Senior Joella Asapokhai first started exploring her creative side by following YouTube art tutorials as a child. “I would copy characters from TV shows, create my own original characters, and try to draw my family members and myself,” she said. This pastime grew into a passion for her, and she’s since developed her artistic variety and technique.
Throughout her time at KO, Joella has had the opportunity to explore many different mediums. “My favorite medium is definitely colored pencil drawing, and my second favorite would be oil painting because it doesn’t dry as you’re working with it so you can continue to move things around, change things, and add stuff,” she said. “I also have been playing around with watercolor and doing some charcoal drawings as well.”
At school, Joella has taken Foundations in Art as well as Portfolio Prep and is currently in Advanced Studio Art and After School Art. “Foundations in Art really helped me develop the fundamental skills that I need to do art, and it was a good opportunity to try a lot of different things,” she said. “In Advanced Studio Art, I’ve been trying to extend that creativity beyond the canvas.”
Joella credits much of her artistic accomplishments to her teachers, noting the impact that each of them has had on her journey. “Ms. Burnett is really good at giving advice on how to improve something that you might want to tweak,” she said. “Mr. Scranton is very creatively inspirational; I feel like he really embodies what it means to be an artist because of the limitless approach that he takes. Mr. MacDonald is very precise, which I like because I’m not really a perfectionist. He can help with making sure that I have the right shapes or the right angles.”
Joella’s work is on display in the art gallery currently, featuring her favorite piece that she’s created: a colored pencil drawing of the ’90s rapper Cam’ron. “That’s my favorite because that was my first time drawing on black paper, and I really liked the contrast [of the colors] up against it,” she said.
While she often relies on her own creativity, Joella also derives inspiration from galleries. “Over the summer, I usually go to a lot of art galleries,” she said. “I have tons of photos I’ve taken at galleries for inspiration.”
Additionally, she likes the style of Nigerian artist Bruce Onobrakpeya. “It’s very representative of Nigerian culture and the energy that we have,” she said. “I have a lot of art pieces in my home that are similar to his work and African art in general, so I really like his work.”
In the future, Joella envisions herself continuing to create art as a hobby, using it as a place to channel her emotions. “I think that art is helping me to be a more patient person,” she explained. She also had advice for young artists. “To anyone starting out, I would probably say, be inspired by other people and the things that you see,” she said, “but ultimately, at the end of the day, your art comes from within, and you can’t make something good unless it’s original.”
We wish Joella the best with her artistic exploration!Senior Joella Asapokhai first started exploring her creative side by following YouTube art tutorials as a child. “I would copy characters from TV shows, create my own original characters, and try to draw my family members and myself,” she said. This pastime grew into a passion for her, and she’s since developed her artistic variety and technique.
Throughout her time at KO, Joella has had the opportunity to explore many different mediums. “My favorite medium is definitely colored pencil drawing, and my second favorite would be oil painting because it doesn’t dry as you’re working with it so you can continue to move things around, change things, and add stuff,” she said. “I also have been playing around with watercolor and doing some charcoal drawings as well.”
At school, Joella has taken Foundations in Art as well as Portfolio Prep and is currently in Advanced Studio Art and After School Art. “Foundations in Art really helped me develop the fundamental skills that I need to do art, and it was a good opportunity to try a lot of different things,” she said. “In Advanced Studio Art, I’ve been trying to extend that creativity beyond the canvas.”
Joella credits much of her artistic accomplishments to her teachers, noting the impact that each of them has had on her journey. “Ms. Burnett is really good at giving advice on how to improve something that you might want to tweak,” she said. “Mr. Scranton is very creatively inspirational; I feel like he really embodies what it means to be an artist because of the limitless approach that he takes. Mr. MacDonald is very precise, which I like because I’m not really a perfectionist. He can help with making sure that I have the right shapes or the right angles.”
Joella’s work is on display in the art gallery currently, featuring her favorite piece that she’s created: a colored pencil drawing of the ’90s rapper Cam’ron. “That’s my favorite because that was my first time drawing on black paper, and I really liked the contrast [of the colors] up against it,” she said.
While she often relies on her own creativity, Joella also derives inspiration from galleries. “Over the summer, I usually go to a lot of art galleries,” she said. “I have tons of photos I’ve taken at galleries for inspiration.”
Additionally, she likes the style of Nigerian artist Bruce Onobrakpeya. “It’s very representative of Nigerian culture and the energy that we have,” she said. “I have a lot of art pieces in my home that are similar to his work and African art in general, so I really like his work.”
In the future, Joella envisions herself continuing to create art as a hobby, using it as a place to channel her emotions. “I think that art is helping me to be a more patient person,” she explained. She also had advice for young artists. “To anyone starting out, I would probably say, be inspired by other people and the things that you see,” she said, “but ultimately, at the end of the day, your art comes from within, and you can’t make something good unless it’s original.”
We wish Joella the best with her artistic exploration!
