Category Archives: Sol – Course Character

The Silent War: Exposing Aggressive Technologies’ Assault on Creativity and Freedom

Sol has made a video pitch on why Aggressive Technologies should be run out of business. We all know that Sol has no hope for Aggressive Technologies and does not have faith that they will be good for humanity, so they have finally stepped foot to try to make a change.

Here is the video pitch:

They wrote the script for the video pitch, but utilized what they consider a good form of AI to create text to speech, because they did not want to reveal themselves quite yet and wanted to keep anonymity.

The pitch is more to start a movement, to gather people and gain more voices against Aggressive Technologies. Sol really wishes they could explain how the first red flag should’ve been the word Aggressive in the title . . . foolish of them.

While they’re not human, they understand how important human creativity is, how special it is, and that is why Sol is speaking out about it. If the humans do not realize, they will shove the truth in their faces until they finally understand.

Sol probably is getting tired of this and wants to get back to focusing on sky paintings.

I chose to use Fliki for this project. I had never heard of it before, but it was fairly easy to make without me having to do much at all other than some easy tweaks. There’s something really ironic about using AI to condemn AI . . . but I didn’t make the assignment.

I meant to copy the exact prompt I gave it for this, but it finished generating before I could copy it, and then it wouldn’t let me go back to the prompt (I was afraid it’d delete it if I went to the previous page). But roughly, I put in “generate a video pitch in a passive aggressive tone that explains why Aggressive Technologies (a company that is gaining control of most of the technology in our world) is a danger to artists and humanity and individuality and should be put out of business.”

I kind of like the more TikTok-esc style of video it went with. I couldn’t edit that, and I couldn’t edit the voice either (unless I just couldn’t find it) but think it was fine! I feel like this style of video is something that this generation is becoming a lot more familiar with, and it’s good to use familiarity in a pitch that’s meant to start a movement.

I’m not sure what else to say! There really wasn’t much that I did with this! I don’t hate it but I’m not a fan of it (I feel uneasy whenever I have to use generative AI). It’s done, though!

EDIT: I have done this assigment wrong . . . I misread the instructions, I thought we were putting Aggressive Technologies out of business, not having it put the AI we used out of business . . . well, it’s too late now, I hope this is fine!

Sol is an AI Hater

I don’t blame them.

Sol did view this poster about “The Only Thing Better Than AI is Aggressive Technologies,” which they immediately rolled their eyes to. Of course, Aggressive Technologies is trying to one up their own source of money. Sol thought that it really felt like Aggressive Technologies would be the future, and not a good one. Aggressive Technologies seemed egotistical, powerful, and only searching for more power. Sol is not a fan.

Aggressive Technologies Taking Over

Sol felt a little iffy on this use of AI for surveillance. Without a lot of context, they thought this may be really good and can protect people. However, they did start thinking, “how does the AI decide who is good and who is bad?” and “how does the AI determine if a familar face is safe?” They think they would need to do some more research on this to really understand, but they also think that this does not really even apply to them, so why should they even care?

aggressive tech: surveillance psa

Sol thinks that there are some good things related to AI, however. They heard the PSA about Dr. Ravioli (who they will admit that they are a big fan of) and Dr. Ravioli’s new AI moped, and they were thinking . . . huh, maybe AI can be a little harmless! They are considering that this is something that could be useful for AI, but they would prefer if this was the norm, not AI taking jobs.

Public Service Announcement

Sol was a big fan of this one! Obviously an artist is going to applaud a PSA about art and how Aggressive Technologies can be a threat to that! They were nodding over and over watching this one.

Laylas PSA

Sun on Earth

Aggressive Technologies just introduced a brand new AI model that plans to construct any form of media, whether that be art, movies, TV shows, plays, etc. into reality through the prompting of a user, sort of like a really, really big 3D printer that can create any story the user requests, and our beloved star in the sky is not pleased with this.

