Artist of the Month: Lakeland sophomore choses warm palette for winning entry

Aug. 27—Olivia Lach's art selection transports viewers into the season of spicy flavors, chilly days and Sunday afternoons spent at the pumpkin patch.

The Lakeland Junior-Senior High School student drew inspiration from the warm color palette and familiar comfort of the autumn season for her winning entry in "Art for All Seasons" Student Artist of the Month competition.

To celebrate arts in education, The Times-Tribune and Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit honor local teens with this contest. Olivia, who lives in Scott Twp. and is the daughter of Gary Lach and Joy Lach, is one of dozens of students from 13 school districts who, last school year, created art across different mediums, which were then submitted by their teachers with hopes of the students' works being featured in Life&Times.

A panel of judges from the newspaper and NEIU picked 12 winners, and on the last Sunday of each month, one of these works are featured alongside the calendar of events. Get to know these student artists a little better with a profile and Q&A.

Olivia, who is a sophomore, chatted with Life&Times about her favorite artists, the process behind creating her winning piece and more.

Q: What medium do you like working in the most and why?

A: I like using colored pencils the most because I find them very easy to use. I understand how to blend and layer colored pencils more than any other medium.

Q: Do you have a favorite subject to draw or paint, and what draws you to that subject?

A: My favorite subject to draw is realism. I typically draw animals or objects because it gives me more room for error.

Q: Can you describe your process when working on your winning entry for Artist of the Month?

A: I chose to do the fall season for my entry because it's my favorite season. I'm very familiar with working with warm colors so I thought that drawing pumpkins would be a perfect fit. I also knew that pumpkins were suitable for all of the months of fall. I chose to use colored pencils since I find them very easy to work with and I can get the small details of a picture very easily. My inspiration was multiple different pictures of pumpkins and I drew them very vibrant to stand out, almost capturing the pumpkins in golden hour.

Q: Who are some artists you like and why?

A: I like Bob Ross because he can get a high amount of detail in his paintings.

Q: What are some of your favorite works of art and why?

A: My favorite works of art are "The Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers" and "The Old Guitarist." I like these pieces because they seem very calming.

Q: Are you considering pursuing art as a career? If so, do you know what area of art you are interested in?

A: I would like to have a career that involves art, but I don't know what I would do. If I did pursue a path in art, I would most likely enjoy working in fine art.

Q: What other interests do you have in addition to art?

A: In addition to art, I play softball.

Contact the writer: [email protected]; 570-348-9127; @gmazurTT on X