My name is Alana Leonard, and I am a senior at Pacific Grove High School taking AP 2D Art & Design. I am grateful that my school has a strong and supportive art department that has helped me develop as an artist and improve my technical skills. I would eventually like to apply my knowledge of drawing, painting, and design to a career in film production, whether that be in set design, lighting design, cinematography, or something else. Artistic expression has always been a part of my sense of purpose.  I don’t know who I would be or what kind of life I would lead without it.

For the past two years I have been working on an AP portfolio focused on exploring how people can use and abuse escapism. Escapism— especially through media and nostalgia— is one of my greatest coping mechanisms and is related to my struggles with isolation and procrastination. I find inspiration everywhere, including in music, movies, shows, books, mythology, other artists’ work, and my own memories. I usually take my own reference photos with my phone and edit them to get the composition and color scheme I want. My art often uses vibrant colors and dramatic lighting that has an almost dreamlike quality.

This piece is called “Vignette”.  It references a brief descriptive scene in a book or movie with an image that fades into its border, or a design that decorates the beginning or end of book chapters. This alcohol marker and colored pencil drawing represents how people use romance media as escapism. Romance is the most popular book genre. But while escaping into fiction can be a nice distraction, it cannot really solve things people wish to distract themselves from, like loneliness or anxiety. I will not give away all of the symbolism I put into it, but I will point out that the roses form a heart shape around the figure. I was partly inspired by the works of romantic-era artist Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema. I think I referenced about 200 photos to compose this piece. I am especially proud of the roses and the sense of depth I achieved with a soft focus in the foreground.