Over the past 4 years of my high school career, I have taken 4 media arts courses, 4 Visual Arts courses and 2 co-op courses teaching in my school’s Art department for a total of 10 courses over 4 years. That’s ⅓ of the number of classes required to graduate and I feel like I’ve learned a lot.
Starting out, I came into this program with no previous experience in an art class and being completely up until that point, self-taught. I didn’t have much experience sketching in realism and I had painted maybe a couple times in my whole life. I couldn’t draw hands and I didn’t know what body proportions were so my characters often resembled deformed or inhuman creatures. A couple weeks into the program, I drew my first realistic portrait and it changed the course of my art career and probably my life. I had only ever dreamed of studying art and being a professional artist and now I’m heading to university to major in the Arts with plans to become an art teacher and mentor to students of my own.
I wouldn’t say I have a favorite piece or painting that I’ve done because each of them mean something different and taught me something that will improve my art in the future. I love the portraits I did in my first year of high school because of what they taught me and how they boosted my confidence in my art, but I wouldn’t say they are my best portraits because of what I have learned since and how I have improved.
This pandemic has given me many opportunities to do more art, and I feel this opportunity has really allowed me to focus on improving more and learning the techniques behind many famous and not-so-famous art styles. Over the course of the lock down, I was able to devote more time to painting and experimenting with different mediums and techniques, which has really broadened my style and range of art styles that I can use to express myself and my views of the world. I have definitely used art as an outlet throughout the pandemic which has also grounded me and deepened my personal connection with my art and what it means to me. Living through a historical event has I think changed all of our perspectives whether that be about the world or about what’s right in front of us. We have all been through the same or similar hardships that came with quarantine and I think it has brought us all closer and made us all more compassionate towards one another. I think for others, it gave them the opportunity to be true to themselves and make the decisions that they needed to make for their own happiness and well-being, especially when it comes to relationships and self-care. At least for me, I feel that this pandemic has given me the ability to be more independent and resilient, and has allowed me to distance myself from those that have impeded my personal growth and success in the past.