Beauty and the Brush: SHS artists put on a show
Anew chapter begins in the Southwest High School art room as they move on from one project to another. The Southwest Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts and advanced art students are making “Beauty and the Beast” themed artworks to go along with the school’s musical performance.
The students’ artwork will be displayed in the lobby of the Jimmie Cannon Theater for the Performing Arts at Southwest on February. 24, 25, and 26.
“The exhibition really gets the audience excited as they enter the theater,” art teacher Jacquline Pleitez said. “It is an event where all the SAVAPA family comes together.”
SAVAPA and Advanced Art students had the freedom to decide what they want to make. The options were unlimited as long as it followed the theme of “Beauty and the Beast.”
Since the theme was related to a movie, many kids happened to have similar, if not the same ideas.
“My original idea got shot down because two other people were already doing it,” 17-yearold Adrian Desiderio said.
His original plan was to recreate the painting of Prince Adam that the Beast slashes with his claws. Having to come up with a new idea, Desiderio decided to paint the Enchantress that curses the Beast in acrylic paint on canvas, but his new idea came with new challenges.
“The Beast was hard to draw and in a weird position where he was blocking the view of the pretty Enchantress,” he said.
Another student also faced some project struggles.
“I’m doing two projects because this [painting] isn’t my first choice,” 15-year-old Jesús Fernando Lee Beristáin said. “My first choice is an up-close shot of the dance scene where I can see the Beast and Belle.”
His second choice was to make an acrylic painting of the rose from “Beauty and the Beast” with the hands of Belle and Prince Adam caressing the glass cloche.
“It shows the separation between them, and the rose is the one thing they need to be close together,” Beristáin said.
Many students prefer to work with acrylic paint, but 17-year-old Gisele Segovia said she prefers to work with colored pencils.
“I usually draw with colored pencils on paper and then paste it onto a canvas, but I wanted to try something new,” Segovia said.
She finds acrylic paint to be the easiest paint to work with, which is why she decided to use it for her painting of Belle. For her painting, Segovia is adding texture by adding plastic flowers and creating lumpiness from layers of paint.
“I’ve actually drawn Belle before for my mom and her friend, they paid me to do it,” said Segovia.
She has drawn Belle several times before, so Segovia said she redesigned Belle’s outfit because she did not like the yellow color of her gown.
The artwork will decorate the theater for all three nights of the musical. Tickets are available at the door for $15.
“Since I started working here in 2016 the musical has been one of the most awaited events of our High School,” Pleitez said.