In this first edition of the Mendocino High School Student Art Feature, we’re showcasing pieces from artists Kiersten Kinter and Chance Deluca. Their pieces were selected from the vast selection of art created in the art program at Mendocino High and are just two examples of the wide variety of mediums students work in.

Our first piece, which is currently untitled, was created by junior Kiersten Kinter, a member of the AP Studio Art class. The galactic image has a base of water colors, with inking and white gel pen for an added pop. For Kiersten, the use of inking pens was a new experience, and one that she had been hesitant about for previous pieces, but she decided to take the plunge after some encouragement from Mr. Rain. Fortunately, she says she is content with how the finished piece turned out, and that she “learned how to blend with watercolors, how to ink, and to plan [her] piece out more when it comes to painting with [inking pens].” Kiersten created the mixed medium painting as an inclusion to her twelve part portfolio for the first semester of the course. The prompt asked that the artist show themselves doing an imaginary activity that had significant meaning to them, and Kiersten says that is the first piece of the collection that she has felt genuinely connected to.

Our second featured piece, “Handscape”, by senior Chance Deluca, was made with a combination of a pencil-based sketch with pen and colored markers over top. The project was created for an assignment in Mr. Rain’s 2-D Design class, and the idea was to showcase hands reacting with the surrounding world in unusual ways. When asked about his favorite part of making the piece, Chance said that he “had a lot of fun brainstorming ideas to fit the project,” and thought up many ideas to choose from. He decided on a set of pyramids constructed out of hands, with each one more worn down than the last. Afterwards, the process that went into making the piece was a learning experience. About this, Chance says that “originally, [he] had started the coloring with colored pencils; however, that was extremely tedious and [his] boredom showed in the piece. So, [he] had to cover it with markers that improved the colors.” Overall, he says that he is proud of how it turned out, and that through making it he learned useful techniques for drawing hands, which had been a struggle in his art previously.

Features by Alder Jakovac