“Like just about anything in life, take it slow and have fun with the process. No deadline; just me and the art.” — Dontae Elay

Harvester Bees have many talents. From excelling in sports to awards in SkillsUSA, Eastfield Campus is buzzing with success. For The Et Cetera’s first student spotlight, Dontae Elay, a physical and digital artist, takes center stage.

Elay’s talents were discovered on campus by his Spanish teacher, who saw him with his canvas in hand. Elay’s introduction to art started by watching popular Japanese anime such as, “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.”

“I drew a lot of influence from the fashion and style,” Elay said. Using physical and digital mediums, Elay’s art displays many ranges of expression. The contrasts of brightness and dullness, color and shade, and varying hues from each artwork all add to Elay’s distinctly unique artistic voice.

Self expression can take many shapes and, for Elay, he uses the canvas as his alter ego, saying, “Although I am more reserved, my art is very loud and bright.”

In a piece titled “Will,” the array of colors came to his work by mistake. “I had accidently spilled some paint while sketching, and I just went with it.” The piece has several dimensions of focus, including the contrast between the grey graphite and bright hues of purples and reds across the paper. The piece, when flipped upside down, reveals more faces and names, which are a part of several comics Elay is preparing to release. 

With the digital age of art being saturated with generative AI pieces, the future of the integrity of art is left hanging in the wind. For Elay, he understands both sides of the impact of AI on the arts. He understands people using it as a tool, but condones “the use of it as a metric of making the art itself.”

A character with long hair portrayed in Piece ‘B’ is a part of a Japanese-inspired world that Elay plans to take global with his very own Manga, comics and graphic novel originating from Japan. With his new and refreshed take, he will incorporate a new style of American Manga to the global scene. For him: “The content of traditional American comics, unless I’m not looking hard enough, seems to be lackluster. I only get excited when I’m looking at authentic Japanese Mangaka. My goal is to be one of the best American Manga artists.”