Artist Spotlight Q&A: Gweneth Henrie

Running Start Student, Gweneth Henrie, Speaks About Her Art and What Influences Her.

Jacob Dickson, Assistant Editor|February 24, 2020

Gweneth Henrie, a Running Start student at EvCC, has been interested in art since a young age.

EvCC art student Gweneth Henrie has enjoyed making art from a young age, but in recent years has become more serious about her work. At the age of 17, Henrie is in the Running Start program and an EvCC Honors student who will be graduating this spring before going on to a four year university to continue exploring her art.

When did you start making art?

I’ve been drawing since I was little and I started taking it seriously when I was probably 15. I started improving myself, or trying to improve myself these last few years. I’ve been sketching a lot, trying to get my style down, figuring out what I like to draw.

What inspired you to get more serious?

I just kind of realized that I had some strengths in art and I was thinking about future school, future career sort of stuff. I just wanted to build myself a better kind of art foundation. And I really enjoyed it, in my spare time I just love to do art.

How would you describe your art?

I love dark lines, I love contrast, I loved learning how to make things pop out and look realistic. But with sketching on my own I’ve been working on character design, I love doodling too. I love drawing little animals and I love drawing dragons and stuff like that. It’s a lot of sketching. I love filling up sketchbooks, that’s really satisfying for me.

What inspires your art?

I’m not really sure. I’ve been drawing since I was a kid and I kept drawing because I enjoyed it. And the same thing again I realized that I could improve myself by improving my art as well, kind of realizing that I can elevate myself with what I do. And I love see what other people can draw, and just seeing the community around it is really cool too.

Are there any specific artists that inspire you?

No, I’m not super fancy with stuff like that. But even just people that I meet in class, I love seeing what they do because it’s so personal, like you see them working on it. It’s just cool to see everyone working and being able to contribute to that.

What is the honors program like for you?

It’s kind of crazy, definitely figuring out stuff as we go. I got accepted into it last spring so this fall I took two required honors classes, symposium and seminar, and then I turned my drawing class into an honours class and I did a lot of digital work. We would draw in class, but then I would come back and practice doing them digitally and it was cool to experiment with different textures and brushes, I’d never done that before and it was really cool to see the differences.

What are your future plans right now?

I’ll be graduating from high school with my AA this June. I’m thinking about going to the University of Idaho. They have a virtual technology and design program that can go into anything from animation to computer science. It’s a really broad art and technology program.