This piece was the very first piece that I had made in my AP Art Portfolio. I didn’t have the confidence to draw what I loved. When my teacher asked for my ideas for an artwork I just showed him a picture of some random statue and based my art on the statue. I had no desire to work on it and see it as a horrible piece that does not show me as an artist. The reason why I picked this to work on was because it was so that I could blend in with everyone else. Everyone in the class was making beautiful realistic art and each art piece had depth and love made into them. I didn’t want to stand out so I went with the flow and made art that I wasn’t proud of. This is an example of a time that whatever I made wasn’t me and I didn’t know how to transition or make full artworks that represented what I loved. There is no meaning of this piece at the time that I had made it. It only represented my lack of confidence in making something that could be on par with my peers. Every time I look at this piece I want to erase it, but I kept it because it’s a part of my art journey and me growing to love and be confident in my art. I told myself at that time that one day you will be proud of the art that you make and to keep hold of that hope. The grey scale represents how I felt when making this art piece which was a dull and tragic time for me. The red represents my desire to kill this art piece and to pretend that it doesn’t exist, but I want to include it because it was a part of my artist journey.

This is an art piece that I made when I was struggling to draw anything at all. When I made this piece I started it at home. I was still not confident in starting art pieces in my style at school, especially in front of very talented students. It didn’t help that I had never drawn a person in oil paints either and so I was afraid of messing up. I was inspired by people who drew how they felt when they are in an art block to make this piece. Being in an art block feels like my ideas were trapped in my head and I couldn’t produce it on paper. Everytime I end up not being able to draw I feel like I accomplished nothing. Art is the only thing that makes me feel like it’s the only reason for me to be here. I know now that it’s not true and that I shouldn’t beat myself up for every time I don’t draw, but when I was younger I didn’t understand that. This point of my life was very important to my artistic journey because I was able to draw something I was passionate about in my AP Art Portfolio class and actually felt like I could be a part of that class. I wanted a dark background with vivid colors for the character only because I wanted the character to stand out.

This is one of the first fan art pieces that I have made in this fandom. I wanted to be able to make finished art pieces that showed my current love and obsession and it happened to be a webcomic a close friend recommended to me a while back. I instantly fell in love with each of the complex characters that the author created and the angst that the comic had in its story. What I love the most about this comic is the growth of the artist. The comic first started back in 2015 and only recently finished and you can see throughout the comic the artist’s art style changing and I loved seeing the growth of the artist. Her art and webcomic is what made me want to make a webcomic of my own. This art piece is based on a certain part of the story where one of the main characters becomes cursed and becomes the queen of witches. This was originally one part of a series of art pieces, but I haven’t gotten to the other two so for now this will just be its own piece. I gave it a grey scale look because I wanted it to look dark and ominous and I want others to decide whether or not the character is good or bad so I gave her almost an emotionless expression.

This is the most recent art piece I have made and it's the one I'm most proud of. I’m finally at a point where I am confident in my art and I can now believe that I can be on par with my peers and I’m not afraid of showing my art to my peers. This is fan art of the same webcomic from the previous art piece. This was an assignment given to me by my AP Art Portfolio teacher to draw something based on the word cover. That is the main reason why this art piece was created. When I came across the quote I wrote above I instantly thought about the two main characters in that webcomic and I immediately started brainstorming and creating. The girl is covering her inner suffering while the boy is trying to save her from them.

This piece is the first digital painting that I am proud of. I made this after studying and practicing digital painting and using the tips and tricks I learned. This piece is from a song that I listened to called Shadow by BTS. One of the lyrics is the main inspiration and the title of this art piece. The picture is self explanatory. It shows the singer sitting on a throne with a crown. I love the idea of others interpreting the meaning behind my artwork because I never have complex meanings such as this one. I gave this art piece more of an dull color palette because I wanted to show the character in a dark room with only a dim light somewhere in the room.

“You shine brighter than any star, thank you.” The reason why I made this piece was to pay tribute to a beautiful and inspirational artist Qinni also known as Qing Han who passed away a couple months back. She was one of the reasons why I continued to draw and I hope to reach the level that she was at when I got older. I’m sad that we had to lose such a wonderful artist and person to cancer, but I’m just glad that she no longer has to suffer. For as long as I remember she’s had this illness for many years and it seemed like she would never get better. The art community on the internet mourned for her death that many artists paid tribute by the hashtag GalaxiesForQinni. I pray that her family is safe and healthy as they mourn. I will never forget all of her beautiful artworks that she created and will always look up to her for the rest of my life. Her life was short but she was a happy woman who looked at the world in a positive light and I’m glad to have come across her art. I gave it a dull color palette because I wanted to make the character look like he is lying in the dark with only a small light somewhere in the room. The glowing fish, stars, and hair represents the artist’s aesthetic of galaxies and fishes.

The first realistic portrait that I am very proud of. I was taught on a website called SkillShare and using everything I learned I created this. Continuing to draw whatever I want and I decided to draw V from BTS because at the time I was very passionate about them and they were the only reason why I would draw in a realistic style. I added the stars because it reminded me of the edits fans would put on their faces and I thought it would be a fun little thing to add. Doing realistic portraits digitally is the most relaxing and fun way of drawing portraits and I would love to do this again in the near future.