Austin Bonang was in a high chair watching an episode of “Sesame Street” when his mother Naomi Bonang drew stick figures of Ernie and Bert. He took over and turned the figures into ones much closer to the two characters. It was then that the Wiscasset woman first realized that her son had artistic talent.

“My first reaction was, ‘Oh, my God,’” she recalled Feb. 5 about that day decades ago.

On Feb. 4, her son, now living and working on the west coast, won an award for his visual effects work on “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”

When the 2001 Wiscasset High School graduate texted her, late Feb. 4, “Mumma, I won,” she was excited, but not surprised, because he is so good as his craft, said Bonang, industries manager at Two Bridges Regional Jail in Wiscasset. “I knew he was going to be able to make a living from it, and do great things.”

The Visual Effects Society’s (VES) award for outstanding virtual cinematography in a photoreal/live action motion media project honored one of several scenes Austin Bonang and other artists worked on for the movie.

In a telephone interview from California on Friday, Bonang, 32, said that he didn’t imagine an achievement like a VES award when he was going to Wiscasset High and earning money for college working at Le Garage Restaurant.

He just knew he wanted to study art.

“When I was younger, it was mostly just about drawing. I wanted to do monster makeup, but that started to go out as computer (art) started to develop ... I saw ‘Toy Story,’ and then I really wanted to get into the computer aspect of the art.”

At Wiscasset High, Bonang was one of then-art teacher Thomas Block’s all-time favorite students.

“You knew there was an inner drive there. He had a lot of grit and determination,” recalled Block, of Boothbay Harbor. “You just knew that he was going to make it, regardless of what obstacles were thrown his way.”

On Feb. 5, Block, now a book illustrator, wrote his former student a congratulatory message on Facebook, stating that Bonang was deserving of the award, Block said.

At Wiscasset High, Bonang was well-rounded, participating in sports but gravitating to the arts, Block said. “He took a lot of classes from me.”

Bonang was conscientious, checking to make sure his assignments were in on time, and asking questions when he didn’t quite get something, Block said.

Block helped him develop his skills in art, according to the former student and his mother.

“Very much,” Austin Bonang said. “He (Block) kind of opened the door for me.”

Bonang also gave credit to his mother. “She was always willing to encourage me to go for it, and just do my best.”

Naomi Bonang expressed equal pride for her son and her daughter Molly Bonang, 30, of Wiscasset, who works in patient registration at Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta.

“I have been so fortunate with my children. They’re so hardworking,” their mother said.

Austin Bonang, the married father of a 6-month-old, works for the visual effects firm The Third Floor. The “X-Men” installment is one of several big-name movies he has worked on. He also worked on “The Hunger Games,” “Interstellar,” “Men in Black 3,”and “Oz the Great and Powerful.”

He hopes to eventually break into directing and writing. “We’ll see,” he said.

Bonang continues his work in visual effects, most recently on a new Marvel movie project.