Now, typically, as an ethereal being, Sol prefers to stay out of human drama. They feel it isn’t fair for them to meddle into this stuff when they have the actual possibility of changing reality. However, as this is posing a threat to all storytellers on Earth, they knew they had to step in.

Sol chooses to leave subtle messages in the paintings of the sky that serve as a warning to the humans of the threat this AI model could pose if not regulated, as well as a threat to Aggressive Technologies to put regulations on the model. It got a bit of a message across, as news broadcast the message, but Aggressive Technologies stayed silent on the matter. It felt distasteful to Sol, seeing as there were humans who agreed to put limitations on the AI model, but Aggressive Technologies did not even issue a statement regarding it.

With much annoyance, Sol does what they have not done in a human-form in billions of years: they step foot onto Earth, marching directly up to the doorstep of Aggressive Technologies, prepared a long string of words to convince them how dangerous this AI model could quickly turn out to be.

Of Most Importance!

Today I did a little combination of two Video Assignments: this one revolving around making an animatic and this one revolving around making a video list of 5 things important to you. Combining them, I chose to make a little animatic about things that are most important to my Course Character, Sol!

Actually, I was planning on making an animatic of the original assignment (conversing with Dr. Oblivion), but I was annoying having to keep drawing over and over. Instead, I used the frames I got from that and put them into this!

Here is the video:

I used FireAlpaca, an art program I’ve been using since like 2015 and a really old Wacom art tablet from when I used to actually draw a lot. Since then, I lost interest in art (I watched all my artist peers get better at art and watched how I could not always improve and it made me mad so I just stopped (and I got old and busy)), but this was nice to rebirth the artsy side of me.

I used ElevenLabs for the AI voice for Sol (it’s the voice Serena), but I don’t think the voice is exactly what I would imagine them to sound like. Having a fluid form makes me think that their voice would just be different all the time.

I used OpenShot to edit this and finally figured out how to work it, and it is actually . . . so easy to use, it’s kind of crazy. Not sure what happened last week, but we got it! Putting all the pictures in and moving them around was not hard at all, very simple task and not even the hardest part. Very crazy to me that I’m saying that the easiest and quickest part was editing it!

This was an okay assignment, though. I spent too much time on it, but I rebirthed the old art-lover inside of me, so it was sort of nostalgic too.

Sol Makeup – Get Ready With Me!

Today, I did this Video Assignment where the prompt was:

“Record yourself getting ready! Whether it be how you get ready for your day, ready for bed, ready for an event, makeup look, etc. See if you can edit the video to speed through parts that may take a second (i.e. washing your face, brushing your teeth…) and create a voice over of the process. For inspiration, look up any ‘Get ready with me’ video on YouTube! Have fun with it, maybe even make a (tasteful) parody version.”

So I decided, of course I’m going to do makeup!

I actually did three different looks and filmed it yesterday . . . and then accidentally deleted it when it didn’t save right . . . and lost everything so I got really mad . . . so this is actually my second time doing this video assignment!

Anyways, here is my video!

The video is messy, I cut out the majority of it because I ended up covering up what I was doing with my hand, BUT! I did it! I kept everything sped up too because it can be miserably slow . . . makeup is a tedious process, let me tell you.

Also, editing this was nightmareish. I have no idea how makeup social media influencers decide what they want in the video and especially those who make TikToks or Instagrams that are just 1 minute . . . I skipped so many stuff!! How do they do it and include everything!! Even if you cut out the entire process of a step, it feels weird . . . huge kudos to them for that though (in another life I am a social media makeup influencer but in this life I am not).

