top of page


Process: Summer Project #2 Legs, Socks, and Background
After finishing the shoes, I immediately started to layer a variety of colors to achieve the colors and texture of skin for the legs. I tried adding green and red shades to boost dimension before blending them with yellow, orange, white, and peach. To highlight the whitest whites, I used the acrylic markers, stippling white dots over the lightest sections of the leg. I also utilized these markers to add faint scratches and irregularities in the skin. These dots proved to be
natejstevens19
Aug 231 min read


Process: Summer Project #1 Hemming and Finishing Touches
To maintain the idea and illusion of fabric mid-wash, I draped the bust and rear as if the fabric were literally wet. While draping, I pulled up photos of "wet dresses" made by the Greek house Di Petsa. Dimitra Petsa, the founder of the label, studied at Central Saint Martins in London where she developed her own technique of manipulating fabric to appear as if it is wet and clinging to the skin. My draping skills certainly aren't up to par to those of Petsa, but I eventually
natejstevens19
Aug 231 min read


Process: Summer Project #2 Gridding, Shorts, and Shoes
In this drawing, I wanted to continue depicting hidden and subverted feelings through shoes, playing on the parable "you don't know a man until you walk in his shoes." In order to achieve strong shadows and highlights, I took the reference photo in the afternoon sun. After, I cropped the photo to check the composition and then started to grid out the photo on paper. I began with the shorts, blending colored pencils to achieve different values of white, gray, and black. Howev
natejstevens19
Aug 181 min read


Process: Summer Assignment #1 Drafting and Draping
I started drafting the pattern for the final dress by covering the entire dress form in plastic wrap and then again in blue painter's tape. Afterwards, I pulled up some anatomical reference photos, grabbed a paint pen, and drew on the individual style lines of the garment based on the muscles of the human body. Although this technique would be frowned upon in a couture house, it helps ensure that the garment fits to the body as perfectly as possible. With so many complex patt
natejstevens19
Jun 191 min read
Process: Summer Assignment #1 Planning
I have to thank Robert Wun's Fall Winter 2024 Collection, "Time," for truly kickstarting this project. In this couture collection, Wun explored clothing's ability to represent a moment in time; he embroidered dresses with white beads, as if snow had freshly fallen all over his garments, and added moths to old, decaying coats, as if the insects were actively destroying his creations. I found Wun's perspective on fashion and clothing incredibly interesting, and I wanted to furt
natejstevens19
May 302 min read
Art 3 Final: Reflection Essay
Over the course of the year, I feel I have grown in considering the overall composition and mark of my work. At the beginning of the year, my compositions were pretty random and I arranged objects in a still life until they just "felt right." This manner of arranging compositions was very sporadic and unreliable. In addition, I didn't really consider my "mark" or any forms in my work and instead simply explored markmaking as I developed a piece. I feel that both of these prac
natejstevens19
May 183 min read


Process: Acrylic Abstract Expressionist Painting
I started my abstract expressionist painting by adding long, gestural charcoal marks that I used as a template for later painting. I originally thought of a city as I began to build up values and hues, but by the end of the first day, the painting didn't feel unified on account of the wide variety and number of distinct forms. From there, I tried to bring unity back to the piece by extending colors from their original forms and blending them together. At this stage, I saw the
natejstevens19
May 62 min read


Awareness: Anna Weyant
Anna Weyant is a contemporary painter, born in 1995 in Calgary Canada, who achieved great success even before her thirtieth birthday. Weyant attended the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 2017 before attending the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou for seven months. Before becoming an acclaimed painter all on her own, she served as studio assistant for Cynthia Talmadge. Just six years after graduation, Forbes nominated Weyant to the "Forbes 30 Under 30" list in Art
natejstevens19
Apr 242 min read


Career Blog Post: Fashion Designer
A fashion designer creates and develops original clothing designs by finding inspiration, consulting market data, and sketching out ideas. Many fashion designers collaborate with other departments in a fashion company to create samples of garments and then work with manufacturers and suppliers to bring the original designs to the consumer market. Most fashion designers obtain either an associate's degree or a bachelor's degree in order to receive technical training in garmen
natejstevens19
Apr 172 min read


Process: Oil Painting, Final Post
This week, I finished up my still life painting project. It was definitely daunting to add in color at first, let alone finish the piece, but as I added more hues, my confidence grew along with it. While adding in color, I came to regret a couple of my object choices, namely the pop-it, as the sheer amount of colors I had to match proved to be difficult and laborious. In spite of that, it was pretty satisfying to see the whole painting come together even if there were discre
natejstevens19
Apr 102 min read


Process: Oil Painting Still Life Grisaille (Week 27)
This week, I finished up my grisaille underpainting. I had to stay after school for a couple of days to really focus and finish it, but I am glad how it finally turned out! I have not seriously painted before this project, so this project has taken a bit longer than expected to find what works and doesn't work in terms of technique. I have used acrylic paint a bit in my past, but it has been really interesting to discover its similarities and differences to oil paint througho
natejstevens19
Mar 102 min read


Process: Oil Painting Still Life (Week 26)
This week, I began to actually paint my still life! I commenced my painting by first starting the grisaille underpainting. This type of underpainting, which is characterized by its white highlights and black shadows, is critical in the indirect painting process, as it establishes value throughout the work. After it is completed, one can begin to add light glazes of color to maintain the rich values in the underpainting. At first, this grisaille underpainting was pre
natejstevens19
Mar 31 min read


Process: Oil Painting Still Life Arrangement and Underdrawing
I have really enjoyed the oil painting process! I began by setting up my composition. Although I hadn't even begun to paint, this step certainly took the longest, as I wanted my composition to be strong, which, in turn, would lead to a strong painting. When choosing my overarching theme, I decided I wanted to depict consumerism in my work, so I implemented an old phone, a couple of bracelets, and a nostalgic pop-it into my arrangement. Through trial, error, and Coach Hal
natejstevens19
Feb 261 min read


Process: Self-Portrait Sculpture
Over the past month, I have been working on my self-portrait sculpture, made of clay with a wood and plastic armature. This project in particular has been challenging for me, as I am not extremely confident in the medium of clay. However, I do feel that I have learned a lot, both about clay and the face in general. After completing my 2D self-portrait, it was really interesting to see how a face's features feel so different in the 3D. For example, while completing my 2D self-
natejstevens19
Dec 18, 20251 min read


Process: Artist Copy
Over the past few weeks, I have been working on my artist copy drawing of "Woman with Dead Child" by Kathe Kollwitz. When dissecting her artist's mark, I found it really interesting how she changed lines depending on the part of the figure. For example, Kollwitz used sharp, intense lines to depict the knee and foot but used stippling to depict the baby's head. At first, the change from lines to stippling was really challenging for me, but I ended up really liking the contrast
natejstevens19
Oct 15, 20251 min read
bottom of page