Featured image: The New Future by Maanasa B.

Want to stay on top of Start.Write.Now? Sign up here to join our Start.Write.Now. email list! You will receive notifications when new challenges go live and reminders for upcoming response deadlines. Never miss your chance to participate again!

See what fellow RAL artists and writers created!

With the 2020 Virtual National Ceremony in our rearview mirror and July in full swing, we could not be more excited to celebrate the brilliant works created in response to Keiji Ishida’s June Start.Write.Now prompt. Not only that, we’re also thrilled to be kicking off July Start.Write.Now!

Thank you to everyone who participated in June Start.Write.Now. Whether you emailed in your creation or not, we hope that reflecting on and thinking differently about your previous art got your creative juices flowing. We certainly know it did for the artists and writers who emailed in!

Students only had three short weeks to create a piece in response to the prompt, and yet we saw amazingly original ideas shining through the works shared with us. Artists and writers were tasked to create something completely new based on connections they found in their past works… and they certainly delivered. Take a look at what your peers created (and who won the gift cards)!

June’s Start.Write.Now Prompt from Keiji Ishida

Create something new from patterns you find in your previous work.

From Keiji: What really changed me the most as an artist was looking back to my early work (meaning drawings from preschool or even kindergarten) and analyzing the symbolism and narrative that I was showcasing. By closely looking at all the work since the day I began drawing, interestingly, I noticed my goal in art hasn’t really changed. My prompt for students is to find all your artwork, display it chronologically, and find if there is any “pattern” in your work. This “pattern” may help you understand what is important for you.

And our lucky $25 Amazon gift card winners are…

Patterns from the Past and The New Future by Maanasa B., NJ

Artist’s Statement: Keiji’s prompt led me on a journey down memory lane to reflect on my past works (“Patterns from the Past”). As a young child, I absolutely loved to paint and create my own art, looking for inspiration in almost anything! I found sceneries extremely beautiful and captivating, while also finding abstract pieces confusing yet intriguing. Looking through my older artworks, I was quick to notice a pattern: all the bright splashes of color ranging from blinding neons to crimson reds. The bold colors symbolizes my personality, an outgoing persona shining with brightness and color.

In my new piece (“The New Future”), I tried to be more contemporary and reflect on our current times. As can be seen, my personality still shines through with the addition of the bold yellows and pinks. The caption in the painting “Once Upon A Time” has been written to show a time when things were different (pre COVID-19) and summer air travel would have been common, as shown by the plane in the painting.

Reflections by Katelyn T., UT

Artist’s Statement: I was inspired to create “Reflections” from Keiji’s prompt about finding patterns in our previous works. I took themes and lines from all across my writing to create this poem that talks about growing up and moving on with life even if we wished it was 2010 again.

Pencil Me In by Aminah A., CA

Artist’s Statement: When I went through all of my old poems, I noticed that most of my poetry centered around one or a couple of vivid moments/images. I like to use my words to paint images and moments, using the versatility of the English language to pencil in additional details about the setting, how I felt, etc. I used the prompt to revisit a conversation I had with someone a couple of months ago, and I wrote a poem expressing what I was unable to tell them in person.

Disclaimer: The thoughts, views, and opinions expressed in the above pieces of writing and artwork belong solely to the student author or artist. These do not represent the views of the RAL Scholastic Art & Writing Awards or the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. The Alliance does not have ownership or copyright over the works shared in this post; they belong solely to the student author or artist.

Thanks to everyone who had fun creating and sharing your work with us! We cannot wait to see what you come up with next for July Start.Write.Now. (responses due August 3)! Check back in on August 20 to find out who won the July Start.Write.Now. random drawing for a $25 gift card. Also, don’t forget to submit your next creation to the 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards when submissions open on September 1!