Spotlight on the Arts: Travis Hill

“Spotlight on the Arts” by The Paradise Center honors and encourages students in the arts by highlighting their talent and acknowledging the support they receive through their schools and teachers.

Travis Hill, a student at Thompson Falls Junior High School, is 12 years old and currently in the seventh grade. He is interested in several forms of visual art, especially digital art and pencil sketching.

Digital art, using computer software, interests him because it offers a creative platform that is a rich resource, boundless for his expression and skill development, and a vast ensemble of options for creativity.

By using a stylus type pen with a drawing tablet, he draws “free hand,” bringing his imagination into the real world. This method of drawing allows him to easily sculpt smooth profiles of his creations, which can then be colorized and filled in. His color printouts are impressive – scenes filled with dragons, medieval warriors, and even some intricate patterns.

Hill also has a great interest in sketching and drawing with a pencil. His ability is highly developed, and it is easy to anticipate his certain success as his already advanced ability evolves.

Hill particularly enjoys sketching anatomy — animals, human muscles, hands, bodies — but also capturing interesting things such as sail ships, fantasy illustrations and landscapes that are often filled with activity and explosive action such as depictions of battlegrounds.

One sketch captures an 18th Century battle, for which he researched the style of uniform and armament, incorporating those details in his drawing. Hill says he has no serious interest in pursuing video or animation, but thoroughly enjoys his focus on creating stills and prints.

For Hill, visual art is not his sole interest, he has developed interests in music as well. In his family life, he is regularly exposed to a variety of music, especially classical and orchestral works.

Hill had taken piano lessons for two years before moving here and will continue with a new teacher in Thompson Falls this spring. He also plays the trombone and has plans to learn percussion by enrolling in the Junior High and High School band. He experiments with creating/composing music and hopes that once they get the piano into his new home, he will be able to spend more time at this. Laughing, Hill says “the cold shop just seems to make it too difficult.”

Hill is living in his present moment - and has no current inclination regarding a future career. His art is his enjoyment - he is simply motivated by his desire and interest. He is not driven by a particular goal or destination but finds himself enjoying the process and passion found in expressing himself.

His inspiration to draw may come from seeing an image, or a desire to further develop a current school project, or a desire to improve his skill.

When asked for an insight that he could share, Hill said that we should just pursue our interests, and “don’t waste any time comparing yourself to others or getting discouraged - it isn’t worth it."