Artist Expressions: with Andy Coleman
September 15, 2022
Artist Expressions is a monthly in-depth interview with different art students who are pursuing a variety of art classes and artistic endeavors. The interviews hope to highlight their work, current projects and future artist plans.
Senior Andy Coleman is a talented and committed artist. Taking four art classes this semester that include AP Art, Graphic Design, Photography and Painting, they plan to attend art school to further their career as an artist. Focusing mainly on illustration and creating art digitally Coleman seeks to expand their mediums even further.
What is most exciting to about exciting to you about art right now?
“I think especially in the larger art world, the way that art is able to bring up issues. It’s sort of an interesting way to visualize things that are going on in the world. At the same time as it is bringing up issues it can be an escape from issues. These past few years have not been easy on anyone, so it’s both spotlight on issues and an escape from issues that can sort of make things easier I guess.”
Do you hope to pursue a career in art? If so, what do you want to do?
“I definitely do want to pursue art in the future. I have been looking at art schools and I want to be an illustrator, whether that be for children’s books or anything like that just because it seems like fun to be. When it comes to art, I am the best at illustration and like character design and things like that.”
How did you get into illustrating/creating art digitally?
“Both my parents are art teachers, so I’ve been drawing and doing artistic stuff ever since I could remember. I started to do digital artwork in 6th grade and I think that was mostly because that was the first time I had like access to the internet so I was seeing like all of these YouTubers and like people on Instagram doing all this digital art. That’s kind of the first time I started looking at art as a serious thing as opposed to me doodling on the sides of my paper.”
Is there anything that has surprised you about your art classes this year?
“I think that when it comes to AP Art specifically, it’s a very small class there’s only about eight people. It’s been nice to have a group of people that I can bounce ideas off of and like shows like what I’m working on. I feel like one of the biggest things I struggle with is art block and I start something and don’t know where to go with it.”
Is there any art medium that you would want to try?
“During quarantine when we were all locked inside, I started getting into sewing…like a lot of stuffed animals and sculptures and stuff like that. But the thing about sewing, one I don’t have a sewing machine, and two buying fabric is kind of expensive. That’s one medium I would like to work with more.”
What is your favorite memory of being an art student at LFHS?
“I had one of my photographs chosen to be shown at [the North Suburban Art Conference] and that was really exciting. Not only because I got to see a piece of my artwork on display and other people got to see it but because a bunch of other schools in the Lake County area and Chicago area had their work on display for their students. It was so exciting to see what people were doing…I left very inspired and that was probably my favorite art related memory when it comes to my high school experience.”
What is your biggest artistic inspiration?
“I watch a lot of animated TV shows and things like that so I think those… [they] probably have the biggest impact on my art style and things like that… probably the biggest one being like Gravity Falls, every time I watch that show, it leaves me feeling very inspired.”
What is your current project?
“In AP Art we did a thing with spray paint and we sprayed painted and using the stuff and making it into a bigger project. I did an illustration using the textures and things from my spray painted piece and put them into a digital drawing and sort of was able to mix textures and things like that, which is something I hadn’t really done before.”
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