Rocco Novia-Reed


PS: there's a lil nudity ✨


"Morph" self portrait, acrylic on canvas.

My name is Rocco Novia-Reed, I have been in AQ for the last 3 years and I'm now in AP studio art for my senior year. I'm submmiting a drawing portfolio. I love to explore different mediums like painting, drawing, watercolor and gouache, to incorporate them throughout my portfolio.

"Exploring the grey area" is the most compacted way to phrase my Sustained Investigation. Throughout the year I've explored the contrast between the layers of what's on the surface level and what's beneath. The grey area is what falls between the cliche and the personal truth. These broad, sometimes subconscious ideas can be explored in many different ways shown on this website.

"Ak-Mak" Watercolor pencls and ink on paper.


"Queen of Morocco" Acrylic print on canvas

"Mendocino Ave" Acrylic on Canvas

In some of my pieces, I use color to convey different emotions. Sometimes a vibrant pop of color or an overall balance of primary colors can help center the piece. I like the simplicity of the primary colors and their contrast.


"Superstar portrait" watercolor pens

"Momma Donia" graphite on canvas


"black and white portrait" Ink, gouache wash on watercolor paper

Over the years of being a part of VFA, I've made many portraits of myself and of others and I really enjoy making them. Discovering small details about a face that you would only see if you create a portrait of them, is my favorite part of the process.

"Meatgrinder" Watercolor pens, ink, white gel pen, on watercolor paper

Word & Image Piece "meatgrinder"

this peiec is essentially about D-day in WWII, where soldiers were knowingly sent in to be slaughtered to create a human shield until the apponents ran out of bullets. I combined this imagery with words from a childhood book of mine about a mother turtle telling her child turtle about what they do. "We dig said the mother, We Dig! said the son, so they dug all day in the sand in the sun".

I used America to symbolize the mother as a controller of the soldiers (the child) telling them what they must do. "Run said the mother, We Run! said the son, so they ran all day in the sand in the sun."

Spring Piece "joi 2.0001"

This peiec explores the contrast between the blueprint intricacies of the human body and how delacate the organic human is on the outside and in.

"Rocco's Inferno" MIxed media on paper


This piece is influenced by Dante's Inferno and explores the different levels of doom my own hero has to find his way through.

Detail photo albums.

Progress Photo albums