Sketch Magazine Text

Trinity School
139 West 91st Street, New York, NY 10024
Sketch_interior 2.indd 1 5/17/18 11:50 PM

An idea that came to me on my third bowl of cereal...
It came to me as I hunched over my kitchen counter, much-
ing on my third bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares, watching
tv, when it suddenly hit me. I love art. I talk a lot about it.
Why not publish a magazine, an excellent vehicle to share
our community’s love and knowledge of visual art. It could
be a place to gush about my favorite Klimt paintings, your
aching back after drawing for hours, an ode to simplistic
comic figures, or anything else in the art realm. Despite my
incessant talking, I don’t think that art has been discussed
enough at Trinity. I don’t want art to be some quiet, lurking
part of our lives. Should we not mention the quiet creature
adding literal vibrance to this school? I wanted The Sketch
to really bring visual arts into the spotlight. I wanted to
clear my friends’ foggy vision of art, their pseudo-fear and
confusion. I hope this magazine can help teach the mem-
bers of the Trinity community about visual arts, its work-
ings, and its merits. The Sketch is not just for artists. The
Sketch is a mutual source of rich works and articles for the
entire community; you certainly do not have to be an artist
to enjoy a trip to an art museum! Whether you’re an avid
painter who furiously rushes to complete a commission over
the weekend or a mindless doodler in all of your classes (I
won’t tell!), I hope that you enjoy this magazine. And thus,
with the end of this puny note, welcome to the first edition.

Editor-in Chief
Advisors
Editorial Staff
Article Contributors
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9:15 AM
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At Trinity, the arts undeniably bring the school to life. Both visual arts and performing arts
have their places in the walls of Trinity. Student illustrations and photographs can be seen dec-
orating the walls and hallways of the new building, and in the frequent student publications
that showcase all forms of creativity from students. Student-run plays are a popular way for
people to spend their evenings with friends, and the hype for those are built up for periods
of time amongst the student body. However, it oftentimes feels like the only time art is dis-
cussed legitimately and analytically at Trinity is either when there is a new publication or play
around, or whenever the art is attached to a competition or award, namely with photography.
This brings up the question of whether or not art is discussed enough at Trinity, amongst
teachers and students. In a recent survey sent out to the upper school, sixty-two percent
of respondents answered that they believed the arts were not discussed enough. When asked
for more input on the question, several students claimed that athletics were held in a much
higher regard than the arts were, and that artistic skill and achievement was not appreci-
ated the same way as athletic achievements were. Some respondents even added that art-
ists at Trinity should receive much more attention than they currently do, with their pic-
tures and paintings being placed in locations other than around the halls. To them, Trinity
does not foster a supportive environment for those who wish to go into the arts in the future.
Students who did not view art as important at Trinity gave their input as well. Common
responses included that in their opinions, art was discussed more than enough in their hu-
manities classes and amongst their friends. In a school centered on academics, there was
no point of discussing art. Some responses even questioned what there was in art that war-
ranted any more discussion. Most of the responses for this category simply questioned
how art mattered at Trinity and why it made a difference whether it was discussed or not.
In my personal opinion, I feel that although there haven’t been (and most likely won’t be) any
major repercussions from the lack of discussion of the arts, I do think that we should be talking
about it a bit more than we currently do. While athletics play a role in the daily lives of almost the
entire upper school student body, the same can not be said about any form of visual or performing
arts. Like some people said in their responses, art can be mentally relaxing and therapeutic, and
this is not something that should be overlooked just because art is not popular at school. Visual
and performing arts should be analyzed in ways similar to how literature is analyzed in our English
classes - as another “book,” a medium for human understanding. If Trinity is a school that claims
to be nurturing of all students who all hold their own passions and interests, then the arts can
not simply be something left to the side and neglected simply because people do not find them
interesting. Arts undeniably hold more value in life than the value it holds at Trinity, and as a com-
munity, we should strive to view arts at the same level as they are viewed as in the outside world.

Between 1901 and 1904, Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, best
known for his interpretations of cubism, created paintings pri-
marily using shades of blue; known as his Blue Period. The artist’s
draining experience with Spain during 1901, as well as the sui-
cide of his friend Carlos Casagemas on February 17, 1901 con-
tributed to the dismal and grim tones of his paintings during this
period, Picasso was falling into a state of depression. The subjects
of his paintings became more bleak, and focused primarily on
outcasts in society. One of his paintings from this period is The
Old Guitarist, painted in 1903. The painting depicts an old man,
painted with shades of blue, holding a large, round, brown guitar.
Blue dominates the image, giving a melancholy feel to the piece,
but also allows the brown guitar to stand out with its unique hue.
The guitar is at the center of the piece, breaking up the mono-
chromatic blue. The man appears to be poor, as his bones pro-
trude out of his skin from lack of food, and his clothes are ripped
and flimsy. The calluses on his long, skinny fingers signify hours
of playing, the result of him to filling his life with music in order
to concentrate on any emotion that isn’t pain or devastation. The
Old Guitarist is a commentary on how the guitar, and in a broad-
er sense art, colors the world, both on an individual and universal
level, and fills it with substance, allowing those who are empty,
those who have nothing, to find comfort in art.
Following the Blue Period, Picasso’s Rose Period, lasting

from 1904 to 1906, saw a change in color palette. Due to
his joyous romantic relationship with Fernande Olivier, a
French artist and model, his paintings started using brighter,
happier hues: yellows, reds, oranges, and other earth tones.
The images also portray more positive subjects, like clowns
and carnival performers. Despite the faces of his subjects be-
ing indecipherable, the characters in the paintings are distin-
guishable by certain factors, specifically their choice of dress.
In fact, the Harlequin, which was a character created during
the Rose Period, would become a staple for Picasso’s art, as
he would go on to depict a distinct person with checkered
clothing frequently throughout his artistic career. One of his
paintings, Family of Saltimbanques, painted in 1905, depicts
six circus performers in a wasteland, all looking in different di-
rections. The performers range from small children to adults,
all dressed in their respective costumes. One interpretation is
that the painting represents Picasso and his friends, as they are
grouped as artists yet remain isolated and aloof, just like the
pensive circus people depicted in the painting. Another inter-
pretation is that Picasso is making a satirical commentary on
life: the performers represent humankind, going from birth
to death practicing their individual skills for no reason other
than individual satisfaction.

