Sophomore Caroline Lou has been drawing ever since she could remember and has recently found joy in being able to share her passion for art through selling her digital artwork on Etsy.

Lou started taking art lessons at Polly’s Art Studio in Northborough at about 7 years old and gained an education on the basics of art. She mostly painted at first, but focused on improving her drawing skills as she grew up. In January, Lou created an Etsy shop and began selling her digital drawings. 

“I started [selling my art in January], but I’ve been thinking of starting to sell it for a while and have sort of been planning, but now it’s sort of actually happening and it’s like ‘Oh my god,’” Lou said. 

Prior to COVID-19, Lou drew mostly on paper. However, during quarantine in 2020 she taught herself how to use Procreate, a graphic design app, to make digital art. She started to post it online that same year.    

“I sort of became more active on social media with my art and there were a lot of people online who followed my art account on Tiktok,” Lou said. “I had an idea before but I was like, ‘Oh, if people are actually interested in my art then I want to see if I can sell it.’”

Lou mostly markets through social media under the handle @crabbycreations. She uses her Instagram and Tiktok accounts to inform her followers about artwork drops and new creations. They feature a collection of colorful digital art pieces.  

“I have a theme in the stuff I sell,” Lou said. “I’m focused on bears, which is kinda random but I like them because they’re cute…. It’s hard for me to come up with ideas for art, but once I have one I want to create something out of it.”

Much of Lou’s inspiration is drawn from Pinterest, and being outside also helps her think of creative ideas. The two prints currently available in her Etsy shop reflect this, featuring a bear in a pumpkin and a bear selling fish. Even though this art is attracting attention and selling well, Lou does not want to be limited to it.

“I definitely want to keep selling stuff that I like to draw,” Lou said. “I feel like I will never just sell art to just sell stuff.”

Lou aspires to challenge herself and to improve. She has taken both Art II and Mixed Media and is looking forward to taking Advanced Art and AP Art. Art teacher Rebecca Duffy is optimistic about Lou’s shop and thinks she could even expand to other selling platforms in the future.

“It’ll be interesting to see how it manifests, what happens with it,” Duffy said.

Lou’s work in the Algonquin community, including creating graphic art for The Harbinger and Student Council, and work for her shop have allowed her to get more experience creating art for different purposes. Duffy believes this practice and exposure is an important part of improving, and she has high expectations for Lou’s shop and future.

“[Caroline’s shop will] be an extension of [her] and what she does, and she’ll feel more confident in any ideas that she has that she can do them,” Duffy said.

Lou is constantly exploring new opportunities as well. She is currently looking into becoming a graphic artist for Dear Asian Youth, an organization and community that supports Asian kids from around the world. 

“I’m looking to apply to that because I definitely want to expand more on making graphics because I like doing that, and I feel like it’s for a good cause,” Lou said.

Lou is hopeful for the future of her shop, but she takes pride in learning from all of her experiences. 

“I’m trusting the process,” Lou said. “It’s still an ongoing process and it’s probably not going to end anytime soon just because there’s so much that goes into it and I’m still figuring it out.”