14-year-old Benjamin Kwack has been drawing since he was 5 or 6 years old. That passion has continued over the years, leading him to share his art on a larger scale.
The Naperville middle schooler was recently named one of the winners in an art contest in the September/October 2025 Cricket League art competition. The entries from those between nine and 14 years old are a part of the children’s publication, Cricket Magazine.
“It felt really rewarding because I spent some time on that and a lot of time thinking of the idea and debating over the styles and colors,” Kwack said.
The inspiration behind “rocket kicks”
His winning design, titled “rocket kicks,” features a television ad for shoes, using basic shading and simple solid colors to bring to life a unique creation.
“The prompt, which is fancy footwear. But I didn’t want to make my shoes anything normal or bland. Like some kind of fancy design,” said Kwack. “I wanted to make them functional too and that’s where the idea of the rockets in the backs came from, and also the self-tying part.”
The Kennedy Junior High School student has been featured in the magazine and other competitions several times over the years, including another publication, Skipping Stones, and finds joy in picking up that digital pen to draw up what’s on his mind.
“One of my favorite things about art is that I can be as creative as I want and there’s no real limits to what I can do,” Kwack said.
Delivering “screen-free learning” to inspire imagination
One of Cricket Magazine’s goals is to “deliver screen-free learning that inspires imagination and nurtures lifelong curiosity,” according to the publication’s website.
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