Spotlight on: Lilia McLean
April 2025 High School Student of the Month
The Student Council decides monthly student and teacher awards with a specific category each month. The category for April 2025 was “most artistic” for students and “most creative” for teachers.
The Senior Student of the Month awards go to two seniors per month who are nominated and voted on by Student Council members in grades 9-11.
The High School Teacher of the Month award goes to one teacher per month who is nominated and voted on by Student Council members in grades 9-12. All Teachers of the Month become eligible to become Teacher of the Year in June.
The April 2025 Senior Students of the Month are Lilia McLean and Jillian Hutchinson, and the April 2025 High School Teacher of the Month is Heather McCutcheon.
Below is a Q&A with Lilia McLean:
Q. What is your favorite art form (drawing, painting, digital, photography, etc.)?
A. Digital art, fan created art (fanart).
Q. How did you first get into art?
A. When I was in third grade, I discovered the art medium of fanart, and I wanted to make my own, so I began to draw characters I liked in a notebook I had. This led to me making my own characters and beginning to write/draw stories within the notebook with both my favorite characters and my own characters (albeit, without much of a coherent plot). Despite that, it was ultimately in seventh grade when I finally figured out just how much I loved drawing thanks to an art challenge I was dared to do, and I decided to install the app IbisPaint X on my phone and start drawing there. This eventually led to my parents getting me an iPad in 2020, which I still draw on to this day on the app Procreate.
Q. Where do you find inspiration for your work?
A. Being that most of my work is fanart, I find most of my inspiration from my favorite shows and video games.
Q. Do you have a favorite piece you’ve created? Tell us about it!
A. My favorite creation recently has been my “”Greetings and Good-bye” – Queen Sphene/Queen Eternal art.” It is a depiction of the character Sphene from the game “Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail.” It’s currently my favorite due to how much detail I managed to put into it; it’s hard to describe just how much detail is in it. Despite all the detail, the drawing itself did not take me long, and it allowed me to see just how much I’d improved, being able to make such a detailed drawing in what I believe was two weeks. I blew my own mind seeing how quickly I was finishing it. In the past, something like that drawing would have taken a month or two.
Q. Which artist (famous or local) do you admire most, and why?
A. My current favorite artist has to be Robin Flynn, aka Lael. She is a friend of both my parents and me, to the point we’ve joked she’s an honorary family member. We hang out with her every other Saturday, and she is extremely entertaining and overall just a fun person to hang out with. She is a fantastic artist, and she often talks about selling her work at conventions. She has told my parents in the past she admires the fact that both my sister and I are such artistic kids. Lael is fun, talented and admirable. I truly love her and look up to her like an older sister.
Q. How does your art reflect who you are?
A. It reflects my interests for the most part, drawing characters from media I enjoy.
Q. What are your artistic goals after high school?
A. While I don’t plan on going into the art field itself (at least, not initially), who knows about the far future, post-college? I plan to go into a graphic design field. I don’t exactly know what I’ll be doing there, but I plan to keep my art as a side hobby. I forgot who said it, but someone once told me to keep my hobbies distant from my career, and I plan to take that seriously. I don’t want my idea of art to be ruined by the perception it is just work rather than a hobby.
Q. Any advice for younger students who want to grow their creativity?
A. Just draw. If you have a favorite character, just draw them. If you have a favorite animal, draw it. If you like your art style, then keep going from there. If you don’t, the internet is full of ways to improve your art. And don’t forget, drawing isn’t the only art medium. Explore your options, just have fun.