The Narrow Path of Self Doubt: A Junior Self-Portrait Illustration by Christopher Thiem (2012)

For my Self Portrait Illustration I showed a question mark man teetering on a balance beam over a pool of alligators. This is supposed to represent my self doubt and how it affects my relationships with other people. The question mark man represents the self doubt portion while the alligators in the pool represent the consequences of failing. The balance beam represents the slim line there is to success in my mind. This piece is special to me because self doubt is a problem; although I try to get rid of it, it seems to always be there and it's presence always makes me uncomfortable.

For the technical part of the project, I found Illustrator very difficult. I had never worked with it before and it took awhile before I began to understand even the basics of the program. While it is similar to Photoshop, many elements differ and this frustrated me. My proficiency with Photoshop actually hindered my abilities in Illustrator because a tool was not in the right place I would not know where to find it. Many of the tools, while new and interesting, where difficult to use and I found myself struggling more than I thought I would. The pen tool in this program was especially difficult for me because it kept trying to lock onto previous paths in an attempt to help me. Also, the crocodile was very detailed, and I took a risk in trying to trace it, but I think my traced crocodile turned out splendidly. This was much more difficult than the first project.