WCAAD Student Art Projects of PORTFOLIO PREP/Advance Teen Art Courses (6)

Student Name: Amber Liu

Title:  CHIMES AND WHISTLES

Work type: Concept Art 

Category: Creature Design

Size:  varies

（p1)

Amber Liu uses her imagination to design a creature for her game Chimes and Whistles. In her thought process for the initial concept plan, Amber thought of this creature as an elegant ancient organism that lives widely in nature. In the initial thumbnail process her designs reflected the ability to depict the agility and the delicate make up of Chime. The challenges to capture the essential wild side yet not feel domesticated.

“As he had been taken from his home, I knew I wanted him to not feel like he belongs in the desert or the F.Rac.’ 

（p2)

Amber spoke of certain characteristics such as how the creature would move, sound and significant background story elements to make the design more solid and cohesive.  Ultimately, she decided on a nocturnal species that would go undetected blending into the scenery and shadows. According to Amber, Whistle however, has a defect the inability to stop parts of their body from glowing resulting in his capture. The Whistlers species have evaded capture and baffled researchers for centuries. These animals’ variety make whistle-like noises too high and low for a regular human to hear and detect. 

（p3)

Student Name: Beixi Zhang

Title: untitled

Work type: works on paper (soft pastel on toned paper)

Category: Illustration

Size: 19x22

（p4)

This portrait was created to emphasize another reality within us. Surrealism is known as an art movement which was started in the 1920s. A "face melt" portrait is a type of surrealist artwork that depicts a person's face, dripping. While literally meaning a physical transformation, the underlying artistic meaning is a powerful metaphor for various themes, including emotional states, the loss of identity, and the impermanence of existence and release. The image can convey a sense of dread or of being at a breaking point.

For Beixi it’s the surrealism and the subversion of reality-Using a surrealist technique and an unusual color pallet, the artwork is meant to challenge the viewer's perception of reality forcing the audience to look deeper at the meaning behind the disruption of a typical portrait.

（p5)

A sense of inner turmoil hidden by an outward expression-The work focuses on the dissonance between the "melting" and her facial expression. This suggests that she is pretending to be fine while inwardly experiencing and capturing emotional contrast. This example displays a message using the tone-colored paper techniques to create the art. 

Student Name:  Gianna Xun

Title: “You are, Story and Heartbeat”

Work: Digital Graphic poster

Size: variable

（p6)

According to Gianna. This piece explores the psychological toll of eating disorders and societal pressure on body image. The emaciated figure clutching a plate of indulgent food reflects the inner conflict between hunger and control, nourishment and shame. The bold text—“You are a soul, story, heartbeat”—confronts the viewer with a reminder of humanity beyond appearance, challenging the dehumanizing effect of numbers, scales, and social expectations. Through stark contrast and emotional discomfort, this work gives voice to silent struggles.

（p7)

Student Name: Alan Jiang

Title: untitled

Work type: sculpture-plaster

Category:  Fine art

Size: 8”high x 6”wide x 4”Deep（p8)

In this plaster of paris sculpture, Alan focuses on toxicity. As Alan states when two people have any kind of relationship there is an influence that is passed from one to another. Alan’s sculpture is the result of a person passing down negativity to another and becoming a prisoner almost like a disease. The found object in the hand cuffs only emphasize this restrain as sometimes we trap ourselves for good or bad in a fruitless link with a person that can harm us. There is a contrast and a faint sign of color in the paint as not only the hands put the red paint fuses this link. The viewer is left to contemplate their own hand and entrapments. Are they the cause of their own demise?

（p9)

Student Name: Claudia Chan

Title: Opal

（p10)

Claudia’s artwork is a layout page of her portfolio, which is focused on the major of entertainment and conceptual design. Her intention for this work is to design the main protagonist of her story, who is a girl that is stuck in her nightmare, which portrays a huge broken down carnival amusement park that she once loved going to. In real life, she is a young girl who enjoys drawing and making art. Her design is inspired by children’s fairy tales, vintage dolls, art supplies, and carnival designs. “Throughout my working process, I’ve taken a deeper understanding of how concept design works and how it takes many steps to complete a design for just one character. I learned how to start off a design by using the technique of illustrating silhouettes, focusing on character shape languages.” Claudia said, “Overall, I found myself enjoying the process I went through to produce her finalized design page.”

（p11)

Student Name: Laurraine Guo

Title: The Vanishing Albatross

Work type: Fashion Design

Category: Fashion 

Size: 11x17

（p12)

Laurraine’s design inspiration came from a series of photos taken by a photographer names Chris Jordan. He took these pictures on Midway, Atoll. An Islands far from the US continent and heavily polluted. The series of photos document the heavily polluted area of albatross with only rotten bones left. Many species are affected due to pollution and its long-lasting effects of life from affected oceans. According to the photographer 1.5 million albatross inhabit the islands and nearly all of them have micro plastic in their digestive system. Laurraine wants to promote, protect, and create awareness for this island’s safety put the world on notice like many other activists do with their creative endeavors. 

