For those of you who do not know her, Hannah Kronengold is a new senior with a healthy dose of compassion and phenomenal artistic talent. She may have come from Connecticut, where she was living for five years, but this is not the first time she’s been in the desert. Hannah has actually lived in Tucson for 12 years before her move, and now she has returned to join the TGS family.
Hannah admits that it has been an adjustment coming back to Tucson, especially in her final year of high school, but she has few complaints about TGS. She believes that this is a great school. One of the special things that it allows her to do, is focus on her artwork.
As one of this year’s National Art Honors Society inductees, it is quite obvious Hannah has fabulous artistic talent. She is often found all over campus drawing either in her sketchbook or on her tablet. Her preferred artwork style? Comics.
Hannah described that her passion for comic book art was instilled in her during her sophomore year in Connecticut. She traveled to the local Comic Con, dressed up, of course, as her favorite comic book hero. She merely describes him as a third tier Marvel hero, though he is definitely much more. At Comic Con, she ran into the creator of the “Spiderman Noir” comics, and mentioned that as she talked to him about his art, an interest sparked inside her, and she realized that she wanted to do what he did. She states, “I wanted to create comics and create my own world like he did with Spidey-Noir.” From then on, she has followed her passion.
When Hannah met one of her old teachers, Matt Ryan at a free “comic book day” event, she knew that this could work in her favor. She started to take classes with him, learning the trade of comic book creation. She is also currently completing her senior internship with this same personnage.
Hannah’s passion and drive for making comics has been very self-driven, but also instigated and perpetrated by talented teachers. She recalls her art teacher, from back in Connecticut, and how this teacher helped her develop the technical skills associated with this art. After that, she was able to develop her own characters and stories, and hopes to take those to the next level. Though she may be quiet and certainly does not cause any trouble in class, Hannah really comes out of her shell with art and shows the vibrant passions and opinions that she has.
Hannah’s plan to take comic-making to the next level continues with college. She dreams of going to the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She explains that this school offers a degree in cartooning, which involves comic book work. While many of the other schools she is applying to offer the same or at least, a similar program, SVA is the school that has had this degree the longest. She also loves New York City, saying, “I really want to live in New York City just because it inspires me so much and I feel like being inside that city will give me the resources and everything I need to create and publish my own comics.” It is worth noting that the Marvel headquarters is also in NYC.
Though it is probably her most noticeable interest, comic book work is not by any means the only thing Hannah enjoys. She loves listening to music. She felt a bit embarrassed when discussing how her favorite type of music could be best described as “emo music.” She loves Twenty One Pilots. She has also been involved in many theater productions, most recently in the fall play “Badger.” She notes that her old school had a wonderful theater program, but she is excited to join the TGS theater community too.
Hannah’s story is inspiring because she has found her love for art, and will continue to follow her passion. In the next few years, look for out for stellar comics drawn by Hannah Kronengold. In the meantime, if you want to get to know her, come to Dr. Gallo’s room.
Written by both Kira and Sheela