Students are turning their passions into businesses, and Austin Hsiao ’27 is one of them—leveraging his artistic skills into an open-for-commission art business.

Hsiao is a member of the Creative Arts Diploma Program at the school, with a concentration in visual art. He has always loved making art and has enjoyed beginning to monetize his passion.

Hsiao started making art in elementary school and has worked consistently since.

One of Hsiao’s first customers, Logan Lang ’27, who commissioned Hsiao to create a caricature of him and his girlfriend, described what he found significant about Hsiao’s work.

“He is more into the carnival-esque style, whereas he kind of makes fun of certain characteristics,” Lang said.

He doesn’t use any color in his artwork, distinguishing him from many other artists. Hsiao’s lengthy process in finalizing a piece also makes his work stand out.

“I usually go through anywhere between 10 to 75 different pieces of paper, just continuously starting a drawing of what I want to make,” Hsiao said.

Hsiao is especially passionate about creating creatures, but he can draw anything. In fact, he is currently working on a book, The Last Tale of the City, which he is both writing and illustrating.

“After learning that an asteroid is coming to wipe out their species, a losing political candidate spirals into delusion, believing the mere existence of their competitor causes the doomsday event,” Hsio said, giving a synopsis of the story.

Hsiao recently began selling his work after realizing that the time he put into his pieces deserved recognition. He decided to price his paintings at $3 to keep them affordable, especially for students at the school.

Hsiao was thrilled when one of his pieces sold. He was nervous at first, but after several years of work, he grew confident enough to show his artwork to the world.

“I just figured out that I was good at it, so why not get money from doing something you love?” Hsiao said.

Additionally, Hsiao said that taking classes like AP Studio Art has enabled him to incorporate new styles into his art business.

“I’d say it definitely does help push me into working with new mediums I may be uncomfortable with, like clay,” Hsiao said.

His satisfaction with completing a piece keeps him going; his passion for making art grows even further as he earns money from it. He is always working, whether in the middle of class or late at night.

“I do see myself selling art in the future,” Hsiao said. “I ultimately want to be a creature designer, so that means making creatures for things like movies, games, and TV.”

Editor’s note: Feel free to email Austin Hsiao if you are interested in commissioning his services.