By Claire Fagan, Features Editor, and Riley Gonzales, News Editor
As winter approaches, the time for art and writing contests is also upon us. From the end of National Novel Writing Month to the upcoming Scholastic Art and Writing Contest, ‘tis the season for creativity.
Before an artist can create, they must be inspired. Inspiration comes from a number of sources, often unique to the individual. Senior Vianne Stanford states, “The world itself is my inspiration. I think a lot in colors. A specific color combination, the sky is really inspirational, but also just different sensations and emotions.” Artists within River Hill draw on their surroundings and their own unique identity to spur ideas.
Sophomore Anh Le explains that their creative process is “getting inspiration from one thing or another, usually places I’ve been or events I’ve learned about, and coming up with a stable plot from there. Then I develop the world and characters and everything just falls together.” Anh uses spontaneous thoughts to form detailed outlines.
Artist Senior Allie Burns plans similarly. She describes, “I’ll get my best ideas right when I’m falling asleep and so I’ll kind of go to bed with the idea… and kind of just let that brew in my mind. I’ll do a couple thumbnails of that in different perspectives… and then I’ll go straight to sketching it out and painting it.” Whether an artist plans ahead or not, every person can find a way to discover their creative vision.
However, many students at River Hill expressed frustration over not being able to find the headspace to draw, paint, sing, or write due to impeding school commitments. Junior Elika Tofigh states, “I come out of [school] kind of exhausted most of the time, so I don’t have the creative energy.” School’s many commitments and expectations can be draining, limiting free time and desire to create outside of class. At the same time, Elika also appreciates school for its structure, adding, “I am happy to be taking an art class this year. It’s my first in-person art class and it’s really fun because I can be creative in school in a different way.”
Everyday classes can sometimes help writers find new ways to describe mundane events. Anh shares this perspective on schoolwork, explaining, “School usually puts a damper on my creativity because of all the time it takes up, but the people I interact with [and] the interactions I witness help me write my characters a lot more realistically.”
School can also spur higher quality work that is more likely to be well-received. After creating art within and outside of school, some students consider submitting their work to contests. Elika comments, “As a junior, I’m thinking about college a lot. I don’t know exactly what the prize is, but I’m pretty sure it’s money, right? Scholarships? Making work in art class, like actual pieces as opposed to just drawing digitally for fun, I feel like I would have something to submit.”
However, submitting art to contests is not always a priority. Vianne states, “I share my art with my friends sometimes, probably about 50% of the time, and honestly that’s all the kind of validation I need.”
For some, creating art is about developing and honing a skill. As Allie explains it, “The reason that I started art in the first place was I like watching myself improve after every piece.” She continues, “It’s like taking a peek inside your consciousness. It’s almost like you’re jotting your dreams down, it’s just something so personal.” This was an idea that came up frequently, with Senior Finn Yu agreeing, “There’s this quote by this artist [Louise Bourgeois] that art is a guarantee of sanity, and you know, that’s what I think about art. It’s to keep yourself together.”
Many have differing opinions on whether or not artwork must be shared. “The world is depressing. There needs to be more art. Also, art is one of the major factors that helps with social change,” Senior Mia Wolfe believes.
Art also is an important way for a person to connect with and positively impact other people. Anh comments, “I want to write things that help people feel seen. I often include characters who have diverse gender identities, sexualities, and/ or races.”
However, even if art isn’t shared, it can still benefit its creator. Finn explains, “Sometimes art exists for your own eyes, your own feelings, and it doesn’t need to last. It can disappear immediately, that’s fine, it’s just something you do, you know? It’s for you.” Senior Rachel Warfield agrees, commenting,“Art is art regardless of if it’s shared, and it’s valuable regardless of who sees it.”
Vianne has a very unique perspective that no matter who creates the art, who sees the art, or how good the art is, all art should be treasured: “To me, the act of making art is sharing it with the world. Sharing it in the world and other people seeing it aren’t the same thing. Once the art is out of your head, you’ve shared it with the world, and you don’t need to share it with other people.”
If you’re an artistic beginner, it’s important to realize that it takes time and practice to improve. As Senior Jennifer Gao states, “Don’t worry about expectations or anything that you need to include in your art. The point of the first draft is that it’s going to be bad, but what’s important is that you get things out there.”
Art takes on many different forms and meanings, but it certainly plays a large role in the lives of River Hill students. Hopefully it will continue to do so for years to come.