Welcome back everyone! I can not believe that the 2024-2025 school year is up already! I know there were some moments that felt a bit slow, but we’ve all made it and have no doubt learned/experienced plenty of new things. I’ve had the chance to write about and meet some amazing up-and-coming artists at this school including this week’s featured artist. I’m glad to have written about everyone these past couple semesters, but unfortunately I will have to pass the baton over to a new Student Spotlight writer next fall semester. The good news is that I will be able to write on the blog a bit more over the summer in a different category and am looking forward to that! I’m also glad to say I encountered this week’s artist in our Painting 1 class and was amazed with her talent and attention to detail after our first critique. I’m glad she included some of her works from the class because it also displays how well rounded she is as an artist. This artist can be found on her website, here on this blog, or around Insalaco doing many projects and her name is…
Isabella Morales
“Art can be so abstract and imaginative. Worlds never before seen can be made, and that is so exciting!!”
Major: Illustration
Minor: N/A
Year: 2028
Clubs: N/A
I am majoring in art because…
Art is one of the most important things in my life. When things get tough, I turn to art as a distraction. In the past, I would read a manga named Berserk when I was distraught. When I read it, I’d be sent to another world full of monsters and magic. It would give me an escape to a distant place where I wouldn’t have to think of my own problems. I want other people to have that same escape and learn something that can benefit them at the same time. My goal is to write stories where people can see themselves in my characters or stories and learn from their choices. I chose art to be my career in fourth grade out of the desire to entertain people. It has morphed further from that, but at the end of the day, I want to make people happy. And I also want to make myself happy! Art is such a challenging craft, and I enjoy all the tedious and painful hurdles I must cross to finally be happy with my work. I’ve considered other careers such as becoming a doctor, teacher, or a therapist, but none of them call to me the same way that art does, which is why I’m pursuing illustration here at Marywood :]
What excites me most about art is…
The potential to make something never before seen before, whilst also making something that people can identify with. Art can connect back to people in a familiar sense. People can see themselves or their experiences in art and feel seen. Art can be whatever you want it to be, and that creative freedom to play freely within one’s own mind is so exciting!
The kinds of things that inspire me are…
Generally movies, comic books, manga, anime, and video games! Some of my most influential inspirations are the Persona Series (video game), Berserk (manga), the Metal Gear Solid series (video game), Satoshi Kon films, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures (manga/show), sci-fi works, and a ton of other pieces of content. In summary, a bunch of nerd stuff mostly inspires my art style, storytelling, and characterization. When it comes to other things that inspire me, anatomy, physiology, and the human mind are super important to me. Humans, our free will, and the bodies that give us autonomy to act upon that will are so very interesting. Human nature and societal issues especially capture my attention. In high school, I had an advanced placement (AP) art class where I was tasked with creating a portfolio based on a specific theme. I chose to cover the general topic of war, especially focusing on the impact it has on everyday people. I’m also inspired by human history, past and present. Humans can do amazing and terrible things, so the exploration of the sinful and saints is another topic that inspires me. Alongside all that, my own experiences and my desire to put what I’ve learned from life out into the world also inspires me.
My favorite art class so far has been…
Painting 1 with Prof. Heidi Van Leuven. I’ve worked with oil paints in the past, but I absolutely despised them. It turns out I was using them like acrylic paints, which is exactly what you SHOULDN’T do by the way!! So I really enjoy this class because I’ve learned a completely new medium and discovered that I love it! It’s really difficult to balance the thickness of the paint, getting the colors right, layering, and so on but that’s what makes it so fun! And it has the ability to be so smooth and rich, which I absolutely go crazy over. I am excited for the summer so I can take what I’ve learned from this class and make my own oil paintings!
When I’m not in class…
I admittedly just waddle back to my dorm to do classwork… A good portion of my time is spent working on art projects, homework, and other tasks! But… When I’m finally freed from the shackles of responsibility, AKA during my many daily breaks, I go to the gym to work out! I love exercising, and I’m currently training for a ten-mile run in the fall. I also spend time cleaning, organizing, playing video games, drawing, catching up with friends, family, and spending a copious amount of time with my partner. I’m also preoccupied with “adult-ing” a lot of the time. So when I’m not in class, I’m usually super busy!
The coolest thing I have done at Marywood so far…
I haven’t really done all too much at Marywood yet. So when it comes to cool stuff, I’d probably just say this piece of art. It’s really hard for me to be proud of my own stuff but for the first time in a while, I actually really like it :] It was a fun challenge, it took forever, but I’m happy. This was my first assignment in Painting 1. I had to paint a still-life with only two colors, focusing on value changes and shape. It isn’t perfect, nor the best, but I tried really hard on it and it turned out decent!
When I graduate…
I want to find a job (or two) as soon as possible. Because of AI, I’m keeping my options open. It doesn’t matter if it’s at a studio, freelance, character design, backgrounds, or storyboarding. If I can get a job, that’s all that matters. I may not be able to move out because of my parents’ health but I need to financially support myself and build an income for when I do end up buying a house and starting a family.
My preferences for either digital or traditional art…
seems to change every year or so. It usually depends on what projects I’ve been doing. Since attending Marywood, I’ve primarily been doing traditional art, so I’m currently leaning more towards that. Digital and traditional art both have their uses. For example, I was commissioned to create a poster for Northampton Community College’s Computer Club recently. Digital was the best for that job: It keeps the information organized, it’s easily transferable, and it’s easy to edit. But to some degree, digital art feels a little too easy at times. I feel that there is more you can do with traditional (different mediums, branching into 3D, etc.). For example, when it comes to gifts, I always do traditional. It’s weird having to print out a piece and hand it to someone. It kinda takes away that ability to see all the love put into it. It also limits what you can do. I recently painted a disk with the album cover of Avenged Sevenfold’s City of Evil. There’s something so nice about being able to feel and see every individual stroke and hold a piece in front of you. Overall, traditional is harder and thus more satisfying and I like physically having pieces in front of me. So, traditional wins!
->->-> Check out some other works by Isabella!
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I hope you all enjoyed Isabelle’s art pieces! I’m still taken aback with the level of precision in her paintings and being able to view them in person only adds onto the experience. I also really enjoyed being able to see her digital pieces and the meanings behind them. Isabella has a great understanding of detail and light and being able to transfer it onto a 2D plane is really cool to see. Good luck to everyone and their finals this semester and hope everyone has a great summer. See you in my next post, bye!!