I began with an initial colored pencil sketch, drafting colors with pencil, then decided I wanted to try using gauche. I spent a lot of time experimenting with colors and how the paint worked, once done with a final coat I wanted to add accents of color so I went in with posca pens. I wanted the piece to convey how I felt while growing up and being yelled at by adults for things I couldn’t control and that I couldn’t change. Overtime I developed the ability to shut off my emotions and detach the heaviness from the words, finding a fuzzy quiet world. With this piece, I am happy with my ability to use contrasting colors and animal motifs that go with my sustained investigation of human and animal behavior.

For this artwork I recontextualized the Chinese myth of the White Tiger, one of the four cardinal directions, in the modern context of deforestation and environmental degradation. Tigers are associated with strength and nature, and having this symbol made out of skeleton leaves shows the fragility of the entire natural world. The off-white skeleton leaves allude to death and decay, and I also ripped holes in the sculpture to represent the deterioration of nature in the face of civilization.

My artwork depicts a girl learning to break free from the habit of people-pleasing. Her eyes are detached from her face, representative of giving up one’s wants and needs in favor of others’ desires. When accustomed to always being in such a position, it can be difficult to acknowledge one’s own emotions. The crying symbolizes learning to express oneself and ask for help, leading to self-growth, as depicted by the succulent growing. This piece is inspired by my personal experiences.

A man discovers a very weird creature

This artwork is inspired by a chapter in All Quiet on the Western Front, where several horses are injured and are unable to be put down until the barrage has stopped. One of the characters remarks, "I tell you this: it is the most despicable thing of all to drag animals into a war." This line stuck with me; the tragedy of war, and the tragedy of the innocent—whether human or animal. In making this piece, I was able to process my feelings caused by this deeply thought-provoking scene.

One morning when I was getting ready for school, I looked down at my sink and saw how much clutter and products there were just to make myself look presentable. Then I thought about how much more some people do to get ready. It's a real struggle to look presentable! I took a picture of myself in front of my mirror and used that as a reference.

This Octopus shows my love for the water and the ocean. As one of my favorite things to do is play Waterpolo and go Swimming! When I was a younger around four or five year old I was scared of the water as it was my biggest fear, I always hear stories about how much I would wine about being in the water. Until the one day I would overcome that fear and now I embrace it. As the water is now apart of my life.

The art I made is a charcoal drawing of my grandpa who passed away late 2022. We had to pick someone to draw for a day of the dead project and I thought my grandpa would be a great person. He had an amazing life and was the happiest grandpa i've ever met.

The piece I made is made with Paper Mashay and painted afterwards with acrylic paint the piece is a alebrije which is a Mexican rooted art staple.

I chose this dragon because I have a penchant for dragons. They are my favorite mythical creatures. As I was sketching the dragon, I paid attention to how the lines turned out and afterwards, it turned out fantastic. I also sketched the horizontal lines for the background. After sketching the dragon and the lines, I outlined them with a black Sharpie and then colored the dragon violet and the lines in the background a repeating pattern of red, orange, and yellow. I colored the interior of the dragon’s wings red and the exterior orange. His feet were colored yellow, his chest blue, and his scales green. I colored the colored pencil with marker overtop and I shaded the dragon with black and white colored pencils.

I seek to gain approval from my Key Club Division and I remade this design twice. This is the back design.

When I painted the velvet room I was in a place of artistic anger. I was mad with the way I was approaching art and decided not to be so held up about it. I was intent on creating a loose figure with a combination of light and heavy strokes that depicted a dark and moody figure. I think she’s not real, but the amalgamation of different images and colors that you see when the world gets a little heavy.

As a Ukrainian born immigrant living in the United states, I always felt that a part of my culture was lost. At home, I would feel super immersed but as soon as I stepped out, I would loose that sense of pride and feel closeted. The women is dressed in traditional Ukrainian wear surrounded by sunflowers, the country's national flower. One huge sunflower covers her face as representation of being seen but not recognized. The sky is dull, to capture the brightness and glow of the flowers.

This drawing was created to experiment with drawing techniques and values. I spent way too much time on it for something that was practice, as evident by the dotting. I realized this a week in and therefore didn't have time to fully shade or detail the planet and planetoid.

Val is a part of me who dominates my inner soul. My intention of this art piece was to display how sometimes we want to act or dress in ways that are rejected by society, but despite our desires being slightly anomalistic, we can still be content with them. In this artwork, I showed a girl who enjoys wearing outfits that people can perceive as strange, but she is still euphoric and enjoying her life. Instead of viewing this abnormal side of herself as a miserable burden, she has welcomed it as part of her identity. Val accepted herself and her way of seeing the world, and no matter who discourages her behavior or beliefs, she'll never change who she is in her heart.

While making this piece of art I honestly just kind of stayed focus the whole time and felt like nobody else was around me if thought there was a full classroom around me. I tried putting as much time and patience in this drawing. I feel that this drawing shows my understanding of values and time management because although it may seem like I spent a lot of time on it, I actually was one of the first ones to finish because I felt lost in my art. My art showcases who I really am and how I perceive the world.

This piece was inspired by the content and emotions of a song I love. It is called “Ingydar” by Adrianne Lenker. My goal was to make a piece without the pressure of perfecting it technically or thematically. Rather, I tried to approach it instinctually and just capture my feeling. I gave myself a limited color palette, and tried to address the painting as a whole instead of picking apart the details. Its definitely not my best piece technically, but out of my work it was the most cathartic to paint and my emotions show through the most.

This work is inspired by my interest in underwater life and the role jellyfish play in the ecosystem.

These are three crochet sea creatures I made over the past year. I enjoyed playing with different size yarns, hooks, and patterns. Eventually I came out with these three animals - the turtle, which took the longest and included a mix of crocheting (the body) and sewing (the details), the whale, which I made many times in many different colors and sizes, and the octopus, which was a more recent creation.

My name is Jaeda Todd and a junior. I’m currently in an Art 1 class at St Patrick St Vincent High School. What in inspired me to draw this artwork is that i’m obsessed with the movie Moana. I decided to re-create something from the movie. When i was thinking about it I knew that I had to do the stingray because the grandma is my favorite character.