This week, St. Mary’s junior Oma (’27) has been nominated by Ms. Steel for his exceptional portraits of famous figures in both fiction and history. Since February of 2026, people have been writing requests on Ms. Steel’s whiteboard for Oma to draw. With his quick and efficient style, it only takes Oma around fifteen minutes to draw a single portrait! When asked about to which individuals are the most challenging to conceptualize, Oma replied, “I feel as though East-Asian faces are the most difficult to draw because they usually have smoother faces, meaning that there aren’t as many tonal valuations [compared to other races]. This makes correct proportions much more important in the process of getting an accurate drawing.” Oma’s observation highlights how he has to sometimes stop relying on conventional portrait techniques (which often rely on shadows and contrast) to focus more on realistic and accurate proportions.
The process Oma has for drawing a portrait is what really sets him apart from other artists. Conventionally, most artists draw sketches, moving from large, abstracts shapes to specific, detailed features. Oma, however, works the other way around. “[When drawing a portrait] I usually [begin] from the eye and expand out,” Oma explained. Oma further attributed this process of drawing portraits to his efficiency. Moreover, when focusing on the difficulties of the medium, the inconsistency of marker ink is an apparent issue. Unlike pencil or pen, which can last from months to even years, whiteboard marker ink typically last for 2-4 weeks, making markers often run out of ink much sooner. With a limited supply of ink, Oma often faces the challenge of not having the ink “flow when you want it to” as he puts it, forcing him to be more strategic with how he uses the ink he has. However, despite this limited, Oma is still able to produce a precise and expressive drawings. This resourcefulness and singularity in Oma’s rendering is what really makes him distinct from other artists, earning him the Artist of the Week status.