What classes do you teach?
6th grade Ceramics, 7th and 8th grade Digital Photog-
raphy, Advanced Art & Design, and Advanced Portfolio.
What mediums do you work with?

Graphite and sketchbook; acrylic paint and pieces of
wood.
What styles of art are your favorite to make?

I sketch people all the time; my record is 100 portraits a
day for four days in a row. I also love to paint abstractly—
my largest painting? An 8,000 sq ft pool deck on Roos-
evelt Island.
Do you create artwork outside of class? If so, what do you do with them?
I sell (in galleries and commissions), I draw for some groups around the city,
and I have shown recently in Belgium, Beijing and New York. I have a show
coming up in Chelsea in May (you are all invited!). I also have been lucky with
some commissions for spaces in New York, including three large paintings in the
bridge of the American Copper Building.
Do your pieces follow a common theme? If so, what theme?

The color of my paintings are all inspired by colors I see including food, nature,
buildings, TV and movies, etc. For me, they are somewhere between a medita-
tion and an athletic event. There are cosmic mandalas in paint.
As a child, did you always have an interest in art? How so?

Always. I sketched avidly before I could even write and never stopped. I also
used to draw hockey players during games up in Canada and would wait to give
them the sketch at the end of the game. I think that’s where I learned to draw
so quickly.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in art? How?
I always knew I wanted to keep drawing. I was good in many different areas
in school, but I knew I always wanted to figure out how to keep drawing and
figured everything else would fall into place. For me, drawing is like breathing
or praying.
Do you have any suggestions for student artists at Trinity who are struggling
to find inspiration?
Look close around you—the books you read, the colors you see, go to museums
or even the dollar store—there can be inspiration in anything, in your home, in
your backpack. Sometimes, when I am struggling most to find inspiration, I
just have to make some marks and force through those first awkward steps to get
everything flowing again. Make mistakes, lots of them… and keep them, go back
to them, work over them. Keep doing, keep making.

Untitled,
Pencil, white gel pen, charcoal
pencil
8x10 inches
This work is a realistic pencil draw-
ing of a rabbit.
Untitled
Pencil, gel pen
9x7
I drew a dog from photo reference
and decided to add a flower crown.
Untitled,
Pencil, white gel pen
11x8.5 inches
This piece is a commissioned
drawing of my friend’s dog.

The first thing tourists to the shining city of Bogota, Colombia notice when
they walk its wide boulevards are the walls splattered with bright, color-
ful spray paint formed into many different designs and patterns. I was one
of those tourists last summer, and I too was immediately mesmerized by
the street art that was not only beautiful and intricate…. But also EVERY-
WHERE. In fact, I was surprised to hear that a long part of our itinerary
was dedicated solely to a tour of the city’s most iconic pieces of graffiti. On
that tour we learned that the reason for the art’s ubiquitousness was that it
was no longer a serious crime in the city, and artists can only technically be
punished if police catch them drawing, which in practice they usually let
slide anyway. Even more surprising to me coming from a city where graffiti
is looked down upon and associated with criminal activity and reserved for
shady alleyways was that most people who owned buildings, from restau-
rant owners to shopkeepers, even hired artists to graphitti their walls. The
idea was that they would rather have control over what is painted over their
establishments and they all know that Colombian graffiti artists stick by a
code: no painting over someone else’s art. Many talents make a living off
of making the city’s walls beautiful, whether they spray them with political
commentary or a fun collage of iconic pop culture cats that even blends in
with the street signs and lamp posts in front of it.
But it wasn’t always like this. There was a time when graffiti art was more harshly punished, by confiscation of paint cans, jailing, and
even police brutality. Because while laws about it have always been relatively relaxed, the police had a history of taking matters into
their own hands -- and taking it too far. Artists were stereotyped by the police as shady, trouble-making kids and were demanded bribes
to stay out of jail.
Matters intensified after artist Felipe Diego Becerra was shot in the back by the police on one of these nights. He was only 16 years old.
In October of 2013, two years after the death of Becerra, his memory was called up again after Justin Bieber, the international pop
sensation, perhaps unknowingly changed the future of Colombian street art and eased the tense relationship between police officers
and artists.
After one concert on a fateful October night, he went down to the streets of the city and painted his own piece of street art. It was
a tribute to his dead hamster, Pac, right next to the image of a maple leaf overlaid atop a marijuana leaf. The reason this admittedly
ridiculous but simple image was important because that night, the Bogota police had no choice but to watch him do it, doubling as his
security, as they couldn’t risk causing the same problems with such an important figure. This clear double standard changed everything.
So at this point, when Colombian artists took to the streets and painted everything from simple tags to tributes to Becerra, they pointed
to the hypocrisy of the police leaving Beiber alone to give them power when they got into altercations. Jeyffer Lozano, the head of a
hip-hop community center in Bogota put their argument best when he explained, “ When police officers asked them to leave, they
asked them, ‘Why not protect us like you did with Justin Bieber? Why not listen to your own police chief?”
So because Bieber decided to go out and mess around one night in Colombia’s capital, the street artists of colombia now had this power,
in the form of international attention drawn through Bieber’s followers and a new clear hypocrisy to point to. Maybe he did commit a
crime, but no reason to say sorry now Justin.

A gesture drawing essentially captures
the “gesture” of the subject; drawn as a
quick sketch, it depicts the movement,
expression, and form of the subject
with minimal detail. Imagine that you
are trying to draw something with as
little lines, shading, tone as possible,
but you still want to depict what you’re
drawing. Oftentimes, they are drawn
in periods as short as ten seconds! Ges-
ture drawings are fluid, with marks
flowing into key shapes and forms to
translate into images. When creating
gesture drawings, draw them with a
light hand and concentrate on making
fluid shapes. With gesture drawings,
don’t aim for perfection, but instead
focus on getting the basic, fluid forms.
The resulting image will not necessari-
ly be “abstract” or “realistic” but some-
how translates the “sentiment” of what
you are looking at.
In a strange way, you can feel a gesture drawing. An aggressive curved line or weighted
mark may not look like what you’re drawing, but it can capture its meaning better! How you
draw something can convey meaning just as much as what you are drawing itself. Since the
gesture drawing is rather minimalistic, each stroke of your charcoal or pencil should try to
convey as much as possible. Oftentimes, the artist won’t look at their paper in order to avoid
over-analyzing their work. People often don’t lift their pencil/charcoal/pen as well, so that
each line holds more importance in the drawing. Ultimately, your drawing can be sloppy,
but it will always have an odd lovliness to it. Gesture drawings are a form of beautiful liber-
ation, an artist merely following what their eye beholds.

