Art junior Kristi Branch looks for opportunities to compete against her peers with her original illustrations.
“Drawing contests are hard to find,” the LaPlace resident said. “But I try to enter as many as I can in hopes of maybe winning a few of them.”
Her hopes became reality last month.
Branch’s colored pencil sketch of The Dixie Chicks became one of 15 drawings featured in the Picture Perfect section of Country Weekly magazine’s June 10 issue. The contest, Draw-A-Star Challenge, encouraged artists around the nation to submit illustrations of their favorite country music recording artists. More than 80,000 drawings were submitted.
Branch’s sketch was also one of only three of the 15 winning drawings displayed on the publication’s Web page.
“I thought the drawing had a good chance of being chosen, but I was shocked to see it at first,” she said. “With so many entries I wasn’t sure if it would be picked. It’s quite an honor.”
All drawings were submitted by July 2002, taking judges almost a year to choose the winning sketches, according to Country Weekly.
“I actually forgot about it because it took so long for them to choose,” she said. “But one day I picked up a copy of Country Weekly, and there it was. I was so excited.”
Besides submitting the sketch of the Dixie Chicks, Branch also submitted a drawing of country music star Martina McBride. But Branch was glad the drawing of the Dixie Chicks was chosen.
“The Dixie Chicks are my absolute favorite band,” she said. “I have many drawings of other people and music artists, but this one is my favorite of all of them.”
While Branch is not a subscriber of Country Weekly, she is a faithful reader of the publication. As she skims through each week’s issue at retail stores, she decides whether or not to purchase it.
“More times than not, I buy it,” she said. “At the moment you could say it’s my favorite magazine. I thought maybe they would send a free issue to the winners of the contest, but I forgive them.”
Country is one of Branch’s favorite genres of music, but she listens to a variety.
Branch has been drawing since she was 7, taking many out-of-school art classes. But as she began taking art classes in school, her skills noticeably improved.
Branch creates most of her drawings in colored pencil, a medium she gained a passion for during her middle-school years in Slidell. She has attempted to create illustrations by painting, but said she is not quite as effective with paints.
“Paint is not my thing; I definitely prefer colored pencil,” she said. “Colored pencil drawings take more time and focus. You can’t erase mistakes easily on the colored pencil drawings. In painting, you could just paint over them.”
However, she will be taking a class at Nicholls next semester in hopes of improving her painting skills.
Although Branch began drawing sketches in colored pencil as a child, she only began drawing people about five years ago.
“I began to develop my skills in that area,” she said. “I was unable to draw people, but I kept practicing and practicing until I finally learned how to do it. Now most of my drawings are people.”
Since having a winning drawing in a national publication, Branch has become more confident she will win more contests.
In her latest contest entry, Branch submitted a drawing of new-age singer Enya, another of her favorite performers. The drawing will be posted on the recording artist’s Web page, www.Enya.com, where fans will vote for their favorite drawing. The winner will receive an autographed photo of Enya.
“I found out about it at the last minute. I drew it overnight so I could beat the entry deadline,” she said. “Since her music is so relaxing, I listened to her while I drew the picture of her.”
While Branch enjoys drawing, her main goal is to pursue a career in computer graphic design.
“I love drawing, and it’s still important to me,” she said. “But I realize I can do much more with a career in graphic design. I can still enjoy drawing on the side.”
Through graphic design, Branch creates book covers, magazine covers, logos and brochures. She placed first for having the best book cover design in a student art contest at Nicholls last semester.
With her growing skills, Branch hopes to re-create her drawings into computer images.
“I’ll have to learn more and become more advanced with the graphic design programs before I’ll be able to do that,” she said. “But it’s something I think about often. That’s something I really want to learn how to do.”

Editor’s note: This story has been previously published in The Grapevine, a monthly supplementary entertainment publication of The Courier and Daily Comet.