ACT Apprentice Antwaine: Animated Art

On the last day of Artists Creating Together’s 2017-18 Apprentice Program, one Apprentice named Antwaine declared, “We sure are going to miss you, Becky.” The sentiment was shared by all of the artists in the room. Becky Baker has led the program since October as the teaching artist and has inspired all of the Apprentices, especially Antwaine. In this program, he has been able to continue doing what he loves: drawing.

Antwaine just needs a good pencil and a clean sheet of white paper to be happy. He loves to draw, particularly his own original characters. One of his characters is called Toober Tiger and it is clear that Toober is Antwaine’s favorite. He spends most of time drawing the tiger in different places and different poses in order to perfect the character. These characters are all a part of his plan to become an animator. He is inspired by other animators, like Walt Disney, and looks to television and movies for that kind of animated inspiration. One day, he aspires to be like Disney with his own animation studio.

One thing Antwaine didn’t think he would enjoy doing is painting. He was very comfortable with his pencil and paper and hadn’t really experimented outside of black and white sketches. When it was suggested he bring them to life with a paintbrush and a color, he gave it a try. Each week, I saw him painting a different character and enjoying it. The weekly Apprentice classes at the ACT Studio has afforded him the opportunity to try new things and develop his artistic skills.

While the program may be coming to an end for the school year, Antwaine is well equipped with new skills to continue practicing. So he may be sad to leave, but will continue to create art through the summer and work on his family of cartoon characters.

Interview and story by Haley Wagner, Writing and Development Intern