A little late but… I finally finished my self-portrait!

I spent my whole long shift last Saturday working on my STA portrait. It definitely took me longer than I originally thought. I had to brainstorm for ideas, look up like 20 different Photoshop tutorials and get my hands dirty trying out different pictures, styles and scenarios.

Originally I was planning to use my body but replace my head with a cartoon version of it. After I didn’t like that I decided to just alter the whole picture and make it look sketch-like. Here are some pictures of different steps and my progress.

For my third project I had to work on creating this animation for the main kids TBH page. It has a bunch of spinning icons and a clock behind them.

It might not seem like much in a picture but it’s pretty impressive. The process was long and difficult. I’ve been working for 3 whole shifts but it’s almost done. Ironically the most difficult part to make was the clock, which is not all that impressive to look at.

I think I’m really starting to get good at Canvasser. The tool is really powerful but still has a few errors. I’ve been suggesting a lot of functions that they could add to it and make it better. Right now I’m waiting for them to add a tool which could let me start a new animation after another one ends. Anyways, here is my progress.

The icons are all mashed together but they actually spin. When the new stuff gets added I can finally finish. Meanwhile I get time to work on my banner. I’ll keep you posted.

As I finish my second day I want to share a little about my assigned project. I am working in the Texas Beyond History remodeling. Today I made my first official Canvaser project. It’s simple but a good start, I guess. Some pics below!

Original website:

My rendition in Canvaser:

Hey. My name is Rodrigo Villarreal, I am a Sophomore in Computer Science.

My hometown is Monterrey, Mexico. It’s been an adventure living in the US for the past year. Even though I’ve never had a formal designer job I love working with websites and I ended up here. My other interests include learning more about technology, TV, video games, exploring Austin and food!

I had my STA orientation last shift with Suloni. We talked about the rules and walked around the building. I also worked on the banner for this blog. I want to make something that combines my major and my origin, I think those are 2 important aspects about myself here. I hope I can upload it soon. I will post shortly about my second day.