Veronica Brooks, a senior at Silver Creek, introduces herself as a Native American who is more passionate about fiction than anything else. Veronica deeply admires mythology and mythical creatures like dragons.

Stemming from her hobby of visualizing different characters and stories, Veronica enjoys drawing comics and character art. As a self-taught artist, Veronica has worked on art projects since elementary school. She sees herself as a writer, animator, concept artist, or director in the near future.

“I practice art actually every day, the days that I don’t, I look for references, poses and start getting ideas to project art again,” she said. 

Besides practicing character art, Veronica is engaged in extracurriculars like Track and Field and Poetry Club. She likes sharing her ideas and communicating with others. Staying at home for over a year has been challenging considering that Veronica loves being out and about in school. Despite the difficulties of feeling isolated, Veronica has continued her artistic expression.

“I think the one thing that makes me continue is that, since I make stories, plots, and scenarios full-fledged with characters, my goal is to create something either a movie, animation, or book for others to see, read or hear,” she said. 

Making character poses and comic-izing them into scenes with other characters is what interests Veronica the most. She gets her inspirations from anime, Pinterest, Instagram, and reading.

Veronica uses a consistent technique in coloring her work. First, she erases the dark pencil lead with a kneaded eraser. When the piece is faded, she outlines the parts that need the specific color. Afterward, she goes in with art markers (Copic pens) and fills in everything. One tip of advice Veronica shares is to always wear a glove over your hand throughout the process to prevent the art piece from smudging.

“Art to me means a great deal of happiness, a lot of struggle, and pretty much an amazing thing to express almost anything,” she said.