My name is Anthony Adcock I have been interested in art for as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I was always busy drawing. My talents were very noticeable when I started grammar school. Although my artistic abilities are a gift, I would not have excelled in them without the proper schooling. I have experimented with many different mediums, but I have been drawing with pencils longer than I have been using any other material. My specialty with pencils are portraits of people. I can draw anything but prefer to draw portraits because of the fine detail that is in the face and human body. I am talented with paints as well. I use watercolor and acrylic but my favorite paint is oil paint because of the vivid colors. I chose oil paint for my space painting because of the color quality and the realistic effect that it has. I have a very realistic style when it comes to my art work. When I am working on a piece, my goal is to make it look as real as possible, I want the viewer to be able to feel as he or she is in my painting experiencing it first hand.

The greatest part of my development as an artist took place during my high school years. After my four years at St. Laurence High School, I really knew who I was as an artist. I would often help my art teacher with his classes by showing the students different techniques in drawing and painting. I received the Golden Brush Award for all four years of high school. The Golden Brush Award is an award given to a student that displays excellence in his art class. I have also won four honorable mention awards in the scholastic Art contest. I received two second place awards and one first place award in the Women's Auxiliary Patriotic Art Contest. The first place painting is still being judged at the State level. during my last year at St. Laurence, I had the honor of painting a mural in one of my school hallways. The mascot of my high school is the Viking. I painted a mural of three Viking ships traveling on an angry sea. I named it "Voyage to Leadership."

Outside of school, I volunteered at a local haunted house. I thought that it would be a good experience for me because I decorate my own house extravagantly each year for Halloween. For my yard, I have to paint tombstones and other scenery, such as lifelike dummies. For the haunted house, I painted three murals as part of the scenery. The first was of an evil forest. For this mural I used only black and white paint on the black background. The second was an abstract city scene at night. The last was a fiery chamber of hell. The last mural was also abstract. I painted bright orange flames reaching into the contrasting purple sky. It was a fun experience for me to us an abstract style in two of the three murals since I usually paint and draw in a very realistic style. After painting the walls I still had more painting to do. Every night that the haunted house was open, I painted the faces of characters that would be performing in the different rooms of the house. I really enjoyed this opportunity to be so creative with my talent.

I plan to attend the American Academy of Art in the fall. I want to major in fine art. Not only do I love making art, I also enjoy learning about other artists, especially those from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. At the moment, there are many career opportunities in which a computer plays a large role, but I would rather stay away from the computers and use my skills as an artist. I want to be able to do what I love in order to earn a living.

We have uncovered so much through the exploration of space. Although we have put man on the moon and land rovers on mars, there are still many secrets waiting to be discovered. Since the beginning of time, humans have wondered what lie in space and have had questions about the universe. The questions that are in our minds can only be answered through space exploration, and it is the only way to learn more about the beauty of our universe.

This stunning Oil painting was done by

Anthony Adcock

of Hickory Hills, Illinois who graduated from High School in May of 2005