The beauty of art

By Selina Tran

Photography, painting, sculpture, dance, animation, illustration, and music are all different forms of art. I’ve always been interested in and appreciated art, especially drawing and singing.

Drawing and singing is something that I’ve enjoyed and loved doing ever since I was a kid. They’ve become a huge part of my life and I don’t think that life would be worth living if I couldn’t do either of those things.

Art allows me to express myself, my thoughts, and my emotions through illustration and music.

The things that got me into drawing were anime and manga. My art style was and still is inspired by and based off of anime.

The earliest memory I have of myself that involved music was when I was in preschool. I was around 4 years old, humming along to every song that played on the radio in my mom’s car, even when I didn’t know it.

Even now, I still sing everyday and anywhere there aren’t people around, to all the songs I know the lyrics to. I’d sing in my parent’s car, in the shower, and at home.

I’m not as open about me singing to my friends than I am about drawing. It’s not that I’m trying to keep it a secret, I just never bring it up. I don’t think I’m a bad singer though, if I was, then I wouldn’t sing so often. But, I’m pretty shy when it comes to singing in front of people.

The only people I’m comfortable singing around is my family, mainly because I don’t think about their opinion as much, compared to other people’s opinions.

I took choir class back in middle school for both 7th and 8th grade and I genuinely had a really fun time, singing with my friends.

I was more comfortable singing with other people in front of an audience than singing by myself. My choir class was the one place where I didn’t have to hold myself back.

I also took art class for both years of middle school. I continued taking art class in my junior year of high school and was planning on taking it for my senior year as well, but due to the pandemic and online learning, it wasn’t possible anymore.

When I found out about this, I was really sad and disappointed because I was looking forward to taking art class again for my final year of high school.

I want to be able to create the same thing that fascinates me. I want to do the same thing as the authors do in the manga I read and the anime I watch.

I started posting my art on social media in middle school. I wanted to share my passion and creativity with others.

Drawing lines and strokes on a blank piece of paper or canvas and seeing the finished product at the end, gives a satisfying feeling of accomplishment. I draw for fun, but it also makes me feel like I’m good at something.

Most of the time, I sing because it makes me feel good. But, I also sing whenever I’m feeling happy or down. Singing really helps me when I just want to pour my emotions out.