"Buddies," 2019, markers and pens, ( 4 x 5 in. ), This piece was drawn with Micron pens and colored with Prismacolor markers. I was given the opportunity by my art teacher to submit a piece to the ChicagoLand 4x5 art show. I had a lot of fun coming up with these four original characters (some of which recur in other pieces): Scuba Shrimp, Cool Parrot, Plant Person, and Wedgehead. Though the basic designs of each character seem like they are from a children's book, a sort of ominous tone underlies the whimsical colors and appearances of this group. I ended up winning Honorable Mention at the 4x5 art show, and even got this piece ironed onto a T-Shirt.

"He's Getting Away," 2021, color pencils and pen, ( 18 x 24 in. ), For my AP Studio art class, I am creating visual narratives for my final sustained investigations. To create an interesting story with my characters, I wanted to create a marketplace environment, filled with a variety of strange creatures, cyborgs, and aliens. For this piece I worked on environmental shadows and color compositions.

"Bartering With Mrs. Brinklung," 2020, color pencils and marker, (11 x 14 in. ), I have three little brothers that I love telling stories to. Using my sketchbook drawings for inspiration, I make up adventures using the three of them as the main characters. For "Bartering With Mrs. Brinklung," I wanted to capture that same adventurous, whimsical, humorous, and bizarre feeling that my bedtime stories contain. By applying Prismacolor markers on top of the wax-based colored pencils, I was able to get a rusty, almost dirty visual effect. To further blend the markers, I used tissue paper to move any of the colored ink that did not mix with the wax pencils to empty spaces. I experimented with color theory a lot for this piece. I made sure to keep a balance between the complementary colors in order to make the piece visually appealing. I used the tiny creatures scattered about the colorful slabs to drive the palette. After coloring the creatures, I then chase the colors of the bricks that would make them stand out the most. The four brothers have been on countless journeys across phantasmagorical plains and vibrant valleys. This time, however, they must save their friend. The four brothers reach the strange realm of Mrs. Brinklung. She is a gelatinous, stalk-eyed worm creature, and she keeps a menagerie of stolen pets from around the universe. Mrs. Brinklung held the four brothers’ beloved rabbit, Stroopy, in captivity. In order to recollect poor Stroopy, they give up their hard-earned Venus flytrap to the worm.

"Before He Leaves," 2020, color pencil, ( 35 x 15 in. ), For this triptych, I went to a Super H-Mart and bought an interesting variety of fruits and vegetables. After playing with different arrangements of the objects, I spent a few days sketching until I had the composition I wanted. I took the best still life sketch, then traced it onto three 5 x 12 in. sheets. After focusing on the lighting and shadows of the arrangement of fruits and vegetables with graphite pencils, I studied their color complexion with colored pencils. Once I finished a more traditional still life piece, I put my own spin into the piece by adding a sequential story within the three strips. A girl holding a basket filled with radishes walks with her dog to an old merchant. Before he leaves with his camel, they get to his fruit cart, and barter with him.

"I Will Go Beyond These Electric Fields," 2020, color pencil, ( 18 x 24 in. ), I started this colored pencil drawing by walking through my favorite prairie. I sat in the middle of the field and drew flowers and other plant life there. I later used a childhood drawing as inspiration for the robot in the center. Though this piece might carry a sort of environmentalism message at first glance, the piece became more personal to me. I centered it on allowing the past to remain in the past by adding myself in the distance. This robot represents my childhood experiences. When I look back at my own life, I can see how broken and shattered life gets at some point, but there are always new flowers sprouting where a robot has died. Looking for the new growth, the new joys is what I hope to capture. Though I am walking away from my dear robot, I am moving forwards in my own life. I had a lot of fun turning the crude circles and sticks that my kindergarten self drew into a detailed, green husk. I made sure to turn every inch of this piece into its own miniature composition.

"Sunday Afternoon," 2020, graphite pencil, ( 18 x 24 in. ), This graphite drawing is a portrait of my grandfather, William Luthardt, who passed away March 5, 2021. The prompt I was given was to create/design a "tool." It was a pretty broad prompt, so I was able to be creative with fun visuals such as a cyborg arm. I wanted to play with the contrast between a heavily-detailed mechanism and a cheesy picture of my grandpa smiling, painting a birdhouse (with his favorite birds flying around him). I designed the arm, then the hand separately. I was inspired by the "greeble," or the aesthetically-driven detail rather than necessary detail, found in the prop designs of Star Wars. I later put them together for the finalization of the drawing. I focused on darkening shadows for this piece, and I learned a lot about how light reflects off of different objects. Though the "tool" is a painting machine, this piece as a whole was a way I wanted to cheer up my grandpa and encourage him to keep fighting his cancer.

"You Can't Eat That," 2021, color pencil, ( 30 x 12 in. ), Using a red, orange, blue, and green palette, I used colored pencils to create ten 6x6 in. squares with telescope eye-view scenes within each. I used black acrylic paint to cover the white space not covered in pencil. “The Nuh’Nook,” the orange creature that finds a bagel in a dumpster, is an original character that I have been drawing and redesigning since I was in first grade. “AV1-46,” the floating green ball that stares blankly with its yellow glass eye, is an original robot that I have been drawing and redesigning since I was in kindergarten. I love to draw inspiration from nostalgia, and for “You Can’t Eat That,” I used two of my favorite childhood creations to construct a visual story. For this sequential piece, I focused on light contrast and focal points. I made each circle was its own individual composition while also making sure that they fit into one another when viewed all at once.

"Hurley the Hermit Crab, (Page 1)," 2020, marker and pen, ( 8.5 x 11 in. ), This is page 1 of a comic book that I published through the Skokie Public Library. Each panel was hand-drawn with Micron pens and Prismacolor markers. I then uploaded each panel to a program called Krita to format them into place. The main goal of this comic book was to make the children of my hometown, Skokie, Illinois, feel welcome and accepted. Without a second glance, every single living creature Hurley the Hermit Crab meets is kind to him, and wishes him well on his journey of finding a new shell to live in. This was a pivotal project for me with my choice in applying to art schools. I learned that I enjoy working on projects, even if I have to follow guidelines from a client. In the end, I was pleased to see my work being distributed even in the face of a global pandemic. After this book was published, I understood that spreading hope and kindness in the world with my own original visuals is now an achievable dream that I will chase through college.

"Hurley the Hermit Crab, (Pages 8-9)," 2020, marker and pen, ( 8.5 x 11 in. ), Pages 8-9 of my comic book, "Hurley the Hermit Crab," follows Hurley's journey through Emily Oaks nature preserve to the funny frog, Mrs. Estelle. He meets a goldfinch, a buck, a turtle, and a fish, along the way.

"The Council," 2020, water color, ( 11 x 11.5 in. ), For "The Council," I spent a few nights sketching my dining room. I actually set up all of the food, tiny creatures, and silverware before sketching. The decorations on the mantle below the clock was also my own arrangement. After I had an interior sketch detailed enough, I referenced a picture I took of my little cousin for the girl who sits at the head of the table. For the rest of her company, I separately spent time to design characters that would pleasantly contrast with one another. I used watercolor, white gel pen and micron pen for the final piece. My end goal was to show my skills with perspective as well as my understanding of color theory. I wanted to include as many details as possible- from the items on the shelves, the mantle, the hand positions of the creatures, and the outfits each wear.