By Josh Lee, Staff Writer
Li, clay sculpting
Sitting at her desk, senior Isabel Li picks up a misshapen ball of clay, fingers pressing into the dough. As the once-formless mass takes shape, Li carefully sculpts details with a precision tool. As time passes, the clay starts to take shape, the resemblance of a lunchbox coming into view.
“When you start out it’s simply a block of clay, but you can mold it and sculpt it into whatever shape you want,” Li said. “I think that’s a really fascinating process because not many people realize the extent to which you can sculpt a block of clay if you have that type of patience and training.”
Li creates miniature models out of polymer clay. Her creations tend to follow a Japanese art style and focus on combining food and animals. Li first began making clay figures after finding inspiration in clay sculpture tutorials on YouTube. Since the beginning of quarantine, she has been posting extensively on her Instagram art account, @isabel.createss.
“Being an artist in the Instagram art community has helped me make lots of online friends as well as share with other people who are kind of like me,” Li said. “It’s really fun to have an art community online that you can engage with and see other creations that inspire you as well.”
Recently, Li began putting some models up on Etsy and has even done some commissions. She plans to continue making the models and turning it into a small business. Her next upcoming project is a series of models based on the recently popular video game Among Us, in which she will model unique hats on each character to represent her friends.
“If you want to try something you should go for it because this kind of art was completely new to me a few years ago,’’ Li said. “I just really dug into it and I pressured my parents to buy art supplies for me, and they eventually did, which brought me here. Just remember to pursue your passions.”
Shu, painting
Scrolling through Instagram, junior Elaine Shu eyes a piece of art that stands out to her. After searching for reference images, Shu scans a picture of the structure, taking in every detail. Satisfied, she dips her brush into a cup of water. As the wet tip touches the paper, color springs onto the page, ready to transform into something new.
“I follow a lot of artists on Instagram; I see their art and I get inspired by that,” Shu said. “I say, ‘Oh, I like their style, and I’m going to find a reference that’s similar.’”
Shu follows an art method revolving around watercolor. The subjects of her art vary from flowers and calligraphy to animals and building landscapes. Although she has taken art classes in the past, she began experimenting with watercolor during quarantine after creating her Instagram art account, @elaine.paints. Shu often does local commissions of her work, though she has plans to sell Instagram.
“I like to advertise. I would go on Facebook, search up people’s birthdays, go to their friend groups, and when their friends’ birthdays were close, I would advertise to their friends,” Shu said. “I don’t really care about the money, but I do like getting requests about things I normally wouldn’t draw, because that’s another way to get inspiration for my work.”
Because of the junior year rigor, Shu is on a short break from commissioning her artwork. Her current final project before her hiatus is a man’s hometown from his apartment window in China. Shu plans on continuing watercoloring as a hobby and accepting more commissions at the end of this year.
Wang, strippling & fine line art
Picking one of his markers off his desk, senior Max Wang focuses on the meticulous pencil sketch in front of him. Content with the completed sketch, Wang touches the marker to the paper, following the lines in a fluid motion. As his hand moves, the marker bleeds onto the paper, black ink blossoming over the pencil lead.
“I was always really bad at drawing with colors, people and animals,” Wang said. “I found that drawing with ink and geometric shapes was easier for me so I stuck with it.”
Ever since his first art class at 10 years old, Wang has been creating art with pencil and marker. On his Instagram art account, @maxx_graphicz, Wang has a collection of lead and ink-styled minimalist art ranging from abstract shapes to landscapes. His inspiration to draw first came from his sister, who is now an art student at Pasadena City College.
“It wasn’t so much what she drew that inspired me, but the small sibling rivalry we had,” Wang said. “She has a talent for art, but I also wanted to be praised for my artwork so I tried replicating her dedication, and drawing became one of my hobbies.”
Wang plans on continuing his art career by studying for a major in Mechanical Engineering, specifically CAD Drafting, which focuses on creating 3D models for engineering projects. Although he reduced the amount of smaller projects in preparation for college, Wang plans on attempting to complete this year’s Inktober challenge as his next big project.