After many years of receiving rewards and praise for his artwork at different camps and art shows, artist Noah Denten ’17 decided it was time to turn his artwork into something special.

“I’ve known Noah for a really long time and he is always working on something new,” Kyle Reblin ’19 said. “I am still blown away by his work today, he is so talented and makes it seem so effortless.”

LT students Denten, Reblin, and Jake Hollowed ’18 have teamed up and started their own business, Illality, selling stickers and T-shirts with Denten’s designs on them. The stickers are being sold at $2 a piece with two designs, and the T-shirts are being sold at $20 a piece with many interchangeable color and design options, Hollowed said.

“Once we recognized what we all had to offer, the ball started rolling,” Hollowed said. “We realized we all had different talents to create something.”

Currently, there are two different color options for the short sleeve T-shirts, navy and white, and multiple design options, Reblin said. There are three possible designs that can be placed on the back as well as six designs in place of the left breast pocket. There are a total of eight base colors, but from there any color can be created and pressed onto the shirt.

“It was hard combining my art with something that people, specifically high schoolers, would want to wear,” Denten said.

Instead of ordering the T-shirts online through a third party, Illality does something very unique; they produce the T-shirts in Denten’s garage, Denten said. Before they could start printing designs with Denten’s T-shirt press, they spent a lot of time over the summer working with LT’s resources. Through a complex and strenuous process, they created screens, similar to a stencil, with Denten’s designs on them.  While the screens have unlimited uses, it can take up to a week to perfect one, and if there is any mistake, they must start from scratch.

“The second time we tried to print was when I realized it was really happening,” Denten said. “The first time we tried it did not work at all, and we were all pretty frustrated.”

Denten is constantly drawing; his family has had a huge influence on him and his love for art that started at a young age, Hollowed said. The designs on the T-shirts were inspired by video games and comic art, Denten said. The first release of designs consist of a Buddha, a juggler and a large illustration of the brand name.

“When deciding what designs to choose, I have to think of two things: if I am comfortable wearing it at school and if other people would be comfortable wearing them,” Denten said.

While Denten thought of this idea towards the end of the last school year, he has always known that art is something he wants to pursue for his career. Although art teacher Patrick Page has taught Denten for two years, he was aware of his special talent before he entered the classroom.

“It’s interesting teaching advanced and AP because I hear about students coming up from intermediate who are really, really good,” Page said. “You look out for people like him.”

Although, the company has just started, they already have plans for the future, Hollowed said.. They plan to have long sleeve T-shirts coming out as the colder months come closer, and new designs come out every quarter. In the long term, the success of the company is still unknown, but for Denten, this is only a start for his artistic career.

“I think this is a great experience and starting point for him, you never know where these companies might end up,” Page said. “He has a lot of skills and is going to go really far.”

www.illality.com