（p13)

Laurraine begins with her inspiration page or mood board and early concept development. Research, potential demographics, and psychographics are considered. Knowing the audience informs her design decisions, pricing, and marketing strategies. She works on variation of design and moves into color and textile design. Color and other trends in the fashion world are considered by season and flat sketches are created and then moves to pattern design to inform two distinct concepts for sportswear and cocktail/dress wear garments that she develops into fashion illustrations. Finally, the digital portion of the projects helps clean up and sync everything up with branding and clear intention of her goal.

（p14)

Student Name: Henry He

Title: Bridge Design

Work type: Bridge Pass Design (Medium: palm tree leaves, Photoshop, electric wire, epoxy resin, clay)

Category:  Architecture Design

Size: Size Variable

（p15)

Inspired by palm tree leaves and various arrangements, Henry He aims to blend nature with a concept of an aesthetically organic concrete bridge pass. He creates a artistic yet peaceful atmosphere among residents and environment. He considers design length and location for better engineering options. Designing over water in a structural design sense provides stable passage over a body of water for pedestrians creating a seamless design transition. The construction processes differ from typical architecture with consideration of water pressure and the need for strong foundations in and out of the water.  Material for bridges built using strong, durable materials like steel, reinforced concrete, and prestressed concrete are crucial. The type of location, construction, and suspension is very important in Henrys process.

（p16)

This construction is not immune to put at the fore front potential environmental impacts:  A mapping studying the underwater terrain and existing ecosystems can minimize disruption of a wildlife. For Henry I was very important to preserve the surrounding and existing structures and facilities.

（p17)

Student Name: Zimo “Isaac” Bian

Title: Passage to the Peak

Work type: Oil on Canvas

Category: Fine Art

Size: 16x20

（p18)

When he created this piece, the interest was in the dynamics between massive, man-made structures and the power of the natural world.  According to Isaac; “I wanted to capture a space that felt ancient and out of place, abandoned yet full of life. In the foreground, I used thick, broad strokes and harsh lighting that caught the edges of the steps and weathered surfaces while casting deep shadows on the decaying structure. In direct contrast, the background opens up to a wild untamed landscape. The distant mountain is the focal point, a silhouette against a dynamic sky. I wanted this natural world to feel like a destination beyond the confines of the foreground. Ultimately, this painting is about the perspective of standing in the shadow of one world while looking out onto the vastness of another.”

（p19)

The artwork plays off the viewers point of view and perspective. The spatial abstraction with the shapes of buildings, shadows and paths organize the composition with purpose. Though this picture does not give the actual work justice, the painting feels illusionistic due to the application of paint as the artist here is very aware of. The medium itself can also function as a way to create another element that's cautious of a psychological reception and movement that can feel flat and perceive depth at the same time. The colors embrace the viewer with hues of cools and warm pallet that resonates a moment in time that comforts the viewer in a desolate landscape. While standing in front of the picture the scale and intimate experience is both a challenge to digital art and a way to contemplate “space”. Knowing Isaac, he does embrace technology and has vast experience in digital arts yet experiments the visceral and textural capacity to “feel” with these elements.

Student Name: Angel Zhao

Title: untitled

Work type: Sculpture-Clay (Super Sculpey)

Category: 3D 

Size: 12x12x8

（p20)

In this 3D work Angel uses clay to express a metaphorical reality of the old societal expectations of women: to dress prettily, to be obedient, and to have no thoughts or personality. Many dark artists reject traditional beauty and norms, focusing on rawness and imperfection over perfection. 

This dark art sculpture has themes of the macabre, surreal, and unsettling aspects of the human experience. Its purpose can evoke a deep emotional connection in the viewer, through symbolic imagery, psychological exploration, and traditional narratives in its characteristics. Focusing on a style and social commentary about our current lifestyles and traditional values, Angel goal is not simply to scare the viewer, but to create a thought-provoking experience within a dark aesthetic.  Delving into a taboo subjects such as death, decay, trauma, and sorrow. This work is filled with emotional intensity designed to elicit strong feelings like fear, dread, sadness, or unease, inviting the viewer to engage in introspection and confront their own anxieties and a psychological reflection of the subconscious. 

（p21)

The themes of dark art have a long history, appearing in many cultures and art periods. Renaissance, macabre, romanticism and gothic art. The inspiration is rooted with a stronger Eastern influence combining folklore, animism, and religious beliefs, and it is known for emphasizing atmosphere, psychological fear.

（p22)

Student Name: Kehan Ye

Title: Ocean Animals

（p23)

The artwork is a view and result of how lack of protecting our planet can have consequences. The idea of displacement in the time when our world is struggling environmentally due to neglect and global warming from our bad decisions greatly impacts all species and life in our planet. Ocean life is vital for the environment because it produces over half of the world's oxygen, regulates the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide and excess heat, and provides food and economic benefits for billions of people. When ocean ecosystems are damaged by human activity, such as overfishing or pollution, the vital services they provide are threatened. Being environmentally conscious means protecting not only us but every ecological system to create a more balance world that makes us accountable of all our decisions. Even though it is a surreal depiction, this work is a call to action to support life.

（p24)

（By Omar Gallegos，WCAAD Vice Principal and Director of Education）