Pen and paper in hand, senior Sarah Driver can be found anywhere in JC quietly doodling an array of flowers and designs in her spiral notebook. As an AP Studio Art student, Driver has been strengthening her skills in the Fine Arts program for the past four years.
“I think I’ve always loved art,” said Driver, whose earliest memory of creating artwork involved a few crayons she used to color Belle’s dress from “Beauty and the Beast.” Since her days of coloring Disney princesses in coloring books, Driver has greatly expanded her artwork and developed deeper feelings toward the meaning of her art.
Driver has shown such an interest in art because of the beauty, the skill, and the detail. “Not everyone is going to love a good book, but a painting is something that everyone, no matter who they are or where they come from, can appreciate,” Driver said.
Another reason she enjoys art so much is because art is universal, and people from every background, culture, and country can relate to it. She also enjoys art because of the passion behind the piece. “Art shows feeling, history, and skill,” she said.
Driver experiments with a multitude of mediums. She loves drawing the most because, “it’s clear and simple,” but that doesn’t restrain her from weaving in different mediums.
She uses anything from ink pens to acrylic paints. Using pen and ink is “fun and easy.” She likes painting because “if done right it can add so much,” and she also likes using acrylics because they “don’t take forever to dry.”
Although Driver doesn’t have an all-time favorite artist that she looks up to, she enjoys Norman Rockwell’s paintings. She finds his artwork “detailed, funny, clever and nostalgic.” As a growing artist, she would love to be able to convey feelings as well as Rockwell does in his paintings.
All throughout elementary and middle school, Driver received awards for being the “Most Artistic” within her class. These awards prove that Driver has come a long way from trying to stay inside the lines of her coloring book.
For now, Driver is just attempting to tackle her most difficult pursuit, which is drawing people, because “one tiny little line off can ruin the whole drawing.” As for the future, Driver hopes to continue her passion in college and receive a minor in art.
Julia Earnshaw can be reached for comment at [email protected].