If you want a list of all of my makeup that I used in this (whether included or not), here it is:

  • Elf Blemish Control Face Primer w/ salicylic acid
  • Colourpop Pretty Fresh pressed face powder (shade fair 1)
  • Fenty Beauty Match Stix Contour (shade amber 01)
  • NYX Micro Brow Pencil (shape taupe)
  • NYX Retractable Eye Liner (shade white)
  • NYX Jumbo Multi-Use Face Stick
  • Tarte Tartelette tubing mascara
  • NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer (shade light 1 chantilly)
  • NYX Epic Wear Waterproof Eye & Body Liquid Liner (shade white)
  • Morphe x Nyane Fierce Fairytale Palette (Eyeshadow Colors: Gyoza)
  • Morphe x Abby Roberts Bittersweet Like Honey Palette (Eyeshadow Colors: Solar, Spicy, Vivienne, LA Vibez; Blush Colors: Hot Sauce, Pink Champagne)
  • Juvia’s Place The Nubian Glow Palette (Eyeshadow Colors: Gold shade mid bottom, has no name?!?!)
  • Elf Dewy Coconut Setting Mist

Isn’t that fun..

Anyways, I filmed this on my phone (iPhone 15 Pro) and edited it on iMovie because it took too long to try to send to my laptop to edit through OpenShot. I didn’t have any trouble with iMovie, though. It was a fairly easy application to use.

I’m not sure what else to say that I haven’t said here or in the video. I think it’d be interesting to see other Sol-inspired makeup (maybe I am just a lover of sun-related aesthetics and need to take a breather but this makes me so excited) so maybe I will continue to do more Sol makeup! Very obviously, this makeup would look very different on them, because I am about as pale as my hoodie in the video, but I’m actually working on drawing Sol a little bit (my other assignment that I’m doing is the animatic one . . . which is taking a while, but surprise for more Sol features soon!)

Thank you for reading and watching 🙂 I hope you have a good day or night!

Sol’s Painting – Sound Effect Story

Here is my sound effect story, where I tried to tell the story of someone painting something in a serene environment, then having to leave, that someone being Sol!

I used rain as background noise to set the scene, along with a quiet piano and the sound of people talking quietly. I layered each of these all ontop of each other in order to make the environment. The environment can be imagined to be a cafe or a restaurant or any sort of quiet place with quiet talking, not alone, but not noticeable. Everyone is doing their own thing, no one is paying attention to anyone.

It’s peaceful.

I wanted to start it off with the opening of the paint and putting it on the paper, then actually painting. I thought this added to it, put in movement and story. They had not started by painting, but they are now, and you can hear that.

I added two different painting audios (this one and this one). There really isn’t a lot to say about this, but this is someone (Sol) painting.

The bell in the rain audio was unintential, but I think it worked out great. I imagined it as a timer for Sol, telling them that that was the end of that painting, and that it would be time to go onto the next. I showed this through the sound of someone packing up a bag after the bell rang.

I like the rushedness of this. They only have time to paint a little before time is up, before the bell is ringing and telling Sol it’s time to go to the next story. As a painter of stories, painting the sky to tell people’s stories, perhaps this story was short, that’s why Sol had to pack up so fast (definitely not because of my time limit). It’s really interesting to think about!!

I was really happy about this! I took my time and I think I did a good job! All of my sounds come from Freesound and I linked each one in the Soundcloud post as well as attached to the words in here, if anyone wants to go listen to them.

Thanks for listening!!

Cartoon You (and Sol) – Design Assignment

For my final Design Assignment of the week, I worked on this prompt:

Remake you (or someone you know and love) into a cartoon character. Draw you on a piece of paper, on a tablet, take a photo and use software to convert it to comic book style, or use online programs to create a cartoon version of your character. Extra bonus points if you can come up with an origin story or add comic book elements to your final image.

So, I did just that! Using Procreate and my iPad, I sketched up a little cartoon version of me! Here it is!!

It was kind of hard because I kept wanting to put in more details but I knew I couldn’t because cartoons are supposed to be small and easy peasy. My usual art style is much more sketchy and messy too, so this irked me a little bit to do, but hey!! That’s me!! I looked at a picture of me to do it but then I kind of just started doing whatever.

I was a little inspired doing this, so I also sketched up a little headshot of Sol!

