For Glenwood High School senior Ethan Hibbard, it all began with a few doodles in middle school

It’s a sprint to the finish for Ethan Hibbard as the school year winds down and graduation approaches.

Out of breath, Hibbard tries to regain his composure after running from the print shop across the street from the high school back to Tish McFee’s art class.

Like many artists, Hibbard didn’t know his talent until one day he noticed something during a test.

“I never really thought I could draw or anything, and then one time during middle school I was doodling all over a piece of paper — this kid came around the corner and said, that’s so freaking cool; you should keep drawing,” Hibbard said.

“So I kept doing these weird doodles, and by the end of the year they voted me most likely to become a famous artist,” he said.

With a shy grin, Hibbard is still not sure of his talent. But from that day he decided to start working on his art more with a little help from his aunt, who is an illustrator.

“She is always teaching me cool things with art. She’s really encouraging,” Hibbard added.

Over the last four years he has found his passion and is working hard for the next steps after high school.

“He’s always drawn cartoons and had that graphic style,” McFee said. “He works hard and is really motivated.”

Some of Hibbard’s accomplishments so far include being accepted in Aspen Art Museum’s Young Curators of the Roaring Fork juried show. He also showed his work at the Aspen Chapel High School exhibition, designed the lobby decorations for the Spring Musical “Mamma Mia!”, and painted props for the show.

If he wasn’t busy enough, he also wrote a graphic novel for his capstone project and his AP Art Portfolio. It includes 12 projects that show breadth and 12 projects that show sustained investigation.

His novel is titled, “Finding a crew for the end of the world.”

“It’s a super convoluted story — the villain of the story is trying to open a portal to another dimension to summon a living black hole to destroy the world,” Hibbard said.

He said the hero in the novel, Ace, is trying to get a crew to stop that from happening.

Hibbard said the hardest part of the year-long project was putting it all together — the story and drawings.

“You have to put it in an order that is easy to read, and make sure it looks nice,” he added.

All of Hibbard’s work will culminate with next week’s GSHS Fine Arts Week, for which he designed a poster in his spare time.

“Thirty years ago they decided to start it, so that all art could be showcased at the same time,” McFee said. “It lets the students see what they produced all at once, and they are able to stand back and see it.”

The show, which runs May 20 through May 24, not only showcases fine art, but also music, drama and film.

“It’s going to be cool. All my friends have been asking to see my art, and they will finally be able to look at it all displayed,” Hibbard said.

“It’s a very good way for students to show their own pieces, also showing all the hard work they have done throughout the year, and people can appreciate what they went through.”

Hibbard plans on taking classes at Colorado Mountain College to learn more about graphic design after graduation, and hopes to either find a job in the field or possibly start his own graphic design business.

kmillspostindependent.com