Smith-Cotton artists draw, paint, sculpt what they like for Liberty Center exhibit

Writers are told to write what they know, and art students at Smith-Cotton High School are told to draw, sculpt or paint what they like. Last semester, after a period of learning basic skills, students broke free and did their own thing, and the eye-catching results are on display this month at the Liberty Center’s Loft Gallery.

“At the beginning of the year, we keep a tighter focus on elements and principals of art,” said Joshua Heimsoth, who teaches painting, ceramics and Art I. “Further into the year, as they get more comfortable with the media, the more we relax the constraints, and we’ll make the objectives a lot more broad and vague so students can have free range to pick something that interests them.

“Students will always be more interested in producing and finishing the art if it’s something they enjoy making rather than if I tell them it’s something they have to make. They’re willing to work a lot harder on a ‘Harry Potter’ drawing if they like ‘Harry Potter’ as opposed to me saying ‘Draw Walter Cronkite.’ ”

Speaking of the boy wizard, senior Jordon Hamby chose him as the subject of a chalk pastel drawing.

“It was from a ‘This All Ends’ poster for the final ‘Harry Potter’ movie,” she said. “The background was kind of fuzzy so I thought chalk pastel would work well. So I drew it out and colored it in and just did a lot of layering and got the effect.”

Hamby, who plans to study art at Missouri State University, also chose the comic book character Daredevil as a colored pencil subject.

“I watched the movie and was like ‘That is awesome.’ I found a cool photo I did with colored pencil and that turned out really nice. I also have always loved horses, and somebody told me they are a really challenging topic, so I said I gotta try it. I did a sculpture and a drawing and I’m happy with how they turned out.”

Junior Marco Alonso was also inspired by the comic book realm. Two of his three pieces in the exhibit are “Spider-Man”-themed.

“That is the best way to do artwork — pick something you like,” said Alonso, who hopes to become a comic book artist. “I’ve liked Spider-Man since I can remember, and it’s always something I’ve used when I need an idea.”

Alonso’s Green Goblin colored pencil piece is particularly striking.

“That one came out way better than I thought it would. It took me a whole semester to finish and I think it was worth it. I did put a lot of detail into it and sometimes I had to push it aside, but I think in the end it came out better than the original I used for inspiration.”

When sophomore Anna Drexler was learning a new medium — scratch paper, where the artist scratches their drawing into a piece of black paper that has a different color behind it — she chose to draw a husky. She doesn’t own a husky, but this was a way to spend time with her favorite breed of dog.

“This isn’t my best,” she said. “I wasn’t really proud of it and I’m surprised it made it (into the exhibit). It’s a one-time try. If you mess up, you messed up your whole thing.”

Students often use existing art as a jumping-off point for their own art. With time, they branch off into the own style. Senior Deja Hester used a flower painting by Georgia O’Keeffe as inspiration for two watercolor pieces.

“(Art instructor Michael Shukers) had us look up O’Keeffe pictures, and I went ahead and basically copied it because I like the way she blended her flowers in there,” said Hester, who added that her preferred medium is pottery.

Another topic that Smith-Cotton students know quite well is the city of Sedalia. Graphite and colored pencil drawings of landmarks from around town — including Alonso’s rendition of the Heckart Performing Arts Center — will be featured in the 2012 calendar from the art department.

Shukers said the calendar will be available in February at Woods Supermarket, the Katy Depot and the Smith-Cotton main office. The cost is $10.