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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
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