Artist spreads joy

Sitting quietly in the corner of her classroom, twirling her mechanical pencil around her thumb, looking down at her masterpiece, Amber Huo ponders what to draw next.

Amber is a person of few words, but as an artist who draws daily, her expression is limitless.

Amber got her artistic start in middle school when her group of friends developed an interest in drawing anime. Drawing every day since then, she has developed her illustration, painting and digital art skills through practice and classes.

“I took mixed-media last year, and I’m taking advanced drawing and painting with Mr. Wildeman right now,” she said. “I also took this watercolor course at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago over the summer.”

Amber has put her skills to good use, illustrating for the U-High Midway every month this year. She most enjoys drawing for other people as opposed to herself, so the bulk of her illustrations go to her friends.

“I like that when I give other people drawings, I can make them happier,” she said. “It feels like I’ve done something important, like turning in a homework assignment you’ve worked hard on — a sense of accomplishment I guess.”

For Amber’s friend Jenny Wang, a senior, Amber does just that.

“Over the years, Amber has drawn a lot of pictures of me and my face,” she said. “Every time she does, I am both extremely shocked and incredibly grateful because such an amazing artist like Amber has decided that my face and features are worthy of being observed and illustrated.”

For Jenny, Amber’s attention to details is awe-inspiring.

“It’s always fun and exciting to be immortalized in artwork, but particularly artwork that has been crafted so meticulously and thoughtfully like Amber does, with such beautiful results,” she said.

Amber embraces that ability to translate beauty from the physical world or her thoughts onto a piece of paper.

“I’m walking around reading a book and I think, ‘That would look good on paper,’ I’ll make a note of it,” she said. “I like the idea that I can take something that was normal before and make it prettier or that you have an image in your head and you can make it real on paper.”

As well as creating beauty, Amber has realized that a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

“I’m not really good with words, so I try to make up for it by contributing artwork, she said. “You can express a thought through a drawing that maybe you can’t through words.”