2025 Painting Gallery

BUENA PARK

BELONGING
Sophia Holbrook
Idea: How has growing up separated from my culture affected my sense of identity? Disbelonging with heritage & religion, out of touch with traditions, forgetting native language, losing touch with culture & feelings of judgment within one’s community.
Materials: Photography, Acrylic
Process: Photographed myself with a traditional hairstyle, sketched the subject, mapped out colors & added details. Traditional flowers represent Mexican culture, eyes portray judgment, and bright colors contrast stressed expressions to portray not belonging.

DISCONNECTED
Sophia Holbrook
Idea: To what extent is escapism healthy? Relying on outlets to cope with hardships. Becoming reclusive, isolating one's self. Dark colors represent consuming feelings stuck and listening to music drowns out the chaos but traps the individual in a cycle.
Materials: Acrylic Paint
Process: Photographed a friend with a spotlight to enhance the mood. Painted in acrylic and added a purple aura. I illustrated feelings of hopelessness and feeling out of control in life.

THE ONE THAT STAYS
Hannah Black
Idea: Fish out of water, where someone is staying w/ you as a friend. Despite feeling out of place or showing imperfection, love & acceptance can still persist, proving connection beyond discomfort. Cool hues represent trust, lingering loyalty & mystery.
Materials: Acrylic
Process: Practice sketching, studying anatomy of fish, photographing reference photos holding up a fish in supermarket, editing reference in Photoshop. Painted cool tones to create a mood.

FLOURISHING DREAMS
Sophia Ortega
Idea: Who inspires us, and what qualities do we learn from them? Admiration and appreciation for loved ones around us. Learning important values and qualities from others helps us to reach our dreams. Working on being a better version of ourselves.
Materials: Graphite, Photography, Acrylic Paint
Process: Exploring shapes with various colors of acrylic paint capturing lively emotions and realism with thin, circular, brush strokes, focusing on a dream state-like image, adding blues and greens.

I MISS YOU
Brianna Ibarra
Idea: Is enduring adversity and the absence of your family perseverance? I want to show the traditions and those I miss, and the perseverance I have to keep going. The nostalgia, sadness, and love I feel, the candle in the center represents resistance.
Materials: Linseed oil, oil paints, acrylic paint.
Process: Oil painting, portrait. Candlelight defines the face and petals. Dark colors, warm light, and texture. Limited composition, volume added with light and shadow. Expresses loneliness, sadness, but also hope and the child's expression shows firmness.

FULLERTON UNION

WALLOWS WORLD TOUR
Penny Lane Wennekamp
Idea: Music has influenced my life so much and I wanted to create a piece that represented my love for a band that has had a huge influence on me. I have gone through many stages in my life listening to their music and all of it meant so much to me so I wanted to show my gratitude to them through my art.
Materials: Acrylic paint.
Process: I had found photos from their photographer from this tour and collaged them together to create the layout of what i was going to paint. I chose to go with a black and white color scheme as that was kind of the “theme” of how many photographers shot from their shows across the world.

UNTITLED
Summer Tran
Idea: I wanted to recreate Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus with my own twist. I was also inspired by a recent M.A.D.E project I had done where there was a crystal skull in the center of a clam.
Materials: HIMI gouache paint, pencil, Grumbacher watercolor paper, FolkArt sterling silver acrylic paint, OPI nail polish
Process: I started by cutting my paper to the size I wanted and sketching my drawing. When I started painting, I first used earth tones(grass, hills, trees), then moved to the sky and clouds, and then the ocean, and ended with doing the clam in the center. At the end I used some shimmery nail polish over the top of the highlights and in the ocean.

GILDED TREE
Avery Pham
Idea: With the Tree of Life symbolizing peace and tranquility, and a faceless buddha imbedded into the trunk, my idea was to capture harmony.
Materials: Water color, watercolor paper
Process: Instead of planning out my idea, I began painting the tree with no inspiration. However, when painting outside alone, I began to figure out the direction of my painting. The tree, leafs, hills, and trunks have been individually layered.

LA HABRA

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
Ruby Espinoza Quevedo
Idea: “How would phobias manifest themselves in the human body?” Atelophobia is the fear of imperfection. I came up with the idea of a woman with many looks. She wants to be seen as beautiful and perfect all at once, to appeal to everyone. I gave her the base and background of the famous Mona Lisa because she is the most beautiful woman in the art world.
Materials: Acrylic on paper
Process: I used a ruler to divide into sections then I researched clothing designs. I wanted different clothes to resemble different looks that are most attractive. After sketching it out, I painted the background first, then her skin and hair, then clothing. I finalized with shading and rendering.

KOUMPOUNOPHOBIA
Ruby Espinosa Quevedo
Idea: For my AP portfolio, I am exploring different fears and phobias. I learned about koumpounophobia, or fear of buttons, and created this design to show the trapped feeling a person with koumpounophobia feels when confronted with buttons.
Materials: Acrylic on canvas with buttons and yarn.
Process: After making thumbnails, I took reference photos for the foreshortened gesture, then sketched my design. After painting, I arranged and glued the buttons and added yarn.

