Official Kids Mag

By Suzanne Rhodes Official Kids Mag Look around you. What do you see? Or maybe it's better to ask, what don't you see? It's easy to miss some of life's small treasures. Few things escape Ava Hickman's notice—this gifted girl has an artist's eye. "I like to look up close at things, like the cute little pollen sacks on bees and the way our cat's ears move when she is listening to something behind her." Homeschooled and now a sophomore, Ava is mostly a watercolor and pencil artist but has recently added oil and acrylic to her paint mediums. Her subjects are mostly animals, plants, and flowers in her grandfather's garden. For inspiration she says, "I draw with my Creator in mind." Ava lives in the Ozark hills on 25 acres of restored prairie bordering a pine forest. She, her parents and two brothers have fun camping, hiking, and playing baseball. "I also enjoy taking care of our animals, especially chickens." Ava likes to paint what she calls her "sweet chickens. I love trying to capture their fluffiness on paper." She also likes to sketch creatures she makes up on her own. "My From fluffy chickens to the funny Snozapus, her pencils and paint color the world brother and I invented an animal we call the Snozapus. It's a mix between an elephant and an octopus. Just its name makes us laugh." She keeps the drawings of her imaginary creations in a special notebook, the Creaturepedia. Ava started her journey as an artist at a very young age. "My mom says I started to draw as soon as I could hold a crayon in my little hand. I was about two. I remember always drawing, and I feel so happy when I can put my expressions down on paper. A time spent drawing is never time wasted." She loves to give her paintings as presents to her family and friends but also sells some of her artworks at crafters markets. "I also create greeting cards from my digital art that I sell at a local store." She also used an app called Adobe Fresco on her iPadPro to illustrate over 60 drawings for her grandfather's book, The Kingdom of Heaven, and is currently illustrating another book. Ava has lots to say to encourage aspiring young artists. Supplies for watercolors, her favorite medium, are inexpensive. She uses watercolor paints, paper and brushes, "and of course water! Just get some watercolor paper—I really like the XL brand—it's inexpensive and works very well), and any watercolor brush I can find." She uses a round brush in sizes 12, 6 and 2. This brush "gives you a good range off size strokes for painting." Also essential is a basic watercolor palette. "Start with black, red, yellow and blue. Don't try to control the paint—let the paint go with you. Work with the water to create some really cool patterns. When you get more comfortable you can start to invest in more kinds of colors." To learn the craft, she's taken a couple of art classes over the years and watched some video tutorials. She recommends a channel called the Watercolor Misfit. Ava the artist Step into the imaginary life of 28 • OctOber 2021 • www.OfficialkidsMag.com

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