exploring fhc’s artists

Sophomore Toby Kelly smiles fondly at the conversation happening in his Pre-Ap ELA class. Kelly was talking with his pod members about a test they had taken, rewarding himself with a good conversation. Photo by Raina Straughter.

Bre king The Barrier

Three young artists share how they work through creative blocks

By Moth Payne Staff Reporter

The pencil scratches against the assignment, cramming boring words into the young artist’s mind. This lecture is nothing but repetitive and never ending - the words droning on and on, as if it could never end. When will this just be over ...

Ding. Ding. Ding. ding. Ding. Ding. Ideas flow into his head, the ringing bell announcing their existence, sort of like magic.- The pencil no longer scratches, but flows, inventing illustrations with inspiration, tearing down the barrier that blocked those ideas. Sophomore Toby Kelly finds his mind exploring ideas, but he can’t achieve his goal without the right motivation.

“It’s the worst, because I’ll be sitting there and wanting to draw, but I can’t think of anything,” Kelly said. “I’ll try to go on Pinterest, to see if there’s anything there, but sometimes I don’t know what to do.”

Kelly describes the experience of dealing with art blocks. An art block is the period of time, whether it be short or long, when an artist has no ideas for artwork. For Kelly, he’ll try to find inspiration even when nothing comes to mind, which causes him to lose the motivation in the first place. Since art blocks work differently for artists, he’ll deal with an art block his own way.

“I’ll give myself a break if I can’t think of anything,” Kelly said. “And after that break is over, there’s those sparks that are what I need to get me out of it.”

With the sparks of inspiration flickering and clicking in Kelly’s mind, they take his hand and lead him out of the empty void of nothing, instead leading him to where inspiration is fluid, painting his thoughts. Multiple drawing ideas grow from trees, but a certain piece is Kelly’s favorite.

“I’ve come up with this idea of space cadets, and I’ve made a whole cast of characters,” Kelly said. “I’m proud of that piece because it shows that I’ve created this whole world, I made them cute uniforms with bubbly shoes, and it’s mine.”

Artists at FHC

Scan this QR code to continue reading the story to see the view of two other artists that attend FHC, and a teacher’s hindsight! An Illustration of Kelly’s space cadet ocs, Dust and Crater. This is Kelly’s favorite piece, and rightfully deserved with how cute the designs are. Illustration by Toby Kelly.