I really like this one, I think they look so cool :)) I’d like to draw them more often, finalize their design and figure out exactly how I imagine them, but I’m actually having a lot of fun with the idea that they can have any appearance, so there really is no final idea for them!! Honestly, it’d be a little fun to see how other people would imagine Sol, so if anyone wants to come up with a design, I think I’d explode (in a good way).

I just got a text that dinner is ready (at 3pm?!?!??!) so I guess that’s the end of this post!! I had a good time and I really like these art design prompts and assignments, they really get my brain thinking again and it’s actually getting me back into art, so I’m very happy for that 🙂

Sol’s Business Card – Design Assignment

Have you ever wanted to hire a professional artist? Maybe one who paints the sky? Maybe one who isn’t really human but has a passion for telling humans’s stories? Well don’t you worry, I have a business card just for you from a good friend of mine if you’re interested in hiring them.

I’m sure they would love to paint up the sky for you 🙂

For my Design Assignment, I followed this design prompt:

We’re reaching a time in our lives where where professionalism is key. Use photoshop to create your own business card to advertise who you are.

Well, I didn’t use Photoshop, mostly because I have no idea if we get Photoshop with our school accounts, and I definitely don’t have Photoshop, so instead, I used everyone’s favorite free, online alternative: CANVA!!

I had essentially a few ideas: I needed this to look like a painting and it HAD to be associated with the sky. I mean, that’s Sol’s whole purpose: paint the sky, tell the stories. That’s really all you have to get! It’s that simple. I also wanted it to be coherent and use the same colors, so I grabbed colors from the image I grabbed from Canva of the sky painting, and used those colors for the text. I also didn’t want it to be overwhelmed with text, because I thought the painting should be the main focus, as that’s what Sol does.

I actually kind of like this! I think I would like to, maybe sometime, come up with other designs for business cards for Sol, test what other ideas I could come up with, things like that. So this was a lot of fun!!

Sol – the Painter of Stories

It’s time for you all to meet my course character, Sol. I’ve sketched a little picture of them, but take it with a grain of salt, because Sol can take on any form imaginable.

Sol is a depiction of the sun and reveals themself as an artist, choosing to tell the stories of every single thing in life, no matter how big, or how small, through the sky. Sol, being the sun, is 4.6 billion years old, and doesn’t have a place of origin outside of space. They are a keeper of memories and a watcher of life, and translate that life into the painting of the sky, through a cascade of yellows, oranges, blues, pinks, etc.

Sol is described to be able to take on any form. Their most common humanoid form is a tall feminine form with dark skin and freckles scattering their round, yet high cheeks. Hair is in the shape of an afro, thick and furrowed in a circular shape around their head, dark with blond highlights, with a few coiled bangs falling over their face. They have large eyes and long eyelashes. They wear a yellow and orange flowy dress with a sun pattern in the torso. All of this can be seen roughly in the sketch, but every detail can change with the appearance Sol takes on.

Despite the fact that Sol’s depicted image in feminine, it’s important to keep in mind that Sol is genderless. Sometimes their humanoid figure can be masculine, other times feminine, sometimes not even a human at all. Everything is situational to Sol. Because of this, it’s important to refer to Sol using they/them pronouns.

Sol does not have a favorite food (although something is telling me they would love Italian food) and Sol does not have a favorite drink (although they would definitely love pina coladas). Sol also does not have a favorite book or movie. The reason for this is because each of these tell stories, and they feel it wouldn’t be fair to choose favorites. They feel as if it would create an unfair bias that they should not have while retelling their stories through the painting of the sky.

Sol paints the sky with a paintbrush typically, but sometimes will choose to fingerpaint or use different forms of tools. Sol intends on allowing the painting to tell multiple stories all over the world, all over the galaxy. Sometimes these stories will blur together with one another, sometimes they will not. Sometimes, the stories will shed light onto the ground below, impacting the lives of others. Sometimes they will not.

Sol’s motto is “tell everyone’s story, no matter how big, or how small.” They live by this motto and will continue to live by this motto forever.

Sol is very excited to hear the stories of everyone here and be able to tell new stories or paint the stories they hear!