People always seem so quick to assert that they aren’t good artists. It seems that as we
become older and more self-conscious, we are more likely to judge ourselves as explicitly
as simply not being “good at art.” First of all, something important to keep in mind is
that “good” is extremely subjective; there’s no set scale for it in any discipline. What one
person thinks is great, may not be considered great to someone else; this is especially true
for art. For example, not everyone considers certain “simple” modern art pieces to be great
(like a piece of canvas covered in one color or a piece with a single dot or brushstroke),
even though museums like the MoMA and the Guggenheim are filled with them. As a
child, I loved going around to different museums that displayed different types of art ex-
pression. When I was in elementary school, we had to draw self-portraits of ourselves that
could be put on magnets or key chains every year. As I approached the 5th grade (the last
opportunity I would have to participate in this), I became more determined to improve
my drawing skills so that I could have one portrait of myself that I liked. I don’t actually
remember if I practiced drawing portraits, but I know I most certainly improved from 4th
grade to 5th grade. My 5th grade portrait was a ¾ view of myself and it’s a decent portrait,
especially for a 10-year-old. I was extremely proud of myself. Ever since then I have been
continuously improving my skills and have been taking classes outside of school.
I think that at that point, I had been young enough when I started loving art that I
never felt compelled to say that I wasn’t good at it. I was good enough for my age and
exposure. Neither of my parents are visual artists and until that point, I had solely been
taught in school so the expectations weren’t very high. But expectations change when
people grow up and begin to focus on the things they like doing; they begin to judge and
compare themselves to the people around them. For some, art isn’t a subject of focus, but
that doesn’t mean that the person is by default bad at art; the subjectivity is important to
remember. Moreover, if someone wanted to improve their art, it would take repetition
and practice. If a person hasn’t studied anatomy, they can’t be expected to be able to draw
a soundly proportional human being. If a person hasn’t studied perspective, they can’t be
expected to draw the spatial distribution of a room realistically. The older we get, the more
we see our peers excelling at their own interests, one example of this is art. You can’t expect
yourself to be as good at art as someone who has spent years studying it, which is most of
what we focus and base our judgements on. If you want to practice it, go ahead but don’t
judge yourself based on what you see others are able to create. When you begin studying
any field, you may think that you are “bad” at it, but it’s important to remember that
that’s how it is at the beginning of anything; through application comes improvement. As
long as you enjoy what you are doing (be it playing an instrument, playing sports, or even
cooking), you will always improve with dedication and practice.

Title: Dance Expression (2017)
Media: Graphite on paper
Description: This series includes numerous pieces all in order to
practice the illusion of movement of figures on paper. What makes
any figure convincing is the feeling of the motion of the body. I
think that dance, which can exaggerate conventional human move-
ment, is an fantastic way to continue to develop the skill of being
able to convey that illusion.
Title: VMin (2018)

Description: When I started this piece, I had wanted to have a long-
term piece that I could work on each evening. This took a few months
of work and patience, as any long-term piece does; I erased the eyes of
the first figure ten times before I was satisfied with the result. I want-
ed this piece to convey the movement and expression of the figures,
which I tried to achieve by using light and detail in their clothing.
Jimin
Media: Pen
Description: This is a portrait of a vocalist from the K-Pop band BTS. I
used pen for one of the first times, and I tried to keep the drawing free
and sketchy. Though I sketched the proportions in pencil, I allowed
myself to use the pen to fill the form by using light, shade, and contour.
Title: BTS, You Never Walk Alone (2018)

Media: Graphite, Prismacolor Colored Pencils, Mungyo Pastels
Description: This piece took close to a year to complete, and it took
patience and progress almost every week. The piece has 4 main layers:
the graphite sketch of the proportional figures and background, the
colored pencil figures, the pastel background, and the black colored
pencil fence and accentuation of certain parts of the figures. It was
a great learning experience, as I needed to try out many different
techniques to convey the image. I filled two separate sheets of paper
with trial and error.

Title: Min Yoongi
Media: Pen
Description: This is a portrait of a rapper from the K-Pop group
BTS. I had previously attempted a couple of graphite portraits of
this specific member, but they had not seemed to be able to capture
his persona, so I decided to try ink. Pen is a rather foreign medium
to me, but I have been using it more often as I try to become com-
fortable with it. I sketched the contour in graphite and then inked
the portrait, taking care to make sure that each stroke followed the
form with intention.
Title: The Son of Ugolino

Description: I drew this at the Met based on the hands of
one of Ugolino’s sons, which are part of the larger mar-
ble sculpture “Ugolino and His Sons” by Jean-Baptiste
Carpeaux. The son grasps onto his father’s leg in despera-
tion, and I tried to convey the pinch of the hands on the
leg while accentuating all of the curves of the marble to
which light and shadow were key factors in achieving the
illusion of three-dimensionality and stiffness. Subsequent-
ly, using a stump to soften the graphite made the shadows
look more realistic.
Title: Owl in a Blizzard (2016)

Description: This is the first and only animal I have ever
drawn. The feathers took a lot of patience because of their
specific detail. The background was an interesting challenge to
attempt to communicate properly; I penciled and stumped the
graphite all around the owl and its log and I used a kneaded
eraser to pick up the graphite to create the illusion of snow.

Mr. Gohde, the Computer Science department head at Trinity, integrates his passion for the arts into the
Digital Storytelling class, an introductory level computer science class. Mr. Gohde and Ms. Ezer, the teacher
of Lower School Studio Art, had an exhibit from March 14th to April 20th in the ‘101 Gallery.’ The exhibit
showcases his series Color Bounce, which explores the physical implication of color on its environment. He
utilized the rules of additive color and RGB colorspace to create his artworks. In his own words, “each work in
this series attempts to paint with light by creating a volume of color through the serene action of the bounce.”
We interviewed Mr. Gohde about his art, and his views on the intersection between computer science and
the visual arts.
Can you talk about your art and what inspires it?
I have been making art now for, I guess, about 25 years. I am definitely inspired by color. I get inspired by
line and the capacity of line and color to describe lots of ideas. I like when artists expose ideas in their art-
work, so that the art becomes more about the philosophy behind it than the emotional output of an artist
or individual. I like getting something out of art that is going to change my life forever onward. I am drawn
to the minimalist, the cubist, the futurist, to these artists who were trying to expose something other than
the humanistic narrative.

