A local teenager is leaving a positive mark at Veterans Memorial High School.
Instead of relaxing at the beach, before heading off to A&M College Station, 18-year-old Andrea Soto is volunteering her time.
“I’ve been painting since July 5th,” says Artist Andrea Soto.
Painting a mural at her Alma Matter, Veterans Memorial High School.
An opportunity she couldn’t resist.
“I love art, and I love to just draw stuff,” says Soto.
Once the design was approved, Soto says it to her about 4.5 hours to draw a digital sketch.
The mural, an eagle breaking through a wall, is located near the entrance by the cafeteria.
Paying tribute to veterans and her graduating class.
“So they’re kind of like breaking through high school going to college,” says Soto.
She says completing the artwork, has been quite the process.
“The outline took me three days,” says Soto.
She says she got creative, using a projector.
“I projected the outline onto the wall, and then I traced over it with black paint,” says Soto.
Soto also keeps an image on her phone for reference.
“Sometimes I zoom in and I’ll look at the undertone colors,” says Soto.
Her mom also helped paint, and she learned a thing or two along the way.
“looks like a stipple texture on the eagle, I figured it out by accident,” says Soto.
Weeks and 60 plus hours later, the mural is almost complete.
“Really excited cause I finally get to do a mural in the school,” says Soto.
Soto hopes to inspire generations to come.
“Show them what you can do with art,” says Soto.
And maybe, just maybe, they too will have their artwork displayed on a wall.
Soto hopes to work for Disney Pixar one day.
