Rose Daoud’s introduction to art did not begin in a classroom, but in church. As a child, Daoud spent time drawing while in church with her grandmother, using pencils she found there to sketch her pastor or the pictures on the walls. She often gave the drawings to her grandmother afterward, either at church or at home. Family encouragement helped her interest grow. Her uncles regularly gave her art supplies as gifts, including easels, which she enjoyed using. Those early experiences made art a consistent part of her life.
As she grew older, Daoud developed her skills through both school and independent learning. Art classes provided structure, with teachers assigning specific projects that taught her the basics of form. Outside the classroom, YouTube offered a different approach. Watching videos showed her how flexible and unstructured art could be. “Art class is more structured,” Daoud said, while YouTube showed her “how you could create and how non-structured you could be.” The combination helped shape how she approaches her work today.
Now a senior in high school, Daoud focuses mainly on realism, especially paintings of people in expressive poses. She prefers painting the human form over landscapes, which she finds repetitive. “Landscapes are redundant, with thousands of trees and ten million blades of grass,” she said. People, she explained, offer more creative freedom. She enjoys experimenting with scale and perspective; unusual facial expressions and movement in hair are details she often looks for when choosing a subject.
Daoud primarily works with acrylic paint. She avoids oil paint because it’s expensive and stressful to use. Watercolor frustrates her due to its lack of color and the way it wrinkles paper. Acrylics allow her to paint freely and by hand, even if it creates a mess. Bright colors and patterns are key aspects in her work. She said they add boldness and help her paintings function as wall art.
Her creative process is usually relaxed and regularly begins late at night. Daoud typically starts with a pose or facial expression, sketching ideas on Snapchat using color. When she begins painting on a canvas, she adds or changes details as she works. “Oftentimes they start as just the pose or face,” she said. Patterns and additional colors develop as the painting progresses. If she gets stuck or can’t choose between two designs, she’ll ask a classmate or do a class poll for feedback.
Most of Daoud’s artwork is created at school. Her drive varies from day to day. Every so often she struggles to get started, while other times she enters a flow state where time passes quickly. Creating art for class motivates her, especially because several paintings are required for gallery display. Knowing others will see her work encourages her to stay productive.
Although she does not plan to pursue art in college, Daoud said painting remains meaningful to her. She defines success as enjoying the process and feeling proud of the finished piece. She also considers it a success if others want to hang her work on their wall. When people view her paintings, she hopes they try to guess the emotion and meaning behind them. Above all, she wants viewers to appreciate the detail and color in her work.
