Oakland Twp. girl wins award for tiger-inspired car design
OAKLAND TWP — A Butler County eighth-grader’s contest car design was so impressive a separate category was created for her to win.
Danica Ball, 14, entered the Toyota Dream Car USA Art Contest, which seeks to inspire creativity in youth and encourage their innovative ideas for future mobility. A total of 138 young artists received awards for the FY22 contest: nine winners, 12 honorable mention recipients, 39 finalists, and 78 semi-finalists.
Danica’s anime-themed “Steer Clear and Steam Forward into the Future,” an intricate drawing on paper inspired by the Bengal tiger, made it to the finals. But one of the contest’s national judges, Bryan Benedict, design director of Hot Wheels and Matchbox Die-Cast, Mattel, designated Ball’s entry as the inaugural winner of the Hot Wheels Design Award.
“I did get a lot of notoriety,” Danica said. “They used the artwork a lot through their website.”
Discussing her entry, the teen said, “I was inspired by the endangered Bengal tiger and by the rain forest, and I wanted to bring awareness to protecting the environment.”
Danica’s entry struck a chord with Benedict.
“I was particularly drawn to Ball’s artwork because Mattel has a long history in Hot Wheels of creating whimsical creature cars,” Benedict said in a press release announcing Danica’s win. “Her tiger car captures much of that same spirit of classic Hot Wheels cars like Cargoyle, Fangster, and Sharkruiser, as well as more recent castings like Purrfect Speed, Turbo Rooster, and Tricera-Truck, while also conveying the very meaningful message of preserving our environment and protecting the endangered animals around us.”
“I also appreciated the skillfully executed and beautiful rendering of her work,” he said.
She created her steam-powered feline using ink, alcohol marker and colored pencil on 12-by-15-inch paper.
Danica, who is enrolled in the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, said her design was inspired by anime and pop art.
“Comic books and Japanese-style manga, I like. I really like the style of the eyes,” she said. “I really like how you can be creative with it.”
“I like things that are very colorful. I definitely want to pursue art as a career,” she said. Danica works in many media: oil paint, acrylic paint, markers and ink.
Her mother, Angela Ball, said, “She draws every day. I don’t remember a time she wasn’t drawing. I know a lot of people say that, but in this case it is true.”
Danica said her art allows her to express herself.
“I think it lets people see my emotions and how I’m feeling.
“I want to be a comic artist, but if that doesn’t happen, I want to do something involving art,” she said.
Winning a contest isn’t something Danica is used to. “When I was younger, I won a coloring contest,” she said. “I got a gift card from that.”
But she’s ready to sharpen her pencils for another entry.
“I’m looking for more contests to enter, ” said Danica.