 

SONORA

LAST ONE STANDING
Shia Kim
Idea: This painting highlights my concerns about climate change, destruction brought on by environmental carelessness. The Statue of Liberty remains as a sign of living through the mess. The water dragon attacking the symbol resembles the rapid risks of sea level rises. The female swimming away embodies desperate struggle for survival.
Materials: Watercolor Paint and micro fineliner on illustration board, foam board 20” X 16”
Process: I started to think on what current events are affecting our planet. Climate change is one of the most significant problems we face today. If we don’ take action this is what I see for our society. I started off with a sketch on printer paper. I then transferred the sketch onto an illustration board and went onto painting from there.

 

THE LOOK OF LOVE
Jessi Solorio
Idea: The purpose of making the couple purple instead of skin tones was to capture them in their own world, showing it’s truly just them in that moment. Embroidering the hearts makes it look like it’s coming out of the canvas, showing their love's radiance.
Materials: Canvas, oil paint, embroidery string
Process: Doing an initial sketch, then an underpainting using orange oil paint and paint thinner. Then painting the couple different shades and tones of purple then painting the background. Last, embroidering the hearts by using different strings of pinks and reds.

 

FINAL EMBRACE
Amy Ramirez
Idea: After endless hours of fighting for your life to save your kidnapped baby daughter, you find the surreal world around you crumbling down along with yourself. This oil painting is inspired the video game franchise Resident Evil, specifically the eighth game, where we view the final scene of Ethan Winters holding his child, Rose Winters.
Materials: Oil Paint
Process: I used dark consuming colors to represent the story and death behind Ethan Winters. I attempted to go for realism and I believe I have achieved the majority of that aspect. The main colors I used were brown, sienna, black, white, green, and yellow. With these colors I created different shades and values that put the piece together.

NATURE: OCEAN
Ziyu Ge
Idea: Ocean has become dirty because of humans, and the ocean has become clean and colorful because of humans. The clock in the middle also represents this phenomenon that has happened because of us humans.
Materials: Acrylic and canvas
Process: I used ocean elements, with two humpback whales as the main body. Then our clock represents the the clean ocean interior at the back blue.

 

THE RED SHOES
Isabella Gonzalez
Idea: I wanted to paint an object that was important to me. Although I wear them less now, these used to be my favorite shoes when I was younger. They remind me of good friends and memories from back in middle school.
Materials: Acrylic Paint
Process: I took the reference photo myself. After priming the surface with gesso, I sketched in pencil directly onto the illustration board. Then, I slowly started to brush on the acrylic paint. Layering pure red over pure white created vibrant highlights.

 

I HATE BUGS
Dylan Caughron
Idea: I no longer want to be around people who lie to exclude me. I often feel disconnected from the people who should be dear to me. I see them as disgusting flies buzzing all around me. I want to swat them out of my life. I hate bugs.
Materials: Acrylic paint, cardboard, glitter gel, scrap paper, plastic fly swatter, other scrap material
Process: I want to limit my color palette to only green and red plus black and white. So I plan to make the flies green while making everything else pink and red. I often use scrap materials as well which is fitting because flies like trash.

 

CHICKEN OR EGG?
Isabela Juarez
Idea: The goal of this piece centered on showing my appreciation for chickens through painting them and their eggs as being worthy of existing among celestial bodies in space.
Materials: Watercolor and Colored Pencil
Process: I created a fluffy white hen by referencing a chicken from my agriculture program. After experimenting with colors, values, and mediums, I painted the final piece, focusing on vibrant layers, shadow depth, and details, especially around the hen's face for emphasis.

 

THE LINGERING ACHE
Sasha Erazo
Idea: My idea with this piece was to convey unhealthy relationships blinded by the history of their love. The withered lily (right) being the partner suffering in silence and the blossoming lily (left) being the second partner unknowing of the others’ pain.
Materials: Watercolor
Process: I began by doing an under painting of pink w/ oil paint, then continued by adding dark values and highlights. Finally, I blended the thriving flower (left) w/ a clean brush to unify the values and added darker values to the withering flower (right)

A VISIT FROM THE MINISTRY OF SILLY HATS
Wonnie Chung
Idea: The self portrait captures the moment of my younger self messily slathering on lip gloss for the first time, a grin spreading over my face as I readied myself for my orchestra concert. In those few seconds, I felt that I had reached the peak of womanhood, finding myself to suddenly feel three feet taller and a couple years older.
Materials: oil paint, palette paper, brushes, canvas, easel
Process: I found a picture of myself to reference and did a wash with diluted burnt sienna. I then sketched the general outline before applying more paint, finishing the piece over the course of a couple weeks.

