Written by Allison Goguen |
Photos by Allison Goguen |
At Morgan, there are all kinds of talents in the student body. Freshman Kerryanne Longyear is a great example. Her art is something worth seeing, with a style that’s all her own. Since the summer, she has been getting into her art, creating fantastic art pieces that can range from fun and colorful to more serious and beautiful. 
Everyone needs inspiration, and for Kerryanne, anime works from Studio Ghibli. Cartoon shows such as Gravity Falls and Steven Universe have been sources of inspiration for her. She describes getting inspiration as, “I think of an idea, a concept, I think of a song or type of music that goes with that, and I think until I have a clear picture in my mind, then draw it. It doesn’t always come out as I want it, but I can change it. It helps me get into the spirit of it.”
Rather than just picking up a pencil and immediately making a masterpiece, she has reached this level of skill through practice, hard work, and more practice. One way she can practice her skills is during the month-long event of Inktober. During the month of October, artists make one drawing each day, using only black ink. Another way she can enjoy art related subjects is through anime club. Getting to practice drawing and seeing other people’s works is a good way to learn and improve as an artist.
As a relatively new artist, she doesn’t have a set style just yet. Instead, it more depends on how she’s feeling and what mood she’s i
n. She says, “There are days where I sit there and can’t make anything good, and other days in thirty minutes I have something great.” Her art gets better and better as she develops as an artist.
She can look back on her earliest works now and see the differences. She has improved so much in the short amount of time between the summer and now. The drawing, (left) was one of her first and a least favorite of hers. The other one, (below) was much more recent and actually won first at the Durham Fair’s art contest for her age, 14.
In the future, she isn’t sure what she wants to do just yet, or if it will have anything to do with her art, but she thinks about being an animator. Being an animator would mean a job that would allow her to use her art skills to make shows or movies such as the ones she loves now. She says, “I don’t know if I want to do art in the future just yet, but it’s a pretty cool hobby.”
