The painting I did of my room is called “Solitude” and it was done using acrylic on canvas. I wanted to be able to capture my bedroom as accurately as possible, from the small paintings hung around my room to the small book sticking out of the cardboard box, in order for my audience to take a glimpse into my everyday life. I really wanted my audience to be able to look at this painting and understand a bit about me because just like how I use art as a way of communication, I want the audience to be able to use my art to learn more about me.
The last piece, which is called “Disoriented”, is a piece done with pen on ink on toned paper, and it was mainly created as a way to funnel my creativity into something that was seemingly abstract yet realistic at the same time. This can be seen in the blending of a woman’s torso into the background of a horse, or a thumb into that of an owl. I really had fun with this piece because it allowed me to connect seemingly unrelated objects into something abstract and critical.
My creative process is usually very spontaneous. Sometimes, I would have random things pop into my head, such as a fishbowl and an old grandpa in a street market, and then I would quickly write these ideas and thoughts down on the nearest paper. When I have the time, I look back on all the things I wrote down and I try to pick ideas that seemingly are unconnected and incorporate it into a piece that speaks about a recent issue in the world, or an opinion that I would like to share to my audience. Other times, I draw ideas from literature, movies, and songs, and use those as the driving force behind some of my pieces, such that certain songs create different brushstrokes or shades.
Edward Zhang is currently a junior at Palo Alto High School in California. He has won two Scholastic Art & Awards and earned a Certificate of special recognition in his district’s Congressional Art Competition. Edward enjoys using acrylics to depict portraits and human figures. Additionally, he writes articles about foreign policy for his school’s Agora magazine. In his free time, he walks his dog Snowy.