As always, I’ll start this week’s mission debriefing with the daily creates. The first one was to find something that happened in 1856 and post a piece of art relating to it. I found out that Gregor Mendel started his significant research about genetics in 1856. I felt that it was particularly relevant these days […]

For this mission, we got some practice thinking on our feet. While there are several elements to think about when taking artful pictures, secret agents don’t always have time to set up the perfect shot. So, to practice incorporating these elements quickly we did a photo blitz. Using this nifty website, I generated a list of […]

Day 3: Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse… So, this is my third day at the agency, and I’ve already gotten pranked. Bob told me that we had a professional development meeting on Saturdays. Turns out I made the hour long commute to the office for nothing, because it was empty. I took […]

One of the first things I learned in Secret Agent School was how to send encrypted messages. For this mission, I incorporated a simple, encrypted message into a photograph. I used this typographic tool, and I spent about an hour tinkering with all of the different styles. You can use different font styles and drawing […]

For this assignment, I decided to look around the house for shadows that resembled familiar objects and relate the shadow objects to the original objects. I found some more visually complex combinations throughout the house including a curtain whose shadow looked like a giant cactus plant and a Santa figurine whose shadow looked like a […]

I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was another time, a better time by many measures. But I know I made the right choice to leave it all behind. Most people don’t know what agents like me have given up to be a part of something greater than ourselves. To participate in the […]

Before I started on my own photography missions, I needed to be able to identify some of the key elements of photography in other pictures. I decided to use a video of some of the top moments in James Bond movies: The first still I analyzed was at 12 seconds into the video. I thought […]

This week’s mission starts with some advice for new photographers. I have very little experience taking photos, and even on my phone I’m hesitant. I’ve been a bit overwhelmed by all of the photos that flood my social media feeds in the past few years, and I find that enjoying a moment feels more pure […]

This week’s mission improved a side of being a secret agent that most people don’t consider: the writing! I did not expect to write so much this week, but it led to some exciting developments. Also, I was able to use my CSS plugin to change some of the page settings. Namely, I changed it […]

Day 2:  I woke up with a stomach ache. I had a bit too much chicken lo-mein last night, and it wasn’t pretty. Before I left for work, I saw Betty’s fortune cookie on the kitchen table. I forgot, Betty hates fortune cookies. I ate the cardboard tasting delight, and the fortune read : Do […]

  The primary inspiration for Agent Bongo was not necessarily one specific character, but Archer as a whole series. I also drew from one of my favorite shows, The Office. I wanted to incorporate elements of a human resources department into the background of the character. It wouldn’t be too difficult to illustrate how those might be […]

It’s easy to dehumanize secret agents. Are we pathological liars? Yeah. Are we obsessive? Sure. But we’re all just human beings (until singularity). One of my favorite past times is listening to music, especially when I’m filling out a mission satisfaction survey or mission information file. They tend to be tedious and boring, so I […]

Day 1:  They had no idea that I’m a double agent from the ISCRPA (I never did find out what that acronym stands for). The interview was easier than expected, and I didn’t expect to get the job. The guy who was interviewing me was a complete moron. Betty is gonna be angry, because I […]

This week, we were in a bit of a tough position. Our public relations expert left for the CIA (they took another one!). After dozens of interviews, we finally found the right man for the job. He wasn’t able to tell us much about his history (which was actually a plus in this field). Here’s a […]

This week’s mission included several training exercises. First, I read an article about fellow spies and secret agents . Out of all of the shows, Burn Notice stuck out to me. I watched the show a few years ago, but the protagonist’s cheeky personality wore on me pretty quickly. As I read through some of […]

This week’s mission was harder than the last, but that’s how it goes (or so they told me in Secret Agent School). I ended up putting way more time into the assignments and getting more out of them. Whereas last week I spent most of the time registering accounts and getting things set up, this […]

I have a confession. I spend a lot of my downtime watching Game of Thrones when I’m not on a mission. To my delight, I found a Game of Thrones related assignment in the Visual section of the assignment bank. All I had to do was visit JoinTheRealm and stylize my own personal house banner. I decided […]

Faster. I always need to go faster. Sometimes I see people and I just think they’re moving like snails. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing. Running, watching, processing, improvising – whatever it is, I like moving quickly. Unfortunately, for my ears, that applies to my music as well. This is “Born a Champion” by David […]

This post is dedicated to the song I heard on my first day of Secret Agent School. I still remember it like it was yesterday. We were all lined up for our first practice mission, only to realize that our first mission was to watch the entire season of Death Note in one sitting. It was […]

I learned quite a bit during these first few assignments. I have no experience with Domain of One’s Own, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that UMW students get a domain hosting service. I want to eventually use the domain as a personal website with a portfolio and a separate blog, so I …

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This semester’s theme is “Secret Agent.” I’m excited about this theme because I enjoy the aesthetics of similarly themed content. Although I have my problems with some of the misogynistic tropes of the genre, there is a lot of room to work with creatively. My favorite movie with the theme is actually a satire, OSS 117. …

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I really like the overall message of Austin Kleon’s post, “10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered: Lessons from my book ‘Show Your Work!‘”. It’s important to put yourself out there to develop your own voice. There were three points that resonated most with me: 1 .   Share something small each day .  …

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