Comic Inspired Art Reveals Quirky Character
March 1, 2017
“I like comedy. I think that comedy and art go well together,” said junior Shaun Hou, Art 3 student. Hou uses humor and out-of-the-box concepts to create his art. He began drawing consistently in grade 7, but said that he began drawing comics long before then.
Hou’s interest in comic style art originally came from his older brother. He continued drawing and refining his style. “I used to draw stickmen and have sort of drawn it up to where I am now,” said Hou. He decided to take art in high school because of his interest in digital art and game art design. “I wanted to be an animator, so I was like ‘I’ll take art up to the highest level and see where it takes me,” said Hou.
“Shaun has a kind of unique vision and it comes across very clearly in all of his work. It never looks the same as anyone else in the class which in art is a good thing,” said art teacher Jill Langston. She noted that his work is a variation on abstract art, with humorous twists that make each piece unexpected.
“His humor is very off the wall. I think that’s partially why his art is strange and bizarre in concept. It’s because it’s entertaining to explore all these weird concepts,” said junior Timothy Sams, one of Hou’s friends and a student in Langston’s Advanced art class.
“He just draws whatever is in his head because I’ll see his sketches and I’ll be like ‘Oh what’s that’ and he’ll be like ‘A man with spaghetti for legs’ or something,” said Sams.
Hou plans to continue developing his art. “I still feel like I have a ways to improve with improving my comic style and everything, so right now I’m trying to improve as much as possible,” said Hou.
“He’s a really motivated person. I know he does a lot of work outside of school so a lot of his art. I know he doesn’t feel like he fits in because when you think of art you think of drawing a portrait. I think if given enough time, he could do that but I don’t think he’d want to just draw someone realistically,” said Sams.
“He is able to do high technical quality and also a spin that is really his own,” said Langston.
“I think Shaun’s art is defined by how unique it is. It’s something different, you won’t find it anywhere else. It isn’t quite what you think of as abstract, it has shape and it’s unique,” said Sams.
