The Evanstonian is made up of over a hundred students who contribute to the paper, either through writing, photography, art or social media. Oftentimes, the stories take the lead, however, the pages of The Evanstonian wouldn’t be nearly as interesting without art.
This year, the art section is made up of 9 artists and is led by editor Heath Lennon, junior. From cartoons to realism, artists on The Evanstonian have free rein to create art in a way that is true to themselves and their style, while also contributing to something much larger than themselves.
Lennon, a junior, joined The Evanstonian his freshman year after a friend of his brothers encouraged him to draw for an issue of the paper.
“I saw [my art] in the paper, after a couple of weeks, and I thought, ‘This is so cool.’ I could do something, and it would get printed. From there, I caught on and stayed consistent in making art for The Evanstonian,” remarks Lennon.
Participating as an artist on The Evanstonian isn’t super different from creating art on your own, only with a few more guidelines, including deadlines and ideas from writers. The process is simple: writers make art requests, which are then sent to the art section. From there, work is divided between artists who make illustrations to go along with an article.
Claudia Nord, a senior, joined the art section this year after being encouraged by Lennon, her classmate, who shared with her how fun it was. Nord had been interested in art from a young age, creating more and more as she got older. Despite being an experienced artist going into high school, Nord felt too busy before her senior year to join The Evanstonian, but she had seen the art in paper before, and thought it would be interesting to join.
Now that Nord is part of the art section, she appreciates the community aspect of it. She even sees her friend Jesse, a fellow Evanstonian artist, outside of meetings.
“It’s fun to compare stuff or get other ideas. It’s different because you’re making art in a group of people, because a lot of times for class it’s on your own,” Nord explains.
Participating in the art section of The Evanstonian offers a unique collaborative experience for students. Being a part of this group lets students meet other students with similar interests, and gives them the chance to work together on their art.
“The community aspect of it is really fun to just be in that group, with other people, and feel like you’re contributing to something,” describes Nord.
Sometimes, the section even meets outside of school to work together as they all cram to meet deadlines.
“We had a get-together during fall break, where we all went to Backlot and drew together. That was really awesome,” Lennon recalls.
Additionally, there’s always an opportunity to grow as an artist and branch out into different styles and mediums. Artists who create both digitally and physically are welcome and are able to display their creativity in different ways. Recently, a comic page of the paper has been introduced, giving artists a chance to try something new.
“I’m looking forward to expanding that art and comic page specifically. It’d be awesome if some people were interested in comics,” Lennon comments.
The Evanstonian offers artists a unique chance to share their art with a wider audience, while still having creative freedom.
“I think The Evanstonian is the best platform at ETHS for artists to show their skills and get their art out there. It’s a low-stress sort of club. The deadlines aren’t super crazy,” Lennon expresses.
“If you have the chance to join it in some way, it doesn’t have to be this huge time commitment,” Nord adds. Anyone interested in making art for the school paper can come to meetings, ask questions, and decide which months they will be available to participate.
