Wielding a paintbrush in her hand, senior Skylar Chui is often seen in the Pinewood art room depicting intricate pieces that most hands can only dream of doing. But it has not always been easy for Chui to create such masterpieces in short durations of time.

Although Chui said she has enjoyed art since second grade, she really started honing her art skills when she took Art Independent Study her sophomore year. Other than having taken a few art classes at Pinewood, however, Chui is completely self-taught and now takes AP Studio Art. 

“[Art] doesn’t feel like work,” Chui said. “It feels more like something I can do to relax and forget about things. . . . I don’t feel unproductive because I’m actually creating something.”

Chui said that creating art comes naturally for her and is not some boring chore to be done, even when it is an assignment. She said her cousin Katherine Chui, who graduated from Pinewood in 2020, is her biggest inspiration.

“One time during Halloween . . . , [Katherine] came over to my house and she grabbed a piece of paper and taught me how to draw a pencil-realistic eye,” Chui said. “[After that], a little trick of mine was that I can draw an eye in class, so then I started learning to draw all the different parts of the face.” 

This initial spark eventually led to Chui looking up tutorials on how to paint and sketch various things, Chui said. 

Though Chui primarily paints semi-realistic art, she enjoys drawing cartoons too, which are influenced by her love for graphic novels. Chui has always loved graphic novels not only because of their stories, but because they provided her references for how to draw gestures, which she utilizes in her paintings.

Besides creating art as a personal hobby, Chui also uses her talents to contribute in various forms within the Pinewood community. Her art has been featured heavily in Tabula Rasa, the school’s literary arts magazine, and she also serves as the Creative Director for the Perennial. Chui has also won numerous awards for her art, with the most recent one being a Scholastic award

While Chui said she will not be majoring in art, she also said she plans on taking art classes in college and sticking with art even after college.