The Budding Artist by Chloe

The Budding Artist by Chloe - February 2024 Scholarship Essay

I am an artist and painting and drawing is my passion. My experiences with art have inspired me to major in Anthropology when I begin college next fall. I have always dabbled with drawing for fun but during quarantine helped to stave off boredom. I started drawing while watching videos on youtube that showed me how to draw eyes for beginners. The detail required to draw an eye that was so life-like that it stared back at you from the sketch pad devoured time that would have otherwise been spent watching TikTok videos.
Over time my skills improved and I challenged myself to take more advanced youtube lessons. I would start by imitating other artists and eventually begin to experiment with my own artistic style using different drawing techniques to accomplish the desired look I wanted. I took my first formal art class via zoom through coursehorse.com where I learned how to draw water movement and movement in the air. This gave me a good sense of how to display motion on a flat surface which allowed the world of art to take form for me in a real way. I was the only child in the art class with adult students who were far more advanced than I, which caused me to become very critical of my own art, however my classmates were encouraging and eagerly acknowledged my budding talent. As I progressed I worked with different mediums such as acrylic on canvas and then digital drawings on my ipad. I became confident enough in my artistic abilities to create an instagram page where I display my art called @art_by_chloemichelle, it was on social media where I attracted the attention of my first patron. I sold a large poster for $60 and it was official, I was an artist.
When I returned to school 18 months later, I was in my sophomore year of high school and I was eager to pursue more formal art training. I took a Life Drawing and AP Studio Art class both with Mr. Henning. It was in these classes that I began using oil paint to create self portraits. I was always fascinated by the oil paintings of portraits in museums and wanted to see if I could paint one as well. The one-on-one guidance I received from Mr. Henning for this process allowed me to expand my horizons and create more content for my social media page, I was most proud to see my work displayed in the halls of my school. My teacher saw something in my work that both made me blush and inspired. There were so many talented students in my class that I was simply honored to be considered one of them, but to actually stand out among them was more than I imagined when I signed up for the class. My teacher entered my self portrait in a gallery competition, I was nervous but willing. To my delight my portrait was selected! I was invited to participate in the Ashe Arts and STEM Academy annual fundraiser called Mentors and Mimosas Gala at the Creative House Gallery in Inglewood California. I had to have my painting professionally framed and submitted to the gallery for the event. The evening of the gala, two buyers entered into a bidding war over my painting and it sold to the highest bidder for $200. I had arrived! This experience has shaped my plan to enter college as an Anthropology major and Art minor. My dream is to eventually become a museum curator for some of the premier museums throughout the country. I also plan to curate exciting local pop-up spaces where I can feature my own artwork along with other local artists.