La Vista looks at Costa’s 19th Annual Student Portfolio Showcase at the Resin Gallery in Hermosa Beach on May 3.
Compiled by Grace Dietz/Executive Arts Editor, Sophia Vaughan/Staff Writer, Sarah Toomey/Photo Editor
“Portrait of Madelaine Petsch” By Emma Foy
Q: What motivated you to create this piece?
A: I was in Ms. Dixon’s art class this year and we were doing portraits. I really like [Madelaine Petsch] as an actress so I decided to paint her.
Q: Why did you choose certain colors in your piece?
A: I really like warmer colors and especially pinks and reds. Obviously [Petsch’s] hair is red, which drew me to her originally, and I thought the pink really complemented her lips.
Q: Is painting your typical medium?
A: Yeah, it is. When I first started [making] art it wasn’t, but after working with Ms. Dixon and Ms. Heredia and taking classes outside of school, it’s become my preferred medium.
Q: Did you have any other pieces in the show?
A: Yes, actually I have two. This one and then another one was a 9×12 for the fundraising event, and it’s also a portrait.
“Muse” By Sofia Beck
Q: Who is the subject of your piece?
A: I wanted to draw an eye, but I didn’t want to just use a random photo online. I happened to have a photo of my boyfriend’s eye, so I thought that would be perfect for this particular piece.
Q: How many pieces did you have in the show and what were they?
A: I had two pieces in the show. One was this eye and the other was at the entrance of the gallery. It was a pink woman in pink water surrounded by flowers and orange slices titled “Lemonade.”
Q: What drove you to use these specific colors in this piece?
A: I like to saturate my pieces, so I turned the saturation up super high on my phone to accentuate the color of the eye in the photo I based my painting off of. After that I just painted what I saw from that reference.
“Serene” By Sarah Fox
Q: What was the inspiration behind your piece?
A: I saw this pretty picture of a girl online, and I just really wanted to paint her in my piece, so I decided to use her for my reference. The piece contains a lot of different colors, which makes it pop to viewers’ eyes.
Q: How long have you been an artist?
A: I’ve been an artist since I was a toddler. I’ve always had a passion for creating art.
Q: Is painting your favorite medium?
A: Drawing is actually my favorite medium, but I love painting almost as much.
Q: Why did you choose to include the swatches of paint colors next to the portrait?
A: I decided to add the lines of colored paint next to the girl because I wanted to show the main colors that pop out most to the eye.
“Sky Tones” By Kamilah Davila
Q: What was the inspiration behind your piece?
A: This piece is a combination of many photos taken on the France trip with the school. I had a lot of pictures with blue aspects and wanted to combine these. I collaged in a way to show the joys of traveling and how fashion and the culture in France is very different compared to America. Going to Europe is a huge privilege and I wanted to document it in an artistic way.
Q: What made you decide to create a collage?
A: I decided to do a collage because I had so many pictures from this trip and really wanted to try a mixed media piece by jumbling up some photos with similar coloring. It also exaggerates the homemade nature of the piece.
Q: How long have you been creating art?
A: I got a professional camera before my junior year and have taken pictures as much as possible since then!
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