Zaina Usman, a sophomore at Silver Creek, is a talented young artist. Originally following in her mother’s footsteps, art has become a big passion for her. She has drawn extraordinary portraits of well known celebrities. Zaina lives with her parents and two older sisters. The oldest sibling is 21 and the middle child is 17. The middle child happens to also attend Silver Creek. Zaina was born in the US but her family originated in Pakistan. 

Growing up, Zaina was surrounded by art. She has lived with another artist, who was her mom. She was always surrounded by her mother’s paintings, which influenced her to start sketching at a young age. She started sketching all kinds of things but slowly started to get more into portraits and now she specializes mostly in portraits. Experimenting with methods, Zaina was able to learn different types of painting such as acrylic painting and oil painting.

One of Zaina’s inspirations was a Hispanic painter named Frida Kahlo who was in a tragic bus accident, but still continued to paint from her hospital bed. Zaina loves her style of painting and loves her determination. Another inspiration of Zaina’s is Malala Yousafzai, who is a huge activist for women’s rights to education and this is something that Zaina passionately believes in. 

Some advice Zaina would give to someone who was interested in art is that “everyone has their own style, you shouldn’t stress if you are not able to paint as well as a certain artist or can’t achieve a certain style… at a certain point, everyone finds their style.” Another piece of advice she would give is to not rush it.

 Art takes time and experience. Your first piece will almost never be your best,” she said.

Currently, Zaina is unsure about her plans after high school, but she does know art will always be part of her life. 

“Whether I major in something else or start a career in a field that has nothing to do with art, it will always be a hobby of mine because that’s who I am, an artist,” she said.