UIL event awards talent

Sarah Luna, Student Life Editor

Suspense is building for two Akins art students as they anticipate going to the state Visual Arts Scholastic Event competition in late April.

Along with about 60 other Akins students, senior Quan Ha and sophomore Jesse Orth took their pieces to the regional University In- terscholastic League regional meet in February. Ha and Orth were lucky enough to score a 4 at the competition, qualifying them to advance to the state competition in Dallas.

Ha, whose pieces were a self portrait and a still life made with colored pencil, said she was excited to ad- vance to state.

“The theme of my self portrait is a place where I was comfortable so I drew myself in my garage and I surrounded myself with utensils like the lawn mower and a toolbox,” Ha said. “It’s a place where it’s all messy and it contrasts to the cleanliness of the inside of my house, I thought it was interesting to put myself in an environment like that.”

Orth, who submitted a self portrait for judging, described his style as simple.

“I basically just used colored pencils and a blender to blend the colors,” Orth said.

At the state competition Ha and Orth’s work will be judged all over again against the work of students from 19 other regions from across Texas. They both said they are excited to see the work from the other state qualifiers.