close to such as friends and family and look out for them the same way wolves look out for their own packs. Overall, this was a very spiritual illustration and portrayal of a concept with a fantasy twist.







Friday, May 23, 2025

FLAGShip Korea Journal Entries: Day 9 (05/20/2025)

 Day nine and the final day of our trip to Korea was another great day and we all made sure to enjoy it to the fullest. We started our day meeting in the lobby and we then took a bus to Haneul Park. I initially thought it was just a park but it contained many educational facts and research on eco-friendly methods for the environment including creating sources of energy and how to handle waste in more environmentally friendly ways. It was a nice park to take a walk in but also quite an educational spot. After the tour of the park, we got back on the bus and went to our farewell lunch. We all had different kinds of chicken depending on our preferences and we grilled the meat ourselves in front of us. It was definitely a very filling and satisfying lunch. After lunch, we were all let go for free time and had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. There was a certain cafe nearby called Flippers that I still wanted to try so I went straight there after we got back. They had these fluffy pancakes with cream and fruit that I have always wanted to try. Those pancakes did not disappoint and were just as good as I thought they would be. It may be the last day of our FlagSHIP trip but I am still spending an extra week here to visit family. But as far as this FlagSHIP goes, I have enjoyed every second of being here and would definitely love to come back again in the future.



Tuesday, May 20, 2025

FLAGShip Korea Journal Entries: Day 8 (05/19/2025)

 Day eight felt like a pretty simple day but still had interesting and new sites for us to see. We all got up and took the subway to a place known as Hallyu K-Star Road. It was a long street that was lined up with statues of cartoon bears that had designs inspired by Kpop stars and idols. It felt very immersive in including the constantly growing global sensation that is Kpop. Once we saw all the bears, we took a bus to COEX. Right before we stepped into the COEX mall, we saw a big statue of two hands in the very popular Gangnam Style dance move. Again, it felt very cool to see something Kpop related be remembered with a captivating landmark. After we took pictures of in front of the statue, we all entered the mall and were then given free time. I spent most of it just wandering around and the mall itself felt like a giant maze. I didn't want to spend too much but spent a little on arcade games. For lunch, I had KFC which was surprisingly very busy and packed with many people. Overall, the mall had a nice atmosphere with a cool library in the middle which I have seen all over social media and I am glad that I finally got to see it in person. We then left to go back to the hotel and after resting, I went out to dinner. I had dinner at 1993 which is a restaurant that was across from our hotel. I had pizza and fried dumplings and they were very good and filling. Overall, it was a fun but also chill kind of day. 



Sunday, May 18, 2025

FLAGShip Korea Journal Entries: Day 7 (05/18/2025)

 Day seven was personally to me definitely one of the most exciting days of this trip. On this day, we had to wake up earlier than we have been to talk about the day and get to the Hanbok rental shop. We all arrived at the shop and immediately started putting our bags away, getting our sizes, and picking out what hanboks we wanted to wear. I chose a dark purple skirt with a lighter top. Once we were all changed, we left the shop and headed to Changdeokgung palace and the secret gardens. The palace was beautiful with long trails and many beautiful sites. Wearing those hanboks made us all take so many pictures of not just the sceneries, but mainly ourselves. I think. that is the most pictures I have ever taken of myself. The gardens were also very beautiful and the day also had great weather to go with it. Once we spent a few hours there, we returned to the shop and returned our hanboks. Afterwards, we all left to grab lunch and I ate a place called Chimps Burger and got an order of chili cheese fries. After lunch, we headed to Bukchon Hanok Village for a tour. Due to it being a residential area, there were people and many signs telling others to be quiet. The village was beautiful and had many great sites but also felt like a pretty big hike. Overall, this is was probably one of my favorite days of this trip.



FLAGShip Korea Journal Entries: Day 6 (05/17/2025)

 Day six of this trip was full of mainly shopping. We all went to Myeongdong which had streets full of shops and places to eat as well as an underground shopping center. I first went and browse around the underground shopping center and found many nice shops and Kpop related merchandise. There were many Kpop stores which is what excited me a lot. I did not expect to buy much but there were many things that caught my eye so I decided to have a lot of fun while I was there. I purchased some Kpop merchandise as well as a few clothing items. After shopping for a bit, I had lunch at McDonalds which was nice to eat something I was familiar with, but also interesting to see how different it was in Korea. After shopping, we headed for Seoul Tower which is personally a place that I have always wanted to see if I ever came to Korea. The bus ride was a bit long and rough but it still got us there in the best way. We had to take a bit of a hike but we eventually reached the tower which was very lively and had a great view. We went up the tower which had much more in it than I expected. Not only a breath taking view, but also a few shops and a cafe to get something to eat. After the tower, I was feeling very tired and just went straight back to the hotel. Overall, this was a very fun day of shopping and site seeing at a prominent landmark in Seoul.



Saturday, May 17, 2025

FLAGShip Korea Journal Entries: Day 5 (05/16/2025)

Day five was a free day with no itinerary to follow. I went to Lotte World which is an indoor and outdoor amusement park filled with many attractions, rides, and restaurants. It was a little challenging at first navigating the subways by ourselves, but we eventually figured it out and found the entrance. We bought out tickets and went straight in. We first started a small haunted house attraction which was short and not all that scary. We then went to search for as many rides as we could find so we could have a fun day. We went on a water raft ride which was pretty easy and simple and had captivating attractions in it. We then went to the outside area of the park but were not able to do too much due to the rain. While at the park, we went on two simulation rides with one being very small and not too exciting, and another bigger one which had a very long wait but the surreal experience that the ride had to offer made the whole wait worth it. We then had a lat lunch, almost dinner, as a fried chicken restaurant which was really good and filling after a day of attractions. Once we finished eating, we made reservations for this one roller coaster ride which was called "The French Revolution." It was a big roller coaster located on the inside and it was probably one of the biggest rides that Lotte World had to offer. The ride was thrilling and exciting and was personally to me the best ride we rode that day. Overall, this was a very fun and eventful day. I had known about Lotte world and was always interested in checking it out and I am so glad I finally got to go and spend a whole day there. This will definitely be a place I hope to visit again if I ever come back to Korea. 


 

The Bonghwang

Pages       Reflection The goal of this project was to create a 12 page illustrated book of a popular story, fable, myth, or legend from Asi...