Junior Finds Escape in Drawing

Ben Howard plays over the speaker. A mechanical pencil is in one of Junior Ana Calomino’s hands and a sketch pad sits in her lap. Calomino’s relax and recharge time is spent sitting in the hammock chair in her room drawing.

Calimino has no limit to what inspires her. A recent giraffe drawing she did, spurred from being with her little cousin who was playing with a stuffed giraffe that Calimino then made look realistic. Her personal best drawing and among her favorites is a portrait of John Lennon. Another sketch she did was of a close up rose, motivated from merely the idea of how cool a rose could look from different angles and detail.

“With the John Lennon picture, I have always had a certain respect and admiration for him,” Calomino said. “So I decided to sit down and draw him. He has always been a role model, but other than that its just fun random stuff. Roses, giraffes, just what I feel like.”

Artists such as Paul Caden and J.D. Hillberry, both of which are pencil portrait realists, keep Calomino intrigued in her love for drawing. Aside from these more widely known artists for inspiration, the most prominent art influence in her life was her father. As a little girl she would watch him paint, mesmerized by the blank white canvas becoming a beautiful work of art just three hours later. His acrylic and watercolor abstract portraits have been somewhat of a guide for Calomino to follow as a young artist.

Even though art has always been present in her life, Calomino started these realistic drawings in December of this year. Finals were going on. With lots of stress building up and studying to do, Calomino turned to a blank sheet of paper and began to draw. This was the one outlet that allowed her mind to escape the books. After about an hour of drawing, Calomino shifted back to a focused state of studying again. The next day at school her friends would comment on the elaborate drawings, telling her how great they were.

Since she has discovered her talent, Calomino finds that making her own art brings back that somewhat mesmerizing feeling she once felt watching her dad.

“It’s a mood. When I get into that mood, I draw for an hour to two hours straight,” Calimino said. “I don’t think about anything and that’s the best part about it. Everything is completely calm.”

The simple things seem to go a long way for Calomino. All it takes for her to reach tranquil serenity, is a mechanical pencil and a white sheet of paper. Although there is nothing set in stone for what she would like to do with her illustrations, Calomino has plans to minor in art when she goes to college. Calomino hopes that one day she will be able to share not only her art but her love for it with many more people in the future.