Student Art Profile - Ash & Shruthi

By: Zoe Clouthier, Henry Dobozy

KCI is a very artistic school, from our annual variety show Limelight, to the individual students, our school is populated with creative minds. However, it is very easy for artists to sink below the surface in today's world, especially if they’re students who can’t devote all their time to self-promotion, so we here at The Edge have made it our goal to seek out these students and give them a voice. Pablo Picasso once famously said that “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist when we grow up.” We fully agree with this quote, and we are doing what we can to help young artists follow their dreams. In the first of what will become a series of articles of this kind, our journalists have met with some prominent artists around KCI and interviewed them about their art. The results were illuminating. So without further ado, here are Ash and Shruthi, two of the artists in our school community.

Shruthi (she/her) and Ash (he/they) - Limelight Art Production Team and Traditional Artists

The Edge: As an additional question, as you are the Limelight staff, what was your overall vision for Limelight?

Ash: I mean for me, it was mostly focusing on posters and stuff. I was going for something that really took Limelight literally. We were talking about what “Limelight” means, and that’s how I developed the idea for the poster.

Shruthi: When we had our first meeting, as a prod. team, the initial thing we thought of was the posters and what “Limelight” means, and it’s literally like a spotlight on talent. So our initial sketch was just a spotlight, and we built from there.

The Edge: What role did you play in the production of the show?

Ash: We made lots of the props, the sets were fairly simple, just like tables and stuff. We got a list of the stuff we would need from Mr. Graham (the main teacher supervisor of Limelight), so we didn’t take too active a role in the production.

Shruthi: We just worked on the props and the sets.

The Edge: Do you guys have any inspirations that stand out in your creations?

Ash: A lot of media (gestures to piece of sketch on the table) this is Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley in Stranger Things. I draw some characters from books I read, and I have notes on potential illustrations from song lyrics I hear, where I think “that could look really nice.” That sort of thing.

Shruthi: My inspiration, and most of the stuff I do, is really geared towards nature. My Mom and I are really big nature lovers so we usually do our art work together, because she is also a phenomenal artist. Most of the time it’s something like animals or scenery, it also depends on what medium I’m using.

The Edge: What is your process for creation like?

Ash: With me it’s really like I see something cool in a movie, or I hear a song lyric and I want to draw something that shows that. I’ll start with a really rough sketch, usually they look quite awful. Or even, I was playing DnD, and thought of something to draw, and my initial sketch wasn’t particularly great. But, these sketches are mostly for me to remember, so I can go back and fully sketch it out. Sometimes I’ll do lines, and then shading, just generally rendering it.

Shruthi: For me, I don’t usually plan my stuff out, I just go for it. I’m very visual, so I have an idea in my head, and it just forms, and colours just sort themselves out. And then I just put that on paper. I just draw as I go and think “Oh that would look great here.” I don’t really have a vision, I just plan it out on paper.

The Edge: Where do you get the supplies you use to make your art?

Ash: A lot of pencils from art class at KCI. Last year, I liked Curry’s because their stuff was at a good price. I got a bunch of my stuff from there. I work a lot digitally so I have Procreate and stuff like that, Apple I guess.

Shruthi: I do a lot of graphite sketching, so my graphite pencils are from Amazon and my sketchbook is from the Dollar Store, as well as stuff like my acrylic paints. The Dollar Store is very convenient, we go there a lot, some of my paint brushes are from Michael’s, some from Curry’s, yeah, just wherever I go.

Ash: Really wherever is convenient.

The Edge: How long have you been making art?

Shruthi: Honestly, I don’t really have a specific timeline, I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember. It’s just something that I do. Not necessarily art that had a good product, but doodling, sketching, or anything. But when I started doing art that had a good product, it really started in the last three or four years, it really started in COVID.

Ash: Yeah, same for me, I’ve been drawing for forever, not well, of course, when I was younger. But I’ve been drawing consistently for the last three years. 

The Edge: Do you see a future in your art? Would you want to pursue it in post-secondary?

Shruthi: No, I think it will just be my nice hobby. I don’t think I will ever pursue it in the future seriously.

The Edge: Do you know what you will pursue?

Shruthi: I’m thinking about something in the science field, maybe science and medicine.

Ash: I’m the complete opposite, actually. I want to be an illustrator, so I want to go to school for illustration. Probably more freelance stuff at first.

The Edge: Do you know where you want to go for that?

Ash: Hopefully OCAD, Sheridan or even Algonquin has a program.

The Edge: Do you have a point that you want to reach in your art, like an end goal.

Ash: I would like to see my art grow and change forever I think, but once I can really hone my drawing ability that would be good. I’ve been stuck in a bit of a rut lately because I’m not that confident in my art ability. But once I improve anatomy and stuff like that, once I can draw easily without thinking a ton, that would be great.

Shruthi: I go back to my artworks and recreate them just to see how far I’ve come. But when I’ll be happy with my art will be when I can be fully confident in what I draw, and the drawing actually comes out entirely good, with no doubt about it. When the artwork looks finally cleaned up.

The Edge: What did you think of Limelight?

Shruthi: I’m so proud of all the work everybody put in, it was a phenomenal show. Just so awesome.

Ash: I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It was getting stressful close to the end, but once we could see it really coming together, it was really something.

Shruthi: And, it was my first Limelight ever. I wasn’t here last year, I joined pretty late, so I had no idea how things would go. But once it all started to come together, like on Sunday Rundays, I just knew it was going to be awesome.

The Edge: Can our audience find your work anywhere?

Shruthi: Not at this moment.

Ash: Yeah, on Instagram @ashtreefrog!