How did your art education and experiences change the way you teach computer science at Trinity?
In high school, I never had a chance to take a visual art class. When I went to college, I took almost every studio art class that was offered.
Once I graduated, I began teaching math. It has influenced my teaching in that I’ve maintained a private art studio outside of school
throughout my entire time as a teacher. So that process of creation, visual representation of algorithms, and visual storytelling has always
been a strong language that I am constantly engaging with. So when I teach computer science, I tend to think there are a lot of ways you
can teach computer science. You can teach it like a math teachers teaches math or the way an art teachers teaches art. I try to blend the two
and allow a lot of room for creative accidents and storytelling. It’s influenced my teaching and art has allowed me to see their are many
ways to represent patterns. Math uses algebra. Art uses line, color form, texture. Computer Science allows you to paint with math, use
math as a verb to create things. I see a lot of similarities between math and art. There are some artists who don’t subscribe to that, but I do.
How do art and technology intersect?
It’s the nature of our times to apply the relatively new field of computer science to new avenues of creative expression. It’s the ultimate
creative tool in that you get to tell a machine to do things, and what that machine does, that’s where it becomes interdisciplinary. Are you
telling it to create music, are you telling a robot to paint on a wall, are you telling some sensors to take measurements of a ball? All of those
things are why we tell students to learn computer science. On the one hand it’s about computational thinking, and how to compute things,
figure things out, algorithm analysis, manipulation of data, but at the end of the day it’s a toolset that allows you to color outside of the
lines, create your own tools, build other tools. Artists in particular are drawn to creative endeavors. It’s not just me combining computer
science with departments like art. There are many people seeing the similarities in creativity that exist between those two departments.
I think there are new forms of art waiting to be invented, and a way of accessing those new forms of art is through compu-
tation. I think the whole realm of interactive art is changing. You see galleries and galleries opening up, embracing the idea
of using these new tools to create new forms of expression so that humans can articulate new ideas that would not have been
possible over time. You see dynamic artwork, artwork that changes over time, that transcends our traditional notions of space.
Have you integrated technology into your artwork?
I’m an oil painter at heart. My foundation came from a traditional curriculum. Watercolor is my favorite medium. I think it’s important
to understand, not every tool is right for every job. Computer science is one set of tools, but I think there are many tools that are just as
awesome, that computer science can not touch. I haven’t yet seen a robot that can paint an oil painting as well as a human artist can. The
weird thing about this interview is that I don’t actually use computer science to make art. What is computer Science? When you learn
computer science, you really learn ways to make a machine do what you want to do. That machine can be a laser cutter, it can be a 3D
printer, it can be a way to design vector graphics, a way to design a filter. It could be a way to create a medium to display your photographs.
I think if you want to have the full range of tools that an artist might find convenient, you can’t skip the tools offered by computer science.
One artist we pull from in [Digital Storytelling] is this guy named Muybridge. This isn’t exactly computer science, but it’s definitely
technology. He strung together all these cameras to answer this question: When a horse jumps, do all four hooves leave the ground at
once? And the cameras take different pictures of the horse over time to answer this question. Was that art, was that technology, was that
science? It’s probably all of those things, and this artist is doing it in the late 1800s; this is not a new topic. It’s just the tools have be-
come super sophisticated, but that’s just what technology means: tool. The use of tools. That’s all a computer is; it gives you more tools.
Artists use tools. Artists in the history of art have always used tools, they’ve needed to know chemistry when mixing paints or physics
when building sculptures. All these scientific ideas are in the background of most great arts. Computer science is a tool that gives you
a dynamic instruction set to work with.
Do you want to share anything else with Trinity students?
I don’t know if I would be the person I currently am, if I had not taken as many art classes. When I define what it is for me to be
happy, making art is a big part of that.

Biography
Paul Corio was born in Providence,
Rhode Island. He has received an
MFA from Hunter College and a BFA
from Rhode Island School of Design.
He currently lives in New York City,
where he works part-time as a teach-
er for Parsons School of Design and is
represented by McKenzie Fine Art. He
can be reached at pcorio@nyc.rr.com
What career(s) do you work as?

I’m a painter and a part-time faculty member at the Parsons School of Design.
Which mediums do you work with? Why do you enjoy using said mediums?
I use acrylic paint on canvas, and sometimes on wooden panels for smaller things. I also use A LOT of masking tape. I love the
look of oil paint, but it wouldn’t make any sense to use because of the way that I work - I’d have to wait days for paint to dry
before I could put down new layers of tape.
How and when did you know that you wanted to be an artist?
From kindergarten! I knew right away.
What type of art do you create? Do your pieces follow a common theme?
I make abstract paintings. Probably the most obvious thing about them is the geometry, but they’re really about color—I use color
sequences to create the illusion of light and space and atmosphere.
Has your style changed over the years? How?

I used to make illustrations for magazines and newspapers in a style that was very cartoonish. Then, I got tired of being a commer-
cial artist and wanted to be a “real” artist instead - that was a huge change, and I was well into a career when I did it.
How do you find inspiration for your work?

I love color, and I also love the whole history of western painting beginning with the Renaissance. I enjoy thinking of my own
work as being a small part of that long conversation.
What is the creative process like?

It’s a lot of hard work that doesn’t always turn out well! I
always point this out to my students—many
people have a romanticized idea of what it’s like to be an artist splashing paint around in the studio, but it’s not romantic or glam-
orous at all.

How long does each piece take you to create?
It varies quite a bit according to size and motif. What people are generally surprised to hear is that the most time-con-
suming part is mixing the color sequences. I sometimes mix paint for a week or more before I start painting.
What is your favorite piece that you’ve made? Why?

This is hard to answer without sounding like an egomaniac! Generally, though, I’m always most excited about the newest
work—I’ve been working through the same set of visual ideas for a good many years, and I like to think I’m getting better
at it. I’m particularly fond of a painting I recently finished entitled “Poinciana.”
Do you have any upcoming shows or workshops

that we should know about?
Yes! My second solo show at McKenzie Fine Art
in New York runs from 3/23/18 to 4/29/18. The
show is called “Ivan and the Devil.”
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring

high school artists?
Drop the whole idea and become a stockbroker
on Wall Street! Just kidding, but the central point
remains that it’s a hard path—I feel like everyone
should know this going into it. You have to love it
enough that it makes the craziness of the life easier
to take. Having a few peers and one or two teachers
whose work and opinion you respect helps a lot.

