Hello DC students, and friends and families who are catching up on our news! This is Maya Williams, Editor of the Arts and Entertainment section for The DC Roar. Throughout my senior year, I will focus on getting to know the creative cougars on campus. I will talk to students and staff about the art that they love and their artistic process. I will also ask them how art has influenced their lives. For this installment I talked with seniors Humza Jahangiri and Tasi Mendoza.

Humza Jahangiri made these two paintings. The one on the left was done about a year ago and the one on the right was 8 months ago, roughly 4 months apart. He painted them both in art classes he has taken over the years. 

I interviewed senior Humza Jahangiri to find out how much he’s grown throughout his years doing art, and if he enjoyed doing it. I asked him if he thinks he has grown as an artist. He feels he has overcome the beginning stages, and is continuing to make good progress, which is always great to hear. The second question I asked was if art takes time and dedication, he answered, “Art takes time for your desired results and it is important to trust the process.” 

I also asked him what techniques have helped him along the way. He said focusing and asking for help from your peers or the teacher will help you progress. “It is good to ask for help to overcome the challenges you might be facing.” 

Finally, I asked Humza whether or not he found that his art has improved. He provided an inspirational response, “Yes, even though my art hasn’t changed much, I started putting in time and dedication which makes my art more meaningful.” 

Humza overall does not have a particular art style or a passion for art but he thinks that art teaches you patience and creativity.

I talked with Tasi Mendoza to get her take on her improvement in art. Tasi likes to paint on her own time and has been painting since she was four years old. Here’s information about her art journey.

She was always taken with the murals in downtown Sacramento. “Downtown there would be art walls that I thought we’re cool. “I couldn’t paint on my walls, so I saw on Pinterest that people would make canvas walls, so I started to paint canvases for my wall.” 

Some techniques that Tasi likes to use are putting down tape for sharper lines and shading sketches before she starts painting so she gets a better idea of where the lighting is on the character. 

 Tasi says she’s most into cultural paintings and modern art.

I wanted to see how far she has come with her art and how much she’s improved. Her take on what she’s learned from over her years of painting are very insightful. “My art has definitely improved by matching the colors with cool and warm tones, also there’s a lot of different kinds of paint, so looking for the most pigmented and solid colors has taken lots of  time.”

In the end, we learned a lot about Tasi’s experience with art. She’s been painting for a really long time and she demonstrated that as days go on, artists learn more and more, and in the end anyone can create inspiring art for others to grow and learn.