Her passion for art started at a young age. The passion grew into something more and is leading junior Shruti Ada to overcome stereotypes and pursue a career within the field.

“I feel really free and happy,” Ada said. “When I go home and paint, I forget every stress I have, because that’s the only thing I’m working on in that moment. If I’m feeling upset that day, I put that emotion into my art.”

Ada focuses on oil painting, charcoal and watercolor, and she shares these various types of art styles through her art Instagram.

Ada is currently taking art in school and attends classes at Steve Ko Art Studio. Her instructor, Steve Ko, has helped her learn how to identify what colors to use for any scene, how saturated/unsaturated the scene should be, shadows and basic lessons. His training is based off of masters work and Dutch-style training.

“I had a couple of classes with him and I really liked how much attention he gave to one person,” Ada said. “It really helped me improve a lot. I wasn’t really serious [about art] before, but when I went to him, he taught me stuff they learn in college.”

After high school, Ada plans on attending art school in order to further her training in the field. Having come from an Indian family consisting of doctors and engineers, Ada said she faced some stereotypical judgment from family and family friends. Although they needed some convincing at first, Ada’s parents are supportive of her plans.

“I think it’s important to me to branch out and be the first one in my family to pursue what makes me happy,” Ada said. “[My parents] weren’t too happy. But they understood that art was something I focused on since I was a kid, so I think they saw it coming. But I’m grateful that they’re letting me pursue this. I know they’re proud of me even though they don’t say it as much.”

Ada would like to pursue a career with Disney or Marvel as a concept artist. Concept artists travel, sketch and draw buildings/scenery out. Before they send them in and do the final rendering of it, concept artists do the draft of scenes and compile ideas.

“I want to make people feel emotion in my work; that’s my goal,” Ada said. “And that’s what my childhood movies did for me. I used to watch ‘Ratatouille’ a lot, and that got me thinking about cartoons and comics. It may take a while, but I hope I get there.”