It is said that most artists are not appreciated until after their death, and some remain unknown even
post-mortem. We at the Sketch would like to acknowledge the artists who have recently passed away,
regardless of their varying levels of popularity. To celebrate their dedication and contribution to their
profession, a record of some of the artists who were laid to rest recently can be found below, along with
summaries and examples of their work.
Alexandre Obolensky (July 28, 1952- March 12, 2018)

Alexandre Obolensky was a Belgian painter and set designer
who passed at the age of 65. He collaborated with friend
and colleague Francois Schuiten to create many pieces over
the course of twenty-two years, with Schuiten directing and
Obolensky painting. Some of his work includes a fresco and
a collection of called “Train World.”
Carlo Nangeroni (June 24, 1922- March 13, 2018):

Carlo Nangeroni, an American painter who lived in Italy
and made predominantly abstract art, passed away at the
age of 95. He worked with mostly acrylic and oil paints,
and had a particular interest in color, which shows in many
of his pieces with the attention he paid to their combina-
tions.
Gene Pearson (February 14, 1946- March 15, 2018):

Gene Pearson, an acclaimed Jamaican sculptor, died from
a heart attack at the age of 71. His Nubian masks in ce-
ramic and bronze are his most well-known works, but he
also made urns, paintings, and sketches. He made signif-
icant contributions to Jamaican art, and his memory will
live on in the pieces he made.
Heloise Crista (March 9, 1926- March 11, 2018):

Heloise Crista was an acclaimed American sculp-
tor, and the apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright. She
sculpted in bronze, corten steel, and fabricated sheet
metal. Many of her works can be found in a sculpture
garden at Taliesin West (the winter home and school
of Frank Wright) today. Her experience in dancing
found an outlet in her sculptures, which are similar
to gesture drawings in that they have a fluidity and
movement to them.

Adrian Piper, born in New York, is a Grant Wood, born in Iowa and a father of
conceptual artist, performance artist, and regionalism, is best known for American Gothic,
philosopher. She is well known for artwork one of the most recognizable pieces of 20th cen-
addressing race, gender, class, xenophobia, tury American artwork. However, the Whitney,
and identity. By incorporating a variety of in addition to bringing this icon of America to
our fingertips, will also share an entire collection
materials and techniques into her work, Piper
of artwork by Wood. His art, while offering
has, in many ways, changed the contemporary perspective into American culture and life in the
art landscape. 20th century, also reflects his own experience
as a very closeted gay artist during the Great
This exhibit will share over 290 of Piper’s Depression.
works, and it will be the most comprehen-
sive collection yet of Piper’s five decades of Don’t miss this chance to see American Gothic
artwork. and a wide collection of Wood’s artwork from
throughout his life.
This new exhibit brings together

artists from across the United States to In its third and final installation, this
comment on and respond to the state initiative brings together Chinese artists with
of our environment. The collection is unconventional techniques and a critical
multimedia, experimenting with video, perspective on society. This collection will
sculpture, and painting, to engender feature artists Cao Fei, Duan Jianyu, Lin
an artistic perspective of the problems Yilin, Wong Ping, and Samson Young.
facing the planet today. The artists
focus on individual outlooks to address Past exhibits have utilized technology,
societal issues and, “[Understand] experimentation, and a variety of media to
the waters that are between us,” artist create discourse surrounding art and society,
Torkwase Dyson explained. and this spring’s exhibit will surely continue
upon a similar path.
“Songs for Sabotage” examines the ways in Artists have attempted to capture the human
which images and culture structure our so- body in sculpture for thousands of years, and
ciety. It proposes a new kind of propaganda this exhibit examines the last 700 years of this
within infrastructure and technology as well endeavour. With artwork from Donatello, Au-
as within institutionalized racism and colo- guste Rodin, Yinka Shonibare, Jeff Koons, Edgar
nialism. The exhibition combines artwork Degas, Duane Hanson, Isa Genzken, and more,
from over 25 artists from 19 countries, many this collection of around 120 works explores the
of whom are exhibiting in the United States many narratives of sculpture. It especially seeks
for the first time. to address the ways in which varying stylistic rep-
resentations of the body in sculpture may reveal
Take a trip downtown and enjoy this careful- how we see ourselves and others, and it aspires to
ly curated international art exhibition! connect each of us to a common humanity.

Now I’d like to begin by saying this: power to anyone who uses stick figures in their art. Amazing
job. 10/10.
Stick figures are often written off as “childish” or “simplistic,” but I strongly disagree. As someone
who is artistically challenged I am always very proud to have successfully completed a stick figure.
The process is a difficult one, beginning first with figuring out what it is you want to draw. Is it a
single person? Two? A whole family? Or for the ambitious few: a stick figure animal?
Once the subject of the drawing has been established, the more tricky elements arise. When draw-
ing the stick figure, it must be tethered to the ground. Seeing beautiful stick figures floating out
in the middle of nowhere is incredibly sad. There is also the issue of height and limb proportions,
which are vital to the drawing, seeing as they are the literal bones of the image. When I am mak-
ing stick figures, I make entire torso about half a metrocard long. The arms are about a fourth of a
metrocard long, placed about halfway down the body, and the legs are about a third of the length
of a metrocard and protrude from the body at an angle from the end of the main body. This can be
scaled up or down to suit the artist’s various needs.
When the body is all set, then comes clothing. You have some options, such as the triangle dress,
or you can attempt to trace the outlines of pants and shirts around the arms, legs, and torso. Shoes,
glasses, and other accessories may be placed on the drawing at the artist’s discretion. The hair and
face are also completely up to the artist, but when I am drawing stick figures, I tend to make the
hair with only a few pen strokes. The face is normally comprised of minimal strokes, with features
like freckles or blush added on sparingly.
Of course, with stick figures there is a ton of room for creativity. I am a bit of a perfectionist myself,
but if while you’re drawing stick figures you want an insanely disproportional and picasso-esque
figure, you should go for it.
What I’m really trying to say here is this: don’t knock stick figures. They take lots of thorough
thought and effort. Stick figures are a tried and true method of art that have survived since the
dawn of humanity. Just ask anyone from the history department.

