Rancho Cucamonga High School is home to a variety of different clubs, ranging from Key Club to the Trading Cards Club. This year, there’s been the addition of several new clubs, and one of those includes the Digital Art and Character Design Club.
Digital Art and Character Design Club, or DACDC for short, was created for both experienced and new artists. Sophomore Han Ke created the club as a space for people interested in digital art.
“I’ve loved art ever since I was little. In fifth grade, I started doing digital art, and I’ve loved [it] ever since. I wanted to build a community who had the same interest as me,” Ke said.
Ke and her executive board were able to come up with their club idea and set it into motion in one day. Alongside their goal of finding a community of digital artists, they aspired to create a friendly and welcoming environment within RCHS.
Although DACDC has just begun, the club’s main aspiration is to collaborate with businesses and other clubs in the future through design. Outreach and advertisements for the club lay in the hands of several members of the board, one being sophomore Allison Ortega, DACDC’s event coordinator.
“We have a plan to reach out to some small businesses and try to design logos and stuff for them. A part of what I do is I would be the one reaching out to the small businesses, reaching out to other clubs on events that we want to do, like partnerships to public clubs,” Ortega said.
Behind the scenes, Ortega, Ke, and their other officers brainstorm together to plan for club meetings. According to Ortega, the process begins with one person coming up with an idea that eventually gets texted throughout the executive board.
During the club’s meetings, members create artwork through activities such as group work, practice character designs based on prompts, and receive advice from officers to further improve their illustrations.
Members use their phones, tablets, or other devices to create their artwork digitally, sometimes also using a stylus pencil. On their preferred technology, they create their own original characters, also known as OCs—fictional people or creatures created by the artists themselves.
According to Writing Games, original characters (OCs) are unique to the creator’s imagination and do not exist in official narratives. These OCs vary in complexity and can range from simple designs to fully detailed characters with detailed histories and personalities created by the artist’s narrative.
Recently, one of their prompt themes has been the Wild West. Sophomore Zora Green, a member of DACDC, has attended all meetings of the club thus far and plans to use the club to expand on her digital art skills to become more educated on character design.
Green said she believes the club is enjoyable when viewing others’ work, and she gains inspiration and creativity for her own pieces by using the themes and drawing with other members.
“I feel that people who are interested in art, or just anything creative-wise would enjoy it, and should give it a try,” Green said.
DACDC hosts meetings every Wednesday in room B103. For those interested in joining, their Instagram is @rchsdacdc, and their Remind is @dacdcl.
