Chatham High School Artist’s Spotlight

Brooke Lopez-Mahaley and Kota Amos|April 22, 2022

Students all over the school have creative minds and express themselves by doing art.

CHS has many creative minds; people who do art such as drawing, painting, music, and jewelry making.

Teens showing off their art is a good way to express themselves.

Many artists now have been making art since they were very young.

“I’ve been doing art as soon as I could hold a pencil,” said Audrey Erickson, a ninth grader.

“I have been creating art since the age of three; I was always a very creative child,” said Brooke Mahaley, a sophomore.

Artists can use many different mediums, or materials.

“I use a lot of different mediums, primary watercolor and gouache, but sometimes I use markers as well,” said Kota Amos, tenth grader.

“I use paper and colored pencils to draw, and sometimes digital. I do a lot of digital drawings,” said Katie Slatoff, sophomore.

“I love using pens and markers. It gives a better aesthetic than other mediums,” said Cali Perry, freshman.

“I try to do a little bit of everything. I used to do a lot of digital art, but lately I’ve been doing more pencil. I also do acrylic paint, watercolor, and markers; I think they’re all great, ” said Erickson. “I think art was just something for me to do, and I realized it was really fun. My mom would buy me crayons and markers, and it became my personality. I was like the artist in the family; I got a lot of validation from doing it,” said Erickson.

“When I was nine, I really got into a specific anime, and I wanted to draw fan art of it; that eventually led to me doing art regularly,” said Amos.

“I would see stuff online, and I thought, “I wanna create something just as beautiful,” said Slatoff.

“I’ve just always really liked making art. As I got older, I found it to be a creative outlet for me, I think that’s what inspires me, that I can use it to get things out,” said Mahaley. “I also have an art account on Instagram, and I really like knowing that people see my art. I even more so like sharing my art with friends and family, and I love getting validation that my art is good,” Mahaley continued to say.

“Recently I’ve been sharing my art with my close friends and loved ones, and it makes me feel really good when they compliment me on it,” said Amos.

“Showing people my art is a good feeling because I know I’m doing it myself,” said Mason Bradley, a tenth grader.

“How proud I am of my art varies. If it’s something I’m not proud of, I’ll crumple it up and throw it away. If it’s something I’m proud of, I’ll be like,’I did that, oh yeah!’ I appreciate the validation as well,” said Erickson.

“I feel excited and calm when creating a piece of art, because it’s me projecting what’s in my brain on a piece of paper. It is fun but calming at the same time,” said Perry.

“It is entertaining for me to draw. It’s a good way to pass the time,” said Bradley.

“Creating art makes me feel very accomplished, calm, and excited. I like seeing how much progress I’ve made,” said Mahaley.

“I doodle basically every day, but if it’s making mushroom pendants, it takes me two days to make a batch of them cause I take breaks,” said Erickson.

“How long it takes me to make art depends on what I’m doing, and more detailed art takes longer,” said Bradley.

“If I’m really putting effort into an art piece, it takes me an hour or two to complete a piece, but if I’m not putting effort into it, it takes ten or twenty minutes,” said Perry.

“It can take anywhere from ten hours to maybe a few days because with painting I have to sketch it out at the beginning, add layer upon layer of paint, then there’s lining, adding modge podge; it’s a whole process,” said Mahaley. “I also consume media that has a much much different art styles than mine. I like to see people that are proud of their art even if it’s extremely different from mine,” said Mahaley.

“I tend to consume media with a wide variety of art styles, and I find that I take certain art styles that I like and put them into my own in a way,” said Amos.

“I do take a lot of inspiration from people. I learn how to do something new and I try to bring it into everything I do, and that will make my style look very different,” said Erickson, “One artist I like is Pickle Girl; I like the way she draws bodies. I take a lot of inspiration from her.”

Some artists like to incorporate original characters, or OCs, into their artwork.

“I have one character, Frond; she’s a little cyclops, and she’s awesome. She’s a fashion designer from outer space; I like to draw her in intricate outfits. I love building her, and I like drawing and making up different animals and fruits that are in her world. I love every part of world building,” said Erickson.

“I love creating characters and stories to draw. I love making up stories and worlds to draw, but recently I find that I lack the creativity to create new worlds,” said Amos.

Many artists have found that art is a good emotional outlet; some find it as an escape from the world.

“I remember when I went to the hospital, one of the things I did the whole time was draw to cope with my emotions and stress,” said Perry.

“Making art definitely helps me with my emotions; Whenever I’m sad or angry I draw a lot, and when I’m really happy,I’ll paint. A lot of my emotions are encrypted into my art,” said Mahaley, “I do find as an escape, it really helps me leave the world for a second, especially when I need to think.”

“Making art is a healthy coping mechanism for me. I like drawing on myself, like coloring parts of my arm and turning stuff I hate into something pretty that I can be proud of,” said Erickson, “When I would be at my dad’s, I would build a world and write stories and pretend I was there instead of at his house. It was helpful to have a place where I could g0 to escape and have that little place to myself.”

Depending on the artist, one might enjoy filling out sketchbooks, a type of journal that people can look back on and see what art was done during one’s life.

Every artist is different and they all take a unique amount of time to complete a sketchbook.

“I’ve probably completed about three sketchbooks since middle school, and I’d say it takes about a school year to finish one,” said Slatoff.

“I have filled out about half of a sketchbook; I think it will take me a while to finish it,” said Bradley.

“I used to quickly and excitedly fill up my sketchbooks, so in total I’ve probably filled out 30 or more sketchbooks,” said Amos.

“I have a lot of sketchbooks, I’ve probably filled out six of them,” said Perry.

Some artists have accounts that they share their art on.

“People may view my art @art.by.brooke on Instagram,” said Mahaley.

“I have an Instagram account where I sell my mushroom pendants named @insectgarden_ ,” said Erickson, “I actually started selling my mushroom pendants at a store in Danville, it’s called At the Cabin.”

“I have a music account on Instagram, @the_realpati3nt1.0 ,” said Perry.`