WVCSD Artists of the Week

Warwick Valley High School seniors Riley Portka and Arthur Liao have always been creators. It was like kismet the first time each of them picked up their first crayon. This year, they are both focusing their years of sketching, absorbing, experimenting, and learning on establishing their own unique artistic voices and visions, and packing all that creativity into their college portfolios.

Liao has been interested in art from a young age, and his personal exploration and formal study have deepened over the years, especially at Warwick Valley High School.

”I can’t even remember the time I started drawing. It had to be, at least, second grade,” he said. “When I was young, I wasn’t really studying art so much, but I was doing it a lot. I really started taking art seriously in high school.”

As a freshman, Liao was placed in WVHS art teacher Kristen Spano’s Foundations in Art class, a full-year honors-level studio art course for first-year students who have expressed a high interest in the arts. The class serves as a prerequisite for all other art courses available at the high school.

”I was recommended for it, and after that, I kind of started to take art more seriously,” he said. “It gave me motivation to study even more out of school, to practice more. I definitely drew more.”

”I’ve always liked drawing, from the time I was a preschooler, Portka said about her earliest memories of being a creator. “I remember really, really enjoying it, but it was fourth grade when I started taking it seriously”

That’s when Portka met a similarly artistically inclined friend, and the two shared interests, consuming the same media and drawing similar things. She also began exploring online communities and spaces where she could create her own characters and develop stories.

”It all just kind of bloomed into something really creative,” she said. As artists do, she sought out media she admired and tried to emulate and improve upon it. “I’d say that it was probably right around then – maybe fifth grade – that I knew I wanted to be an artist when I got into college.”

By middle school, Portka’s art had gotten more advanced. Then, COVID hit.

”We were all at home,” she recalled, “and drawing was the only thing that I wanted to do — draw, draw, draw!”

Like Liao, Portka was recommended for the Foundations class in her first year. She also followed that up with Drawing & Painting before enrolling in the two-year Portfolio & Art Careers class as a junior.

”I am very lucky to have these two incredibly talented digital artists in my class,” Spano said. “They are constantly developing new characters and environments for their digital art and pushing their creativity to new heights. What sets them apart is how they challenge themselves with unique compositions and thoughtfully incorporate different light sources into their pieces, adding depth and dimension.”

Both Liao and Portka said that Portfolio class has helped them get out of their comfort zones and has broadened their knowledge and abilities when it comes to doing art. Even during their free periods, Liao and Portka can be found in Spano’s room, diligently refining their skills. They’re also always planning exciting events for the WVHS Art Club, for which Portka serves as president and Liao as treasurer.

Both said they appreciated having college art professors review and provide critiques of their growing portfolios last year, which is an invaluable opportunity afforded to students in the Portfolio & Art Careers class. Students take their portfolios to what is basically a college fair for art programs and get to sit and talk with professors and department heads.

Looking back through 12 years of Warwick Valley art education, they both gave some thought to what they would tell themselves as young artists. Liao suggests really leaning into your hobby with a proactive approach to identifying and learning from your strongest influences.

”Just draw what you see, everything,” Liao said. “Keep copying what you think is cool in real life, and you’ll probably be a really good artist by the time you get to high school.”

”And I would definitely say draw as much as you physically can without burning yourself out,” Portka said. “Find a good balance between drawing a lot and not burning out. That’s what I ended up doing at one point when I was younger, and it can definitely stunt your improvement.”

As they prepare to continue their artistic journeys, Liao and Portka exhibit the passion and dedication that defines true creators. Their shared love for art not only fuels their individual talents but also inspires those around them. One day, if not already, it is their work that will be copied by others, lending life to even more, all-new imaginative worlds.