HADLEY — A Jeep that is her pride and joy, after her older sister gave her the vehicle, is at the heart of Hopkins Academy senior Jayce Lanzafame’s painting.

A few feet away, also using pavement as the canvas, classmate Alma Gorman wields several paint brushes to create an abstract tree, with a cat living in it, inspired by the animated film “The Secret of Kells,” as fellow senior Aliya Scanlon-Dean crafts a silhouetted figure in front of a full moon, based on a scene from “One Piece,” a Japanese manga series.

These are among the illustrations that are brightening 4-foot-by-4-foot areas of 18 parking spaces in the school’s parking lot this week, an idea brought by Lanzafame, as the senior class president, to the School Committee last September, followed by approvals from class advisers and school Principal April Camuso.

“I was inspired by seeing other schools where they had painted parking spots,” Lanzafame said. “The role of this is to provide self-expression for seniors and to raise the spirit of the school.”

“And you don’t have to have a car,” she added.

While the hope had been that the class could enjoy the painted parking spaces for most of the school year, the project was delayed due to the construction of new sports playing fields taking place nearby, and spaces used to store piles of dirt and loam. Lanzafame said there is still plenty of excitement to finally make the painting project happen.

Before the seniors got started, they used both leaf blowers and brooms to clear any debris from the asphalt.

The students’ work began as they were watched by Karen Sause, an art teacher and senior class adviser, and Ashleigh Malinowski, school adjustment counselor. Sause said the school bought durable mural paint in various colors. Sause also held a binder with the artwork submissions that had to be cleared by school officials, just in case a student might try to paint something inappropriate.

Planning to attend the Maine College of Art and Design in the fall, Scanlon-Dean brought artistic talent to the project. “I’m very interested in comics and such. I’m putting a snapshot scene from one of my favorite comics,” Scanlon-Dean said.

Gorman, though, said she’s not an artist and hoped that people would be able to see the design through the colorful background. “It’s going to be surrealist and a lot of geometric shapes,” Gorman said.

Like Scanlon-Dean, Lucas Red Owl will be heading to the Maine College of Art and Design. Red Owl’s work features EVE, or Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, a character in the animated “WALL-E.” movie. EVE, mostly white, is flying through space and above a planet. Other seniors created a variety of artwork, from a smiley face to a strawberry.

Without assigned spots in the parking lot, students won’t necessarily be parking their cars in the space they have painted.

Lanzafame said she hopes that the parking lot painting becomes a senior class tradition and that when she comes back in the fall, her artwork and others will be blacked out for the next class to do their own paintings.

“Now that it’s happening, it’s all worth it,” Lanzafame said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.