By Staff Writer, Allen Zakaria

            When pondering art, names like Picasso, Da Vinci and Van Gogh ring a bell in one’s mind. Before you know it, Aroutin Hartounian (’09) may be added to that same category.
            Hartounian’s love for art began more than 11 years ago, drawing cavemen, dinosaurs, and soldiers. As a child, art was his way of expressing himself. He would sit down for hours at a time and just let his pencil do the talking.
            Hartounian was born and raised in Iran and moved to the United States nine years ago. It was a big move, but the difficult transition developed his ability to draw things of deeper meaning.          
              “Anyone is capable of being a great artist,” Hartounian said. “It’s not about how well you can draw, but how well you can express your thoughts.”
            He believes that in order to be an amazing artist one has to be able to search deep inside their mind and find topics of which they are sensitive of.
            “His drawings are amazing,” Art teacher Mary Anna Pomonis said “It’s very easy and natural for him, and he always has an appetite for art.”
             Currently enrolled in art classes at school, Hartounian has hopes of attending an art college. Some colleges he looks forward to attending are Otis College of Arts and the Laguna College of Art and Design.
            Nominated by Pomonis for the Ryman Arts program at USC, Hartounian presently spends his weekends drawing and painting to hone his craft.
            Last semester, Hartounian entered a GUSD art contest where he won third place.
            “We are very proud and excited for our son and the level he has reached in art,” mother Hilma Hartounian said.
            In his free time, when he is not painting or drawing pictures, Hartounian works on his own designs for clothing and shoes. He plans to one day open his own clothing line.   In fact he has already come up with the name Hart Co., taking the first four letters of his last name.