Stacy Bai, a junior at Dulaney High School (DHS), is a self-taught artist who runs several social media accounts to promote her artwork.

Bai began drawing during the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020. Like many students, Bai utilized the time to explore a budding interest in art.

“I think the time in lockdown really exposed me [to art] online, so the majority of the time, I was looking at other artists and their technique,” said Bai.

Slowly, Bai developed her artistic style. Her drawings consist primarily of anime-styled women in traditional and digital media.

In late 2020, Bai created her TikTok account, originally posting drawing tutorials. She was motivated by seeing positive responses to her videos. While growing her platform, she took a more calculated approach.

“I realized that the algorithm of TikTok followed a very predictable system. I used that to my advantage to optimize every video I was putting out,” said Bai.

Eventually, she amassed 20.5 thousand followers on TikTok. From that success, Bai expanded her efforts to Instagram. 

Both of Bai’s social media platforms are on hiatus. Despite her belief in the strong value of sharing artwork online, she explained many factors contributed to her inactivity, such as busy schedules and online toxicity. From this, Bai’s vision transformed.

“I’ve found the feeling of creating an artwork and sharing it [with] people who are closer to me is far more rewarding than what social media likes could offer,” said Bai.

Today, Bai draws and posts on a sporadic schedule. She continues to improve her artistic abilities by further exploring different mediums, such as Blender and other 3D rendering software. Going into her senior year, Bai is enrolled in AP Art at DHS and hopes to continue drawing in the future. 

“I plan to continue art as a free time hobby in college, especially because there will be more people [with similar viewpoints on sharing art],” said Bai.

For any aspiring artist, Bai insists on the value of constant practice and observation to improve and learn from others.

“One [piece of] advice I cannot emphasize enough is being observant of everything…combining elements from others and trying something new can never hurt,” said Bai.

Any DHS students interested in seeing Bai’s artwork can follow her Instagram, @kyuulii, and may submit a request for a commissioned artwork.

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