Burnout. Exploration. Storytelling.

This is the original high school portfolio of Michael Sanders, showcasing early explorations of burnout, creative block, spiritual struggle, and emotional storytelling. Through digital painting, mixed media, graphite, and oil, these works reflect a young artist’s bold voice and technical depth even in his formative years.

Drawing of artist sitting at a desk with head on hand and crumpled paper

Artist Block — Acrylic & Colored Pencil

Illustration of boy laying on bed, desk in foreground with crumpled paper and note

Burnout — Acrylic & Colored Pencil

Comic-style painting of a boy tossing in bed, rendered in red and blue tones

Tossing & Turning — Acrylic & Colored Pencil

Comic sequence of a boy in bed reaching toward and holding a glowing orb of light

Breakthrough — Acrylic & Colored Pencil

Painting of boy lying in bed gazing toward a sunlit window with red curtains

Awakening — Acrylic & Colored Pencil

Digital painting of a smiling boy wearing a green frog hat against a neutral background

Friend in a Frog Hat — Digital Painting

Ink drawing of a hall monitor layered over scanned high school hallway passes

The Hallway Monitor — Pen Drawing on a Collage of Real Hallway passes

Painting of an anatomical heart with a tree, house, and smoke on one side, and industrial decay on the other

Rise — Acrylic & Colored Pencil

Graphite drawing of Jesus struggling to carry the cross, with INRI above

Jesus is the Only Way — Pencil Sketch

Oil painting of two glass bottles on red fabric with a deep teal background

Still Life — Oil Paint

Studies from Life