Photography was never intended to be a form of art. When invented, its sole purpose was to record
events. Few people owned cameras due to their expensive cost and large size, so only professional
photographers used them. Most people did not find a need for cameras, as they could pay photogra-
phers to take portraits of themselves and their families. These portraits comprised the majority of early
photography.
The invention of the film camera in the 20th century and the digital camera in the 21st century revo-
lutionized how people viewed photography. As cameras began to decrease in both cost and size, they
became a ubiquitous part of people’s lives and eventually a legitimized form of art. The invention of
the smartphone made cameras accessible to everyone. Photos could now be taken at the click of a
button or the tap of a finger, and shared on social media platforms at a moment’s notice. Everyone
suddenly became a photographer.
But it takes more than just owning a camera to be a competent photographer. One must first master
the skill of using the camera, which can be considered quite challenging. Photographers need to be
able to adjust a camera’s ISO (sensitivity to light), shutter speed (how long the shutter is open), and
aperture (how wide the lens opens) accordingly in order to properly take a photo, something that can
only become second nature through repetition. The photo the photographer envisioned when shoot-
ing should be what the viewer sees when observing. Quality is essential, especially since no one wants
to see a blurry or overexposed photos, unless they are intentionally made to look that way. Patience
and practice are the keys of mastering the technicalities.
Originality, however, is what really makes a photographer remarkable, and separates them from the
rest in their field that have already mastered the technicalities of the camera. As photos are increas-
ingly shared on social media, many people have conformed to the same basic themes of aesthetics,
such as portraits of dashing models with palm tree backdrops, street photography of people sporting
“hypebeast” or designer clothing, or landscape photos of the skyline from the tops of skyscrapers. Pho-
tographers must seek defining characteristics: unique choices in composition, subject, color, etc. That
will differentiate their work from others in the profession. Examples include Ansel Adams’s black-
and-white landscape photos of the American West, Henri Cartier-Bresson’s iconic street photography,
Robert Capa’s controversial war photographs, Steve McCurry’s stunning portraits, and Robert Frank’s
photos that served as social commentary. Their distinction made their success.
So ultimately, it is up to you as a photographer to develop your own individual style that makes your
photos to stand out. There’s a simple way to do that. Just go out and shoot. Slow down, look around,
and take photos. As Ferris Bueller once said: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around
once in awhile, you could miss it.”

There are millions and millions of colors that the human eye can see. It’s incredible that the we’re able
to perceive so many hues and shades, but this fact becomes daunting when choosing colors to paint or
draw with. So, how do you know what colors to use when you’re making art? Building a color scheme is
incredibly conducive to this process, and color theory can help you with that. Color theory is the science
and psychology of how colors interact and work together visually. Using elements of contrast, shading,
and interval colors can make your art even more eye-catching. Firstly, having a basic understanding of
the color wheel is helpful.
Primary colors refer to yellow, red, and blue, the most basic colors of the color wheel. Secondary
colors refer to the combination of two of these colors: yellow and red make orange, red and blue
make purple, and blue and yellow make green. Tertiary colors are the combination of primary
colors and their adjacent secondary colors; yellow and orange make yellow orange, red and violet
make red violet, and so on.
The hue directly opposite of another is its complementary color. In the case of violet, this would
be yellow, so putting violet with yellow would create a pleasing contrast. The colors directly on
either side of violet are its analogous colors, which are similar to the original hue. These are good
for gradients and shading and/or highlighting. Drawing an equilateral triangle starting at a specific
hue creates a triadic color scheme, a scheme that uses three colors relative to the base hue, useful for
high contrast with a harmonious feel.
You should also consider having a tonal range of light, medium, and dark colors in your paintings.
Placing colors that are similar in shade, hue, and saturation can be useful if you want to create a
harmonious effect, but if it overused your art can look monotonous. Using elements of contrast and
shade can prevent this. In its simplest form, black and white are on opposite ends of the brightness
spectrum, but when put together they compliment each other. The same is true for hues on the
spectrum; a light yellow paired with a dark blue is an interesting yet distinct color combination.
Using the element of hue and brightness to diversify your work contributes to its character, and will
help your paintings stand out and become more intriguing.

Hello all! This article will be teaching you how
to embroider any saying, phrase, or letters on a
t-shirt (or any clothing/fabric of your choice).
What you’ll need is:
-Thread
-A needle
-The shirt you want to embroider
-An embroidery hoop (optional)
1. First, take your shirt and put stretch it on an em-
broidery hoop. Loosen the screw on the larger hoop
and place it on top of the fabric.
2.Take the smaller hoop and place it underneath

the shirt, so that the only thing separating the larger
and smaller hoop is one layer of fabric. Fit the hoop
underneath into the larger hoop, and screw the larg-
er hoop tight so that the fabric is taut.
3.Next, take your thread, thread your needle, and tie

a knot at the end. My method is pulling enough of
the thread through the needle so I have double the
amount I need, then folding it in half and tying the
ends in a knot. This makes the thread sturdier and
easier to work with.
4. Now you’re ready to start stitching. Take

your threaded needle and put it behind the fab-
ric you’re working with. Pull it up all the way
through, until the knot at the end hits the fabric.
Then, depending on what you want to stitch,
pull the needle down through the fabric until
the thread is taut to make a line. (Be careful not
to pull too hard or else the fabric might bunch
or your knot might be pulled from underneath
the fabric).

5.Repeat step 3 until you create your a word, phrase, or image.
6.Finish your work by tying a knot behind your shirt. After finishing the last stitch, make sure the
needle comes out underneath the fabric. It’s useful to have a good amount of thread left over in or-
der to make a strong knot. You can either cut off some of the excess thread to set your needle free
and tie a knot, or use your needle to thread through the first knot you made and stitch through
that to secure the thread, and then make a knot at the end.
Hopefully this tutorial was useful,

and don’t be afraid to apply it to
not only shirts but pants, jackets,
sweaters, and even hats! It’s a great
way to personalize your clothing
and belongings!

