My artwork for the assignment "My Admiration" consists of my grandma and my mom, two of the hardest working members of my family that I undoubtedly look up to. From sleepless nights since I was a baby to the many, many hours in the kitchen, my mom and grandma have always shown their love and care for me via their diligent favours. Throughout my life, I have always taken their hardworking nature for granted, and in recent years, I have realized how privileged I was. Likewise, I want to provide the same respect -- whether it be cleaning or cooking -- as they did for me when I was younger.

I chose my mom as the person I admire because of many of her qualities. She is patient, hard working, and very optimistic. She always has a smile on her face no matter what she is going through. Her personality and smile always lights up a room.

I did my artwork on Yuki Ishikawa, a professional volleyball player from team Japan. I chose him because I admire his skill, humbleness and adaptability. On my artwork, on the bottom half I made the background a volleyball court and a bunch of quotes of his own in the top half that shows his wisdom. I then layered in a net and a 3D volleyball to add texture and draw attention to the sport. I drew him 3 times in different volleyball positions that he plays to show his versatility. Finally I added a quote of his in bold in the centre, at the time he is quoted he is considered one of the top 10 volleyball players in the world, but he still acts humble and modest when talking about some of his career.

The person I drew for this assignment is Bang Chan from the boy group “Stray Kids.” What I admire about him the most is his perseverance: Bang Chan gave up his youth and joined the company at the age of 13, and trained for 7 years until he was finally able to debut with the members he chose himself and became a leader for them. I wanted the quote in the artwork to represent that exactly. One of their music videos, named “Hollow,” greatly inspired me. From what I’ve incorporated using the music video: the orb in his hand represents happiness in the form of his success, and the spotlight represents that he is always on stage (even when he's not), and that the spotlight still creeps in there since he's constantly being filmed, whether officially or not.

In this assignment, the 2 things I decided to draw were my parents and the story game I used to play with my friends. My parents are an obvious choice for the assignment, as I admire their hard work in taking care of me and my brothers while both having their own jobs. While with the game, I admire my friend who did the storytelling. Which shaped my interest into fantasy and is one of the reasons why my art looks the way it does today. In the artwork there is a cracked line between the top and bottom of the work, showing the separation between reality and fantasy. While the characters, the ones in fantasy are mimicking me and my friends showing the connection between both worlds.

My collage is Mazzy Joya. She inspires me because she teaches me to respect myself and to always put myself first. I also really enjoy her content and I've been following her on social media for 3 years now. I like her style and she gives me a lot of art inspiration and clothing inspo. 

As the focal point of my faith, Jesus inspires me, which is why I decided to draw Him. Jesus represents love, sacrifice, and hope in my view as a Protestant Christian. He serves as a reminder to me to be kind, forgiving, and strong even in the face of adversity. I wanted to convey through this piece of art how His example directs my life and motivates me to improve myself every day.

I chose Ariana Grande for my project because her music inspires me. I relate so much to her lyrics and look up to her as a person. She is very inspiring and helps people regardless of her fame.

This assignment was meaningful to me because I've been listening to Partynextdoor since 2018 and his music got me through quarantine. I like his music because he is from Toronto as well, and this was the perfect opportunity to show my appreciation for him and his music and because I wasn't able to make it to his Toronto concert. I used watercolour since it is my favourite medium and picked lyrics and quotes I most relate too.

I chose to make an art piece of Audrey Hepburn because I really admire her as a person, not just an actor. Besides being a Hollywood star, she was such an important role model for women in her time. To this day, her messages about beauty coming from within and being the best version of yourself still resonates with my generation. Audrey Hepburn also cared a lot about social justice since she was young and spoke out towards antisemitism and inequality in the world. I admire that she used her fame to be a voice for people that didn't have a voice. Aside from this, she also was a huge fashion icon and I have always loved seeing the different styles of clothing in all her movies. 

The images I included matter because they represent Yamaoka's work on Silent Hill. The game covers and characters show what he helped create, while the darker pictures reflect the mood his music brought to the series. The handwritten text adds a personal touch, showing how much he inspires me.

I chose Jhene Aiko as the person I admire because her music stands out to me. I have been a fan of her for years, and I got the chance to experience her tour date last year. Her music brings me happiness, and her lyrics inspire me to stay calm no matter how difficult the situation I'm in is.

I did my artwork based on the global icon SZA, I wanted to do my assignment surrounding her since she grew up muslim and she went through the hardships of being bound to a religion and its heavy rules and she decided that she didn't want her life to feel like she was trapped in a cage, and so she left Islam to explore other religions. So I made my artwork focused around her accomplishments and how her lyrics can really resonate with her fans, and the text and images represent both cultural and personal impacts. This can also show how SZA inspires people to see the beauty in themselves along with the process of becoming.