Reflecting on the Scholastic Art Show

I was very honored to receive a Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key for my self portrait this year, and seeing it in a gallery was quite surreal! Looking at the other pieces caused a bit of imposter syndrome but also provided some great inspiration and perspective.

Looking back at my photos, I realize that I largely focused on drawings, likely because I was comparing my work to them and seeing how I could improve in doing what I love most.

The two Gold pieces above and to the left were particularly eye-catching. "Smile," left, had an impressive quality of blending and finish, and the smily faces seemed very three-dimensional. "Prisoner of Conscience," above, also had a really nice texture and the use of light was an interesting way of offsetting a composition that was otherwise not very interesting. I definitely want to experiment with using white pencil on black paper after examining this piece.

One of my absolute favorites of the Gold gallery was this piece, "The Almighty Rawr Rawr." With the playful title and scenery, the piece felt warm and youthful. From a technical standpoint, I really enjoy the composition, and am still impressed by the texture and shadows of the dragon. It appears to be a combination of chalk and graphite or charcoal. I would love to play around with trying to draw soft objects like this and experiment with texture and composition.

Apart from drawings, one medium that struck me was collages in the show. I had discussed with some of my peers how impressive a good collage can be, as those of lesser quality can come off as very crafty. The Gold Key collage pictured left was one of my favorites, particularly because of its dynamic feel from the texture of the background and the unique color throughout. I wonder what the background and other colored areas were made/photographed of.

As for comparing Gold and Silvery Key entries, learning the quick selection process and the importance of quality photography was helpful, as I am still a bit shocked by some of the Silver Key entries that were not awarded higher.

One thing I think set apart (at least some of) the Gold pieces was more coherent yet nuanced themes/messages compared to the more direct/obvious commentary of the Silver pieces. However, this certainly did not apply to all of the pieces, and it is clear some of the judging simply comes down to chance and opinion. Seeing the show was very eye-opening and I have no doubt that it will be extremely helpful next year when I work on entries.