Dreamer I
Mediums: Watercolor, pen, pencil,
white gel pen
9x12 inches
I was thinking of many things when painting this. I wanted to make a really in-depth watercolor painting as a challenge. Watercolor used to be my most hated medium, so recently I have
been trying to work with it more. I spent a week of winter break engrossed with this piece, staying up until 4:00 am each day working on it! My goal was to incorporate a lot of details into this
work. One such place where this can be noticed is in the colored arms. I actually started this piece by drawing the black and red arms. If you were to continue the parallel lines, you would notice
that the lines in the arm on the right connect with the arm on the left. I had drawn one large grid with a ruler. Manually drawing and painting the design was very time consuming, but I feel
that it ended up being a very prominent part of my painting. After drawing the arms, I painted the skin in several layers. The skin is the lightest part of the painting. For this reason, it was the
first part that I painted because I could paint over it later. Next came the eyes, lips, nose, and dress. Then I went back and painted the red and black arms. This was also very time consuming. I
was constantly switching between gold, red, and black paint, and then waiting for sections to dry. With extensive detailing, some portions were smaller than an eighth of an inch. Afterwards,
I painted the plants. What I did was paint in the basic shapes of each plant, blending the paint to be paler in the center. When they dried, I added white highlights. Finally, I painted the hair.
First, I layered aqua paint for the majority of the strands but added some flicks of red into them. To finish, I painted around each form, plant, hair, and arms included, with dark blue paint.

made from a wooden box, watercolor
on paper, and thread
the floral print is watercolor on

paper
made from sticks, wire,

thread, muslin, and acrylic

watercolor on paper
Made from book pages, vellum paper,

acrylic, glitter, and thread

Why do people collect art?
People collect art either for love or money. Surveys have shown that about 80% collect for love – they have passion for what they collect. To them
it means something emotionally. The other 20% collect art because they hope it will appreciate in value. Some of these are really rich, as in what
are called high-net-worth individuals: 25-30 million or above and usually more actually, and they will have either an art advisor who collects art
for them or they will put a certain percentage of their assets into art funds. They don’t really love the art, what they love is the money the art
might bring them. The category that I’m most interested in is those who love art. What makes them interested in the art? Why did they develop
this passion? Well, obviously, it gives them pleasure or they wouldn’t be collecting art. That’s their primary reason. But why they select art and not
something else is because they have what are called secondary motivators that stimulate their pleasure center. For example, they might be thinking
of giving the art to museums, they might give it to their children, or they might learn about history through art. For some of them it’s simply the
thrill of the chase - finding a particular piece or pieces - and they’re very competitive about it. Some of these individuals even at auction will play
a game, which is called “the greater fool,” where they’ll pay anything for a piece of art just so they get it and someone else doesn’t. This is foolish if
you think about it – spending your money that way. But they’re so competitive that they want what they want. It’s even been heard at auction that
one person who bid up a piece excessively high would turn to the other bidder – the lower bidder – and say, “Well, I may have bid too much, but
at least I got it and you didn’t.”
Now, the real question is “why do some people collect art?” We were trying to address that. It gives them pleasure, because of inborn inclinations
– genetics, also because of the way they were brought up, and also probably certain experiences in life that draw them to a particular area. For
example, I heard one individual give a talk and he said he was attracted to Japanese art, because, when he was in college, a professor invited him
to his house and his particular collection – the professor’s collection – was Japanese art. For some reason, he was totally intrigued that this older
gentlemen who he respected was collecting Japanese art, and he thought maybe it would be a good avenue for him as well. So, he was doing it in
part out of admiration.
You are a collector yourself. What made you start collecting?

Well, I think it was really an overflow from the fact that when I was a teenager I saw a movie about a women missionary in China and I thought
someday perhaps I would be that woman missionary. She was a doctor. And after I went to Medical School I realized I wouldn’t become a mission-
ary in China, but I could learn more about China through being involved with Chinese art. Collecting it for me was one good way, because when
someone is a doctor and working sixty-eighty hours a week there isn’t a lot of time for example to learn Chinese or go to China or to take courses
about China, but I could at my own pace learn about China through collecting Chinese pieces.
What have you learned through your years of collecting?

I’ve learned a lot. I’ve heard other collectors say the same thing. But for me I’ve wondered as I’ve made choices about collecting why I’ve made
these decisions that I have, which led me to use some of the neuropsychology that I’ve learned as a neurologist and that led me into examining the
neuropsychology of collecting. And realizing that no matter how much I know about collecting and behavioral science and the choices I make that
I am still irrational some of the time. It used to be that humans thought we were rational and made decisions based on reason, but now it’s known
that we have rules of thumb that we use and often they just come to mind so quickly that we ignore more concrete ways of making decisions. For
example, sometimes we remember something that we think is fact, and we use those facts that we think are correct, while in reality it’s a faulty
memory and we might buy something based on that faulty memory. So we get something that isn’t what we think it is, because of our own lack of
being able to remember correctly, and yet, we might swear that we remember correctly.
Do you have any tips for someone who wants to start collecting? And how one can try to beat their irrational impulses?
I would say know as much about yourself as you can and to be true to yourself, but also be true to your budget, by always buying the best that
you can with your budget. Some people love falling in love with their pieces and that’s fine if that gives them that much pleasure, but all the time
remember that these are just objects and not humans, and that it is the human interaction that makes collecting fun, whether it is with other col-
lectors or a family or teaching others about collecting or the pieces.
You’ve been a curator for a couple exhibits with some of the objects you have collected. Can you talk a little about the experience of curating?
I loved it. It’s fun to be able to show pieces to other people and help them learn about them and become excited about them. I hope that it will
enrich their lives just like it has enriched my own. Collecting is really about excitement. Collecting is not going to work, clearing the dishwater,
or helping out a friend – though all those things either marginally pleasurable or pleasurable – but it’s like doing what’s inside you that makes you
really happy. It’s a real passion.

What is your emotional bond with your collection?
It’s intellectual. It’s really helped me learn a lot about not only China and the pieces that come from China, but also about
myself. I’ve learned that collecting is really all about interactions with other people and it’s important to keep them as
pleasant as possible even when, for example, dealers are not fair. When I find out a dealer hasn’t been fair, I’ve always tried
to keep them as acquaintances, not friends of course and never again a dealer, but it’s never a good idea to make an enemy.
Does price influence your selection and can you give some tips on what someone should consider in terms of price?
Well, like everyone else, I like a bargain. A bargain stimulates our pleasure center, so gosh when we think we’re getting a
good deal, we are thrilled to death. For example, everyone likes a sale, a dress sale or a hardware sale or whatever. Price does
influence me - I do have a budget. I can’t buy what very rich people can buy, but I can buy respectable pieces. And what I
like to do is to buy at little know auctions where there are likely to be bargains. I also like to buy at antiques stores where
they don’t have much Chinese export porcelain, but they do have a little and they don’t know what they have. That occurs
occasionally. They’ll sell at a better price than someone who knows Chinese porcelain. Sometimes when the dollar is strong,
I try to buy in Europe, because then the exchange rate will be favorable to me. For example, recently, when the dollar was
strong, I could buy at 20% less in Europe and I did. So when the dollar gets weaker, if I sell it back, I can make some mon-
ey. And of course, now, when the Chinese are very interested in bringing back their Chinese pieces to their own country, it
is a good time to sell. So those pieces that I don’t think I’m ever going to have in an exhibit or that I will need photographed
in the future, I probably will be trying to sell some of them at auction.
How has collecting enriched your life?

