Have you ever roamed the halls of Greenwood High and taken a moment to admire the artwork adorning the halls? If you have, you most likely were struck with awe at all of the amazing talent that exists within our school. Obviously, our athletics and academics are phenomenal but not nearly enough attention is given to the multitude of artists that quietly roam the halls.
Through this column, I hope to highlight the talented students at this school and show that not only are our academics and athletics exceptional, but so are our artists.
In this first publication, I spoke with sophomore Tessa Knisely. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview!
1.Describe the work you do.
“Work as in an artistic sense is just a lot of anatomy studies and studying how the ‘body works and just practicing all the time. Work in any other sense is just trying to learn to balance everything.”
2. How did you get introduced to art?
“ANIME. Actually, that’s a bit of a lie. I was a huge Cartoon Network kid, I watch TONS of cartoons and I still do today. But, I never was super into drawing any of those characters of anything. I just remember Alexis Wiley coming to school and showing us her art and I wanted to be like her so I drew my first anime character. A lot of people enjoyed it so I decided to keep drawing and anime was a HUGE inspiration for my drawings and ideas.”
3. Describe your idea of artistic success.
“Actually getting paid for what you do. A lot of artists just make art as a hobby, but artistic success to me is just finally getting paid for making the art you’re happy with and that your consumer is happy with.”
4. How do you generate new ideas for pieces?
“More anime. Or if I’m bored and sitting in class I’ll just draw my oc’s (original characters) doing random things. Sometimes I’ll draw venting art or sometimes I will practice my anatomy. It all depends on my mood and what I’ve been watching recently.”
5. How do you feel when people view your art?
“Anxious as heck. Online I don’t mind too much because the person on the other side of the screen can’t give you that disgusted look, but if someone is viewing it right in front of you, it makes me so so nervous and I’m afraid they’ll judge me for finding naked bodies in my sketch book even though it’s nothing lewd.”
6. How would you like your art to be viewed?
“I just want people to find joy in viewing my stuff. I like making people happy through my art.”
7. Do your future plans involve art?
“Yes! I hope to become some kind of storyboard artist or make picture books for children, or maybe be a character designer. I just know I want to use my passion to let people have a good experience.”
This is a picture if of two original characters Tessa came up with that she really likes to draw a lot.
This drawing is from an Inktober project (which is an art challenge). The prompt was ‘split’ so Tessa drew a girl struggling with an inner turmoil of depression.
The this image was from Tessa trying out a ‘more realistic’ version of her art style.
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