ARTIST PROFILE
16 y/o, grade 11
Orange County School of the Arts
IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE AN ARTIST?
In my opinion, in order to be an artist one has to have a love for the process of creating art. Whether it be the initial stages of creating a concept for an art piece, the process of working on and refining it, or the finished piece itself, as long as they enjoy it and gain a sense of fulfillment from doing it, I think that makes them an artist. For many artists, it isn’t limited to just one of the aforementioned steps, but ultimately, they are being driven by something within themselves to create art, and that is what makes them an artist. Art is one of the forms of creative expression that are unique to the human mind, and to be an artist means to embrace the human condition.
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Personally, I am driven to make art by the process as well as the finished result. It brings me satisfaction being able to turn concepts into reality, and create something out of nothing; there is comfort in being able to build worlds that I can immerse myself in, and create characters that I know like the back of my own hand.
TELL US ABOUT THE PIECES YOU SUBMITTED AND WHY YOU THINK THEY REFLECT WHO YOU ARE AS AN ARTIST.
The pieces that I have submitted I believe reflect my technical skill as well as my aspirations as an artist. Since I’m interested in character design, the majority of the pieces I have submitted focus on that; it is definitely the area in which I have the most experience. Although character design is the subject which I am most comfortable drawing, I also wanted to make an effort to expand my abilities as an artist and get some more practice in painting environments, which is what I hope comes across in my portfolio. My aim with these pieces is to convey personality and emotion through character design; I want people to be able to understand my characters just by looking at them, and I want them to feel immersed in the environment.
HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN YOUR ART FORM?
I got started in visual arts at a young age; I had shown an interest in drawing ever since I was a small child and my parents enrolled me in art classes at around five years old. Because of that, art has become a part of my daily routine, and something that has been with me ever since childhood. It wasn’t until the end of eighth grade that I started taking art more seriously and developing a passion for making art for the goal of self-improvement, though. Applying for OCSA’s visual arts conservatory gave me something to work towards and when I got accepted, I realized that I had to make the most out of my time at school and take advantage of the opportunity I had been given to grow both in terms of skill and work ethic. My experience at this school so far has given me perspective into what lies ahead of me on my artistic journey and given me a sense of direction as to what to do to improve my art.