 

SUNNY HILLS

TRAPPED EMOTIONS
Danny KIm
Idea: The idea is the agony of suppressing one’s true self. The grey figure represents a lifeless facade and vibrant colors seeping through symbolize reality breaking free. The tears and scratches embody struggle and pain of self-repression and liberation.
Materials: Acrylic Paint, Pencil
Process: I wanted to experiment with contradicting themes. I settled with grey tones when adding monotone colors. I then put bright colors to make it stand out. I left the background white to highlight the figure and represent an empty scenery.

 

TAKE ME BACK
Kailyn Lee
Idea: I volunteer at the preschool I attended as a child; spotted the exact princess high heels I used to wear 14 years ago. “Stand in someone else’s shoes” means different perspectives. Outgrowing heels symbolizes maturing from colorful childhood lens.
Materials: Oil paint on illustration board
Process: Background and socks are plain; colors fade as one matures. Composition mainly empty to make heels the undisputed focal point, representing obsessive nostalgia. Many layers of paint to give shoes the most depth, vibrant hues. Vignette for spotlight.

ECHOES OF THE PAST
Jean Sunwoo
Idea: My idea was to illustrate the inside of my mind as an explosion of nostalgic thoughts. Each head represents a persona, with nostalgic places and memories on top, symbolizing my journey through childhood and personal growth.
Materials: Illustration board (13 in. x 20 in.), Acrylic paint, paint brushes, water, paper towel.
Process: My thought process focused on visualizing nostalgia and personal growth. I reflected on memories, connecting them to personas and places that shaped me. I aimed to merge emotions and symbolism, creating a piece that represents my inner world.

 

NAPTIME NOSTALGIA
Hannah Kim
Idea: This piece depicts a grandma sleeping with her favorite stuffed animal from childhood. I wanted it to represent the idea that even when grown, you never truly lose your "inner child" and can forever find comfort in items that hold nostalgic memories.
Materials: Watercolor Paper, Watercolor, Colored Pencils, White Gouache
Process: I mainly used multiple layers of watercolor and colored pencils to emanate a soft feeling of peace and nostalgia. Taking inspiration from vintage nightgowns and stuffed animals from the mid 1900s, I designed the grandma’s sleepwear and bunny doll.

 

TROY

SELF-REFLECTION
Hikaria Dao
Idea: My idea for this piece was to be looking from my perspective at a mirror seeing how I see myself and reflecting upon my year through the photos of important memories, people and events posted in the frame of the mirror.
Materials: Acrylic Paint
Process: I started with a sketch of everyting using photo references. I used a layer of under painting to get the rough shape and shading. I finally went through section by section painting in detail

 

SELF SUFFOCATION
Zoey Bahng
Idea: I wanted to convey the often overwhelming process of growing up and finding your sense of self. The dolls represent the possible versions of myself and I am suffocating in their complexity, potential and multitude
Materials: Acrylic Paint, Illustration Board
Process: I took self portraits and referenced several images of bathtubs and Barbie dolls. I gave it a different hairstyle white maintaining my recognizable curly hair and mole. This shows that all dolls are versions of myself. The splutters of paint in the tub represent my perplexation as well.

SERAPHIC BLUE
Katie Yang
Idea: I blossomed in the blue stillness, spilling holiness and purity into this deep world, guarding the spiritual peace
Materials: Oil Painting
Process: I took a picture of a pond and flower, and I used my own imagination to adjust the color that shows to me and the impression of the mysterious as I first met.

CALIFORNIA LIVE OAK
Wyatt Bedard
Idea: To depict the flow and transmission of energy through one of my favorite trees, the California Live Oak.
Materials: White Charcoal, White Ink
Process: Sketching out the oak based on both memory and photos' of the trees root systems, then layering white charcoal and ink, the foggy and splattered effect was created using sponges and brushes dipped in ink

 

YUCK
Joshua Ta
Idea: This piece is a commentary on society's biases and quickness to judge. In recent years, feet have garnered the stigma of being scandalous and unclean. Popular belief has reduced the image of feet to being impure, when in realty, they highlight our shortcomings as a society and now the world jumps to conclusions
Materials: Acrylic Paint
Process: I took photos of my feet and made a composition mirroring Micahel Angelos, "The Creating of Adam". After making an underpainting, I painted the feet using acrylic, focusing on the intricacies and textures of the skin

 

NATURE”S JEWEL
Carolina Bravo
Idea: My idea was to paint some orchids for my mom. I wanted to create orchids that symbolize beauty, strength and elegance, just like my mom. My idea was to also capture the beautiful color and shape that it portrays.
Materials: Acrylic Paint
Process: I researched Orchids and wanted to find the ones that looked strong and still beautiful. After sketching it out, I painted a first coat and then came back and put in the details

MEDIA CONSUMPTION
Audrie Kim
Idea: Our attention is constantly taken up by various issues such as the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Encountering such evils, we constantly in search for relief: we blindly seek peace from social media platforms. We are trapped in a various cycle of media consumption, poisoning our minds with it daily as if it were a basic human need such as food
Materials: Acrylic Paint, Newspaper
Process: I built a still life with various forms of media and food. Then I pained the subjects on newspaper