Tell us a little bit about your journey as a young and developing artist.

I started drawing more during 2019, and into the pandemic. At that point, I hadn’t even discovered digital art, and I had purely been drawing from reference. End of 2020 is when I started trying to improve because I got an IPad and began drawing digitally. I just drew whatever style appealed to me at the time, with no real direction. By 2021, I joined the Teen Art Shuffle class at One River School. That’s when my art started improving. I have always been interested in all kinds of media, video games, films, TV shows, etc. and that’s always been what’s inspired me, my style, and my identity as an artist. I then joined the Teen Focus on Manga class, which I’m still taking. I kept trying to improve my style mimicking the likes of Genshin Impact (god forbid we talk about any more of my phases from that time) and other basic anime styles. In early 2022 my art changed as my interests changed, and I met my current instructor, Will. He opened my eyes to things I hadn’t thought deeply about with art. I started thinking more seriously about what I wanted as an artist, the skills I needed to improve- and finally got a grip on digital art. That summer, I did the portfolio class. The work I did to create that portfolio paid off and I saw a lot of improvement by intensively working on my skill set, and refining my basic skills. I’m working towards getting a professional job as a digital illustrator, concept artist, probably for a bigger production, like a video game or animated series. I’ve started working on my own personal projects, concepts, things I want to be able to share with the rest of the world. I used to only really think of art as an aesthetically pleasing, technically impressive skill until I started thinking deeply about it. It’s so much more than just the illustrations you see that I make – so much goes into it, and I thank OneRiver for really opening my eyes to all of the thought that goes behind art.

Which has been your favorite project to work on at One River and why?

The cel-making camp I did with Will. I think the most important parts of creating a good project for a class is a combination of both the process and the background information that we went in-depth with. My instructor provided a lot of insight into how animation studios produced and used cels, which added another level of fun to the camp on top of the instruction. As for the process itself, painting and inking was a rather tedious process but after practicing a few times with Will, I fell into a rather satisfying workflow. While I’m not completely satisfied with my result, I definitely enjoyed the process of learning. And I think that’s what art’s really about.

Describe One River in 3 words and tell us why.

Experimental, all projects bring something new to the table. We’re always doing something different every time (even between projects of the same medium), whether it’s composition, material, technique. Freedom. Even though we all work with one prompt for each project, the sky’s the limit with what you can create. And beyond just the art we make, One River School’s a very open, free place to be. You’re allowed to express yourself freely, through art and through how you interact with others. In my class, we’re always having conversations that bounce off one-another, whether it’s about art, media, really anything. We’re always open for discussion, and to other people. For me, it’s one of the only places where I’m able to talk about my interests freely, and I’ve made a lot of friends who are just as big nerds as I am. Speaking of which, I think that the last word would probably be comforting. One River School is more like a community to me. My instructors have come to be some of my good friends, and they’ve helped guide me through my journey not only as an artist, but as a person. One of the things I struggle with is self-confidence as an artist, and “stacking up” to the skills of my peers. When you’re here, everyone works together. No matter where you are in your journey, people are always here to help you learn- even when you’re as far along as I am. I still have a long way to go, and I know the friends I’ve made here will stick with me along the way.

What would you tell people who’ve never dabbled in art making are the real benefits to trying it?

This is a hard one. Art’s a very personal thing, and it’s hard for me to really describe the benefits to someone who hasn’t tried it for themself. What I will say is that art, even just as a hobby, is a creative- and more so, an emotional- outlet for people to express themselves. It’s been that way for me for the past couple years. It’s been an escape for me when life gets hard, a reflection of my life in the times I needed it; it’s anything you need it to be. Mold it to your advantage. I always describe myself as an artist, but I think a better label is storyteller. Most of the drawings I make are pieces of characters that I’ve created. I break off little pieces of myself to feed them, and they become reflections of who I am. The stories they end up playing parts in, are all fantastical, and yet, still raw and real depictions of people. Art’s more like a mirror to me, and I think that’s all I can really say.