Cesar Morales, a senior artist at this school, has grown from sketching on friends freshman year to creating bold, tattoo inspired artwork that shows his unique style and creativity. 

Over time, Cesar’s art has evolved and taken on new depth

“My art in the past has usually been just like ultra realism, but typically for this year, I’m focusing more on ethnic background,” Cesar Morales, Arts and Comm senior, said.

Much of his inspiration comes from his surroundings and interests.

“Something that comes from the inspiration of either music that I like or some current event in the world,” Morales said.

Cesar also credits other artists and teachers for helping shape his style.

“Different artists that I follow on social media are where the style comes from, and then the ideas themselves, come from my art teachers, like Mr. Martinez and Ms.Waltz,” Morales said.

His dedication has led to recognition beyond the classroom.

“My current favorite is my Medusa charcoal drawing, it got a gold key regionals and won me best in show at Fort Hays,” Morales said.

Elvis Ortega has known Cesar Morales for a long time.

“I’ve known him since kindergarten, at Abe Hubert,” Elvis Ortega, Trade senior said.

Their friendship carried into high school, where Cesar’s artistic talent became more noticeable.

“He started drawing on me freshman year, because I saw him drawing on paper. I was like, bro, draw that on me. So I let him draw a rose on my hand,” Ortega said.

Over time, Ortega has seen how much Cesar’s art has improved.

“I think his art now is very aesthetic and real,” Ortega said.

Ortega believes Cesar could take his skills into tattooing someday.

Candace Waltz, one of Cesar’s art teachers, believes that he uses a lot of focus for growth.“I know that Cesar likes to work usually on really large artworks. He’s used a lot of charcoal, but for this semester he’s been focusing on fruit making and doing all sorts of different things,” Waltz said.

She also mentioned what makes his work stand out.

“A lot of the time it is the size, accurate proportions of realism and the incorporation with his drawings of a lot of detailed work,” Waltz said.

She described him as a hardworking and creative student.

“He’s a hard worker, and he’s really fun in class, and he’s always working on something so he doesn’t really sit around,” Waltz said.

She added that his courage to try new things is one of his biggest strengths.

“I think his biggest strength is just being willing to try different things and having the bravery it takes to do things that are outside of his comfort zone. Even for a high school student to do really large pieces and spend that much time on them, takes a lot of courage,” Waltz said.

She shared some advice for Cesar as he continues his art journey.

“Just make time for your artwork, because it does get harder as you get older,” Waltz said.