VHS senior obtains over 4 million likes on Tik Tok

Senior Paola Chavez has been an artist her whole life. She said, “I learned how to draw because I’ve always been pretty creative so when I was a kid drawing was something I really enjoyed, also sometimes my mom would draw herself so I guess that would motivate me.”

During the COVID-19 quarantine, Chavez decided to focus more on her skills. That is when she noticed a big difference in her art. Chavez said, “I spent so much time at home, I wanted to change my way of doing art and actually taking it seriously to the point where I could build a career off it.”

Chavez shared that her art isn’t something that she likes to plan out. She prefers to let it flow. She said, “The art I enjoy making most is when I don’t have a clear idea in my head and it turns out to be a really cool piece.”

Her viral TikTok account “Mangetsu_x0” is dedicated to anime style art that she creates. She refers to this art as a way for her to take a fun break. Drawing her favorite characters in her own style allows her to take a breather from her more traditional art pieces.

She said, “I really enjoy that a lot of people like my anime art so that definitely makes me want to continue making it.” 

Art is something that Chavez will pursue after she graduates from high school. Chavez said, “Freshman and sophomore year I was really stuck on being a police officer or something related to criminal justice but part of me was not fully comfortable with that because I knew I wouldn’t be able to use my art skills in the way I wanted to, so during junior year I finally took the decision to get serious about my art career since it’s something I need to have in my life for me to be at peace with myself, but also because I don’t like the idea of having a job I don’t enjoy.”

Art has brought Chavez many close connections that she otherwise wouldn’t have had. She said, “I started my Tik Tok/ Instagram account for my art, which led me to meet a lot of my good art friends. most of these friends I’ve made either because they are my mutuals on social media, or because I like their style and personally reached out to them for tips on how to make my art better.”

Chavez has already started selling her pieces. She said, “I do take commissions once in a while since I haven’t been very active on my social media lately. When I first started drawing anime art, I made a lot of money selling portraits to people all over the US.”

However because of TikTok regulations she hasn’t been able to obtain any money from her videos. She explained, “I could’ve made money on Tik Tok as well but since I am not 18, I couldn’t sign up for the creator fund since I would risk getting suspended from my account.”