By Emma Kavcioglu 

Freshman Lauren Park won her first place in the local Rotary Club’s art contest. Despite having to speed time adapting to a high school environment, Park has continuously used art as a method to stay grounded despite navigating new beginnings. Her piece that was entered in the contest was called “Fading Footsteps,” and was created using charcoal and colored pencil. 

After Park’s first place at the local level, she went on to compete at the regional where she took second place. Park’s placement was even more impressive considering she is a freshman competing against older students, and this is her first year participating in the contest. 

“The materials I used to create this art piece are charcoal and colored pencils,” Park said. “I used charcoal because I am the most confident in my abilities to use it. I used colored pencils to create contrast and make the space around more interesting and attention catching.”

Although technique in creating art is important, so is telling a moving story.  “Fading Footsteps” uses charcoal and colored pencils to tell a story rooted in conservation and protection of some of the world’s most endangered species. 

Park’s piece uses strokes of charcoal and brushes of colored pencils to feature three of the world’s most endangered species, the Javan Rhinoceros, Bornean Orangutan, and the Amur Leopard. 

The piece was a beautiful artwork but also a piece of fundamental environmental activism. Although the animals might be beautifully memorialized in “Fading Footsteps,” if the population does not do its part to protect them – humans might not be able to have the opportunity to appreciate the natural beauty they possess. 

“Through this art piece, I’m raising awareness of the declining population of these unique animals,” Park said. “It serves as a call to action, urging viewers to aid in the efforts of environmental conservation.”

Every artist has a different process when it comes to creating a piece of artwork. Park’s process began with gathering her references, and then strategically placing circles on the page that would evolve into the drawing of the animals displayed in a dynamic order. 

After that, she drew the most basic shapes of the animals, and then slowly refined their shapes to make them more precise. 

Then Park blocked, or used charcoal to darken, in the dark tones of the drawings and started on the details, leaving the very light tones for the end. Park’s process resulted in a beautiful artwork that was aesthetically pleasing while simultaneously telling the viewer a moving story. 

“I was so proud of the product and how much work I put into it. I was very excited to win. For the first time in a while it felt like I had achieved something significant and great,” Park said. 

The Rotary Club Regional Competition was just the start of Park’s artistic journey. Currently, she is working on a portrait of a child from Malawi. In the future Park wants to keep developing her skills in different artistic mediums, and can’t wait to see what she can do in the future.