Drawing on Experience : Hard Work, Determination Came Early to Young Artist

Driven by self-motivation and determination, Efrain Islas decided to make a new beginning for himself after moving with his eight brothers, two sisters and mother from Tijuana to Santa Ana 10 years ago.

Today, Islas is just weeks away from graduating from Santa Ana High School--the first member of his family to earn a high school diploma.

He has worked this past year as the cartoonist for the High Life page of the Orange County edition of The Times as well as an after-school art instructor at his alma mater, Sierra Intermediate School in Santa Ana.

Islas learned discipline and responsibility at an early age. In Tijuana, Islas bagged groceries, made pottery and was an auto mechanic’s assistant. After his family moved to Santa Ana, he mowed lawns, sold newspaper subscriptions and worked at a gas station.

“These experiences kept me from joining gangs or taking drugs,” said Islas.

“I know the things I do now will decide my future. If you want to get something done, you have to work to do it,” he said. “If you let go and lose hope, you won’t get things done. To really gain something, you really have to work hard.”

Islas lived for about eight years with four older brothers, going to school and working part time to help pay the rent. Raised a Jehovah’s Witness, Islas also attended church three days a week.

“When members of my church found out that I was working, going to school and attending church, they saw that I needed help,” Islas said. “I was thinking of dropping out of school at the time, but a family offered to let me live with them. They lived closer to my school, so I wouldn’t have to drop out and I wouldn’t have to work to pay rent.

“I would become one of their family members, (but) I still see my family all the time.”

Islas honed his artistic skills through the help of Lynn Morgan, his art teacher for the past two years at Santa Ana High. His weekly High Life work was spotted by Maria Colmanares, a counselor at Sierra, who asked Islas to teach the art class after inviting him to speak at the school’s career day.

“He’s very talented,” Colmanares said. “Efrain is a very good role model to the students, him being so motivated.”

The Cartoon Club, which was begun in February, was originally to have 15 students, but the class grew to 30.

“He’s really understanding and a good teacher,” eighth-grader Otto Fernandez said of Islas. “Efrain shows you how to do everything without you even asking him. He’s helped me a lot by paying attention to everything I do.”

Meeting with his class on Mondays and Wednesday from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Islas guides his young students in the techniques of illustration, comic strips, animation, character development and caricatures.

He hopes to teach them that art is a way to express their feelings and to interpret everyday life. “Art is seeing life and what people do and say and then reflecting that through cartoons,” he said.

Colmanares said the parents and teachers are in full support of Islas and the Cartoon Club.

“Parents like their kids involved in this and the faculty is glad that the students are doing something constructive with their free time,” she said. “Efrain has shown students that when they enter high school, they can pursue their interests in extracurricular activities.”

Islas, who is an honor student at Santa Ana High and has been nominated for a number of art awards, says he’s in a continual process of learning and improving his skills.

“I try to share my techniques with my students,” he said. “What I learn at school, I give to them.”

And Islas hopes to continue sharing his art.

“My goal is to get a degree in graphic arts and, in the future, continue to teach others to do cartoons,” he said. “By mixing my fine arts skills and computers, I plan to develop a completely different cartoon style.”