Painting inside the lions: Isaac uses art as creative outlet
Senior Monica Isaac divides a canvas into four parts. She sketches the eyes and then moves to the nose. She then outlines everything in black, creating the image of a lion.
Every year Isaac chooses a different theme to paint. Last year, Isaac painted 12 saints for her church and also for her art class. This year, she chose lions as her subject.
Painting a lion gave her the ability to experiment with new shades of colors and different texture techniques. Isaac purposefully paints the fur on the lion last to produce a ferociously fierce appearance.“I chose to paint lions because they are known as the strongest animal,” Isaac said.
Isaac has been painting, coloring and drawing ever since coloring books were available to her. “It was my hobby, and I loved it,” Isaac said.
According to Isaac, her dad taught her new techniques, such as shading. However, Isaac stated no one lead her to art. “It kind of just happened,” Isaac said.
Isaac took art classes in her school in Egypt and continued to take them when she came to America. Over the years, Isaac has advanced in drawing and painting.
“Freshman year showed me that I have a great ability and can improve it by taking more elective art classes,” Isaac said.
In her sophomore year, she took Drawing and Painting Two Honors, followed by Art History Honors and Painting Honors junior year. She is currently taking AP Studio Art.
“It (her art series) was amazing because I loved painting the faces, clothes, and animals in the picture,” Isaac said.
What Isaac loves most about her art is the process and ability of the final product to come together.
“I love how a painting comes together at the end , and you take a step back and feel good about how it turned out in the end,” Isaac said. “The most rewarding part is the feeling of accomplishing a painting and how it turns out at the end.”
