20-year-old Hunter is a storyteller through art. Interested in photography and animation, we paired Hunter with his mentor Dina, an art teacher who has helped enhance Hunter’s already blossoming skills.
One of the main focuses of Hunter and Dina’s meetings is the creation of storyboards to design from scratch the perfect story for Hunter to tell through his art.
“Dina teaches him different strategies to develop characters and then he does some work outside of their friendship calls and presents them to her when we meet,” said Danielle, the Connecting Champions Grand Rapids Program Coordinator.
With the storyboards created, Dina has helped Hunter write and design his own comic book! Featuring the characters that Hunter has created from his own imagination, Dina has been there every step of the way to help Hunter perfect his one-of-a-kind project.
Danielle has seen firsthand how much Hunter has grown both artistically and personally through his friendship with Dina. “He was kind of shy originally,” said Danielle. “Now when he’s meeting with Dina, they can go over an hour. He’s very social and he’s opened up. It’s just really awesome to see.”
Hunter is nearing the conclusion of his new comic book and, thanks to the confidence that Dina has instilled into him, it’s sure to be special.
“They have a really awesome friendship,” said Danielle. “I think, honestly, it’s a match made in heaven.”
