Junior Caroline Boardman is an avid painter, having produced numerous works during her years at KO. Although she is experienced in many mediums, Caroline prefers to focus on painting, usually using acrylics; however, she has recently been working on several pieces using other tools, such as colored pencil, in order to expand her horizons.
Caroline started her art journey when she was a toddler, with her first piece being a finger painting that resembled an eagle. From that point on, she began to heavily explore art, working on many pieces even in elementary school.
At KO, Caroline has worked with many teachers in various classes, from art teacher Katherine Nicholson in the Middle School to art teachers Katie Burnett, Scott McDonald, and Greg Scranton in the Upper School. During her freshman year, Caroline worked with Ms. Burnett in both the foundations in art and painting classes. Caroline said she has enjoyed each teacher’s unique approach to the various classes she has taken.
“They all have different passions and understand and teach a lot of different art, but they all have something specific they like to focus on,” she said. “Ms. Burnett is really passionate about painting, which helps me a lot when I work with them since she specializes in my type of art and can bring a lot to my work.”
Caroline focuses mainly on painting with acrylics. “I like working with acrylics because you can layer and mix the colors, and they are really vibrant too,” she said. In addition, Caroline really enjoys using paintbrushes. “They feel natural to use and it is very appealing to me,” she said. “I’m also able to play around with colors and how they blend together, and this allows me to determine which colors would be shadows and which would be lighter tones.”
The pieces Caroline works on generally have a focus on color and realism. With regard to the ways in which she plans out her pieces, Caroline first settles on an idea by sketching it out or using a reference to create the first image. As for her favorite piece, Caroline described how she worked on a large, detailed painting of a wave over quarantine. Quarantine gave her the wherewithal to focus on the piece intently; she was able to work on it for a long time and concentrated on getting the small details right.
Currently, Caroline is working on a self-portrait with colored pencils that plays on her love of magic and fantasy as well as realist art. “I tried to make it very colorful and include plants and animals that were significant to me,” she said. As it stands right now, Caroline has completed a handful of elements of the drawing including a small bird and various types of flowers, such as hydrangeas.
Although Caroline does not have any plans to major in art in the future, she does really enjoy tapping into her creative side and plans to continue creating art as a hobby outside of school.
