Art 2 teacher Michael Doyle tasked students with creating an art piece in the form of a scientific journal in March. The subject: a fantasy creature of their choice. Students knew not to question inspiration, and simply go where it takes them for this project. 

“I was just doodling on a piece of paper, having fun, scribbling, and then it appeared to me, like a vision… I was blinded by this beautiful creature, little eyes, big teeth, thick, beautiful, muscular legs, like a bodybuilder in the 80’s who took steroids,” said Brady Thompson (‘22). 

When he tried to argue with the vision, he was reminded of the T-rex, and how their useless arms never stopped them from being one of the most fearsome carnivores of all time. Thompson was inspired, and the masterpiece he produced only took him 20 minutes to create.

“In bodybuilding, they always say the legs are the most important. What the creature was saying to me was, listen, you can have big arms, but don’t forget the legs. The legs look good too,” said Thompson. 

Inspiration struck artist WonJeong Kim (‘22) too, but led her in a different direction. Her fictional subject was a skeleton body, half human and half animal. 

“I am really interested in anatomy and what we’re learning in class, and I was also inspired by some dinosaur skeletons I saw in a museum once,” said Kim. 

Color and medium were also a consideration for art students, who were encouraged to work with watercolor for this project. Although many were not as experienced with watercolor as other materials, they took on the challenge. 

“I was unsure what to do for the color, and my friend suggested blue as a joke, and I liked the idea of using blue for the character and portray it as both cute and scary. I thought it would be a really fun idea to do a really cute baby [creature] and then draw it again as a really scary adult,” said Jackson Felton (‘22). 

This idea came to Felton from his love of Darwin’s theory of evolution, which Felton is currently reading about in class. The Easter theme the piece took on, with Easter eggs and colors, was unplanned, but not unwelcome. 

“I really like mermaids, and one time I was just doodling and drew a frog with horns, and I thought ‘I’ll just draw a mermaid and a frog as her pet’. There’s no deep meaning behind [the color], I like using bright colors for all my projects,” said Ashley Hinkle (‘22). 

Many students said this was their favorite project they’d done all year, and most were proud of how their pieces turned out. 

“I chose a Basilisk from Harry Potter for my subject, and I drew its breeding process. I was really happy with it. Normally I really critique myself, but this one I was surprised, and working with watercolors was amazing,” said Yash Kansal (‘23).