Plains High School senior Paulsen wins Duck Stamp competition

Malachi Paulsen certainly has an “eye for art.” When he picks up a graphite, color or charcoal pencil, it seems like magical things happen.

Malachi — a senior at Plains High School — had more admiration for his color pencil, graphite and charcoal drawings coming his way. Last month, he won Best of Show honors in the Montana Junior Duck Stamp competition. Judging was held March 21 at the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge at Stevensville.

Entrants were not allowed to attend the judging, but the best work submitted among the 92 entries from 15 Montana schools was Malachi’s depiction of a harlequin duck landing on water. It was not until the color pencil drawing was finished and ready for mail-in entry that he visualized a name for the masterpiece — “Splash Down.”

After winning at the state level, Splash Down was shipped to Washington, D.C., for the national contest judging.

Why choose the harlequin breed of duck? “It took me awhile to decide what to draw. I wanted to choose a duck that had never won,” Malachi n said of the Duck Stamp competition, nearing its 30th year. And the harlequin is native to both Montana and Alaska.

Malachi — who is bound for the U.S. Marines in August — was actually born in Ketchikan, Alaska, and he and his family moved to Montana in 2015. He had been home schooled, and entered Superior High School as a freshman. After one year there, the family moved to Plains and he’s in his third year at the high school.

THIS WAS the first time that Malachi had entered the Duck Stamp contest, and he did so by encouragement from his art teacher, Kristen Cole. “She wanted me to do this one because I have a keen idea of realism,” he said.

So beginning on Jan. 12 of this year, Malachi showed how much patience he has with a pencil by spending a total of about 80 hours on the project.

WHEN YOU get a close look at Splash Down, you can see the intricate detail of the duck’s feathers. And you have to notice the 3D effect of the rippled water as the duck is landing. The water droplets in the “slash down” certainly have a 3D look to them.

Before commencing with the harlequin drawing, Malachi looked closely at lots of duck photos. He decided to replicate on that was landing on the water, planning to give it his own “special touch.”

“I wanted to do something difference,” he said, rather than a flying or sitting duck. “The action of him landing was unique.

“I usually start with the eye,” he said of an animal he is drawing. “I went back [to his model] to get a good, clear image. I used a lot of pictures to help me.”

How difficult is it to make the water in which the duck is landing very realistic? “That’s probably the hardest part,” Malachi said. “With the ripples, I tried by best.”

Malachi said he tried to work on the drawing every day, mostly at home. When the deadline to enter was getting close, he spent 16 hours over the last weekend to complete it by the March 13 deadline.

It was a similar situation when Malachi’s art entry into the 2018 VFW Auxiliary state competition won first place.

Kristen handles the packing and shipping of entries by her art students in contests. She said that when Paulsen gave her his entry to mail in, there was a problem.

“I talk to the kids about the timeline. His drawing on the day it was to be mailed in was an inch too small,” she said, explaining that entries must be precisely 9-by-12 inches in a landscape (horizontal) format. “In 30 minutes he was able to do this rendering from the water to the sky.” And, of course, the drawing was just the right size.

“He put Plains on the map, taking it to that level,” Kristen said of the Duck Stamp state contest win. Malacki should know how he fared in the national contest in the next week of so.

Should Malachi’s Splash Down be judged the Best of Show in the Junior Duck Stamp National Competition, he would receive a $1,000 check. And the stamp would be in use nationwide.

Kristen said that Malachi’s favorite “medium” is to use graphite pencils, and recently he is doing more sculpture art. He is in Kristen’s 3D art class at PHS.

“His handwriting is incredible,” said Kristen, who added that Malachi has done some eye-catching calligraphy and lettering. “Anything he works with is so impressive, what he’s going to do with the next tool.”

You will hear more about Malachi and other talented artists at Plains High School in next week’s issue of the Valley Press.

ARTISTIC TALENT runs throughout the Paulsen family. Malachi’s mom and dad, Ilene and Bruce, are artistically inclined.

“My parents have definitely passed it down in their genes to me,” said Malachi, the youngest of five children. “My mom is a phenomenal painter.” She and Rich Harter painted the mural panels on the wall across from McGowan’s Grocery. His dad does wood turning. “He’s a hands-on guy,” Malachi said.

His interest in art was at an early age, but “it wasn’t until I was 12 or 12 that I started drawing realistically,” Malachi said.

His contract with the Marines is for five years. Having relatives and in-laws in military service to our country influence his choice of what to do after graduation this spring.

Malachi has had uncles in the military, and grandfather Howard Paulsen who fought in World War II while in the U.S. Navy. His brother-in-law Jason Coffey is a former Marine; that’s his sister Tara’s husband.

“In the Marines, I hope to incorporate my God-given talent,” Malachi said of artwork. “I’m sure I’ll still draw.”

Toward the end of his five-year stint in the Marines, Malachi will decided whether to make a career in the military. Time will tell, but you can count on Malachi having a drawing tool in his hand for years to come.