Sample of Student Writing Inspired by Geometry and Renaissance Studies

A. Verdoia

Humans, as I see it, are born to create; however, they do not know when to stop. When they exceed the materials needed to survive as a species, they cease to be a species of creation, and become a species of destruction. I apply this theory to my Perspective Photoshop City. I needed to turn that collection of lines into a piece of art, yet I also needed to know when to stop tweaking the city and just let it be. I learned self restraint in all three stages of my city project (drawing, thinking of ideas, and transforming).

My first example is when I was first drawing my city in perspective. This was the hardest part of the project, because I had to get everything just right, or else, I would have to start over. Needless to say, I was very   careful during this stage. I had a solid sketch. To keep my message clear, I had to have not too many buildings, because that would suggest that I thought humans had already completely filled up the planet. If I had too few, it would suggest that humans were not dominant on this planet, which is also untrue. Also, for several of the buildings, I ended up erasing some details (windows, railings) because it also made the building of lesser quality. I had to know when there was the bare minimum needed to make my statement clear.

When I had scanned my city into the computer, many lines did not come out. I spent hours after school going over these lines. During this time I began brainstorming ideas. I came up with countless ideas, but I had to know when to discontinue brainstorming and choose an idea. I also spent lots of time at home planning my pictures and background at home on a sketch I had. I made myself recognize the time to begin working, and stop thinking. If I overdeveloped my idea, it would become indistinct.

My final example is related to the transforming of my city. I knew, going into the final stage of the project, that if I overdid the warping, my city would be a giant mess. If I did not have enough visual "stuff" going on, my city would, in a word, suck. I wanted a clear and pithy message, but I wanted it to show creativity and hard work. In fact, my favorite city is the one that is least abstract, because it did show the message. The eyeglass is creative, but it is hard to see the background, which, I think, is the whole message.

My purpose was to contrast the horrific human actions and the beauty of nature. The sky is an apocalyptic red, with nukes going off in the distance. I put the reflection of the city in the sunglass because I felt that the message would be more powerful if it was shown in the eye of a fellow human. I show the reflection in only the left eyeglass, to give the impression that the man is scanning the horizon in disbelief. I do this also as a political statement. Left-handed people are the minority in our society. I believe that the people who are smart enough to know when to stop are also the minority in our society.

In conclusion, I believe man will have a revelation, but only through some great disaster, that he has to take care of what he calls his own. In short, man has to learn self-restraint, as I did in this project.