The typical sounds of a comic draws Micheal Taylor into the pages.
Taylor, a senior with a love for comics, initially took a 2D Art class for a necessary credit, but it grew into something more and sparked an interest that is now shaping his future. Because of his interest in multiple mediums of art, Taylor is now an AP Drawing and AP Photography student. In his AP art classes, students must follow an investigation answering a question with their art. Taylor says that his comic AP Drawing portfolio’s investigation goes beyond a simple concept.
“[My investigation] shows the progression of the main character where he’s a kind of normal person. Then he has to go through these trials to become the hero at the end and then return,” Taylor said.
A comic book-style portfolio is non-traditional compared to what has been done in past portfolios in AP Drawing, Taylor says. His inspiration is rooted in his deep love for comics.
“I’m just a huge comic book fan, so I figured, why not just do comic books?” Taylor said. “I figured it would be cool to do a story through it and not just individual pieces, because I think it’s a unique idea to do through the investigation.”
Choosing comics for his investigation was a challenging commitment, according to Taylor’s AP Drawing teacher, Caroline Hays. Beyond just artistic abilities, an artist needs to be skilled in storytelling so a portfolio makes sense. Hays sees no problem in how Taylor narrates a great story along with his art.
“[He is] making sure that visually he is telling the story clearly and coherently, because the people reading and scoring the portfolio need to be able to see that artistic skill shining through, in addition to how the story’s been told. So there’s kind of two layers to it,” Hays said.
According to Taylor, not only is his AP Drawing portfolio unique, but his AP Photography portfolio has multiple levels as well. Taylor has experimented with photographing people and places, pushing his portfolio to be the best it can be.
“[My portfolio investigation is] how I can kind of change the genre of a photo to change the identity of the subject. So the first section was of a place that kind of changed how you saw the place,” Taylor said. “ And then the second section was portraits. So I did photos of people and edited them to show their identity. My dad’s big into jets, so I took a photo of him and put jazz albums as a collage in the background.”
With two major portfolios to create, Taylor’s ideas in each class get to build off each other as well. Taylor says he connects his interests and shows his personality through both of his investigations.
”My last AP Photography section kind of ties into my drawing one, like comic books with photos. So I took all these photos of my personal identity with me doing things, and then put them into comic panels, and then edited them to look like comic book art. That’s the best part of it,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s skills in multiple mediums has led him to be well-rounded according to Taylor’s AP Photography teacher, Kayti Hahn. She is impressed by the skills he brings from drawing into her class and applies them.
“He has a background in drawing, so he is very good at composition. His photographs look like artwork. They look like they could be a painting or they look like they could be a photo,” Hahn said. “It feels very much like you’re jumping into a comic book that’s actually photographs, and I think that is unique and interesting and just different from what you would normally see in a photography class.”
Taylor’s dedication to his portfolios and producing art that speaks his personality is recognized by his instructors.
“It takes a lot of dedication to come up with two completely different topics, and then be able to see both of those ideas fully developed in two different materials and for methods as well,” Hays said.
Finding his niche in art has now paved the way for Taylor’s future career, one that he says will allow him to express his personality, creativity, and storytelling.
“Next year, I’m gonna go to Belmont University and I’m gonna major in illustration,” Taylor said. “That’s the route to hopefully do comic books someday.”
