Casey Dale

Why do I do art? That is something I have asked myself a lot lately. I'm not completely sure why. Probably because I'm not sure what I want to do with my art when I'm older. Maybe I do it for the excitement of finishing a paint/drawing or maybe from how much positivity I get from others about my art. All I know is that I love doing it and I can't wait to improve my skills over the years. I began my drawing journey in the 4th grade. I liked to doodle on my knees in class so much that the teacher would have to take my markers away so I would pay attention in class but that never stopped me. I walked around the playground with highlighter hearts, stars, smiley faces, and scribbles all over my knees. Eventually I started to doodle on my homework too. I would draw a bunch of random things. Around that time I really liked mermaids so I drew them all over my homework as well. At one point my friend told me I should write a story about my mermaids so that's what I did. I ended up making a comic titled… “The Mermaid.” I know right, so original. I shared the comic with my friends and they love it so I made a bunch more. It made me happy to see people liking my drawings. Over the years I made more comics and practiced drawing my characters. I ended up not making comics any more and was forced on drawing cartoon people. In class I would creepily stare at my classmates while drawing them. Then at the end of class I would give them my drawing of them and they would be amazed by it. My art style improved the more I drew and is still improving now.

I started painting when I was around 10 years old. I saw a video of a girl painting a sunset and I thought to myself, “I wanna do that!” So I found a small canvas, some cheap plastic brushes, and some paint that had to have been many years old. After I finished the painting I was so proud of myself and I wanted to do more. Eventually I was able to get better supplies! I went crazy with the new paint I painted almost everyday! I was so excited when my dad told me about YAC. I've only been going there for a couple months now but I can’t tell you how much I enjoy going. All the mentors are so nice and supportive. With their help I can become an even better artist than I am now! Even though I don’t really know what my future in art will be, I still will enjoy every second of creating my artwork!