When I was a doctor, I was working about eighty hours a week and I was becoming so exhausted being a doctor. I was able
to give that up because I had a different interest, and that was porcelain. It didn’t feel like I was giving up my identity or my
soul, because I wasn’t a practicing doctor anymore. I felt like I was just sliding from being a doctor into another identity.
And so it gave me a continued zest for life and a continued reason for living. I sense that with a lot of collectors. Collectors
like to get together and talk about their pieces or their challenges or what museums they’ve been to lately. It becomes a club.
For example, the meeting in Dresden that’s coming up, most of the people that collect, plus dealers and curators, will be
there. And we’ll all be exchanging stories about what’s happened to us lately in terms of our collecting, buying, selling, or
curating.
Can you talk about your early experiences collecting?

Well, I’ll tell you one thing that happened to me early on. I think it was 1992, I went to my first American Ceramics Circle
meeting. I didn’t know one single person in the area and I went all by myself to this meeting. And I continued to go all
by myself to every meeting, but gradually I began to know a few people. Then I was elected to the board of the American
Ceramics Circle and I’ve now been on it for twenty years. I would consider that both lucky and fulfilling.

Happy
Medium: White conte crayon on black paper
When I drew this sketch I was feeling happy,
so I decided I wanted to sketch someone who
was also happy. I searched up happy person,
and this was the result. I did white on black
because I really wanted to focus on improving
my understanding of light. I only drew her
hands and face, so the focus is her expression
of happiness. When people look at this photo,
I hope they feel like the person is happy, and
maybe they even feel happy themselves.
Untitled (man with red scarf )

Medium: Oil on canvas
I dropped by my mom’s live model paint-
ing class and painted this in four hours. It’s
my third oil painting, and I wanted to prac-
tice capturing the likeness of a person.
Lamp and Chair

Medium: black marker on paper
I wanted to draw what I see every night
as I do my homework. A view that seems
mundane and representative of a lot of
stress can also be an art piece waiting to
be drawn. The two etchings above the
chair that I depicted in the sketch are my
Great-Uncle Wedo Georgetti’s original
etchings.

Commonly seen on U.S. dollar bills, watermarking is a common practice in nearly all forms of art
and documentation. Though the method used to watermark may differ based on the artist’s chosen
medium, watermarking is the process of placing some distinguishable image, pattern, noise, or mark
on a work of art in order to help distinguish it from a fake, attribute authorship, or even prevent un-
authorized access. Examples of watermarking range from images that appear on bank notes that are
only visible under light to pre-recorded messages played before, after, or during a piece of music that
state where the audio came from.
Watermarking was first performed in Ita-

ly during the 13th century, and was used
by customers to verify which papermak-
er or craft guild had produced the paper
they wished to purchase. Papermakers
would sew wire into their paper molds,
which would leave visible imprints on all
products created using those molds.
At the present moment, paper makers use one of two different methods to watermark their paper:
the dandy roll process and the cylinder mould process. The dandy roll process involves pressing a
metal-template into the paper during production in order to leave a lasting imprint in the paper. This
method creates lighter watermarks, as pushing the stamp into the paper makes the end product thin-
ner in places where the stamp has been, allowing light to better pass through it. The cylinder mould
process, however, uses a roller instead of a stamp to create the mark. The cylinder mould process allows
for greater detail in the watermark and is still commonly used today in banknotes and passports. These
two methods are by far the most common ways that artists and creators choose to watermark physical
objects, as they are much more cost effective than most other available options and can be performed
by relatively unskilled artisans.
However, when watermarking, the artist must be careful that their marker is noticeable but not extrav-
agant. Creators use watermarks to merely display ownership, not draw attention to their name. Wa-
termarks should not detract from the audience’s enjoyment of the work through their size or extrava-
gance, but should instead provide an easy citation for the piece of art if one wishes to know the artist.
If as an artist, one finds themself attempting to watermark his or her work in an extravagant manner,
then it is important to step back and look at the art itself. The desire to have a large and noticeable
watermark is often caused by the artist’s feeling that their work is somehow inadequate, though adding
even the most grandiose watermark will not at all increase the quality of the piece.

What classes do you teach?
Introduction to Art & Design, Intermediate Art & Design, 1st & 2nd Se-
mester Ceramics, and 7th & 8th grade Digital Photography
What mediums do you work with?

Printmaking, Sculpture, Drawing, Set Design—I carve in wood and stone,
and make prints using the woodcut, linoleum block and etching processes. I
have a studio I use during the summer to carve in stone. I have also designed
built and painted sets for over 125 plays at Trinity as well as for a couple
Off-Broadway shows. In general, I like to make things, so I look for ways to
make stuff and see if I enjoy the process. If I do, I make more.
What styles of art are your favorite to make?

My wood-carving work was abstract, mostly inspired by the spiral form.
I enjoyed different ways of investigating and expressing the spiral form.
For theater sets, I loved collaborating with the director of each show after
reading the play and coming up with a challenging way to help tell the story
of the play. Sometimes there would be a trick in the set—a surprise—or
maybe a metaphoric illusion to hint at what the director was thinking about
emphasizing. With my printmaking, I usually work from observation. I like
animal skulls; they are very sculptural and make for good etching subject
matter.
Do you create artwork outside of class? If so, what do you do with them?
Yes, I make artwork outside of class and school. Some works are made to be examples for school, while most are for my pleasure. I have had a few
shows over the years, but that is not my main drive. I just like making stuff.
Do your pieces follow a common theme? If so, what theme?

As I mentioned, the sculptures often address the spiral form in some way. I get myself into trouble compositionally, and spend the rest of the time
working on the piece trying to get out of trouble and come up with a resolution to the composition.
As a child, did you always have an interest in art? How so?

My interest was more about making stuff—working in a woodshop at home or a craft shop at summer camp making things out of leather or copper
or ceramics. My father taught me carpentry and working with cement to build stone walls. I loved working with my hands. In school. I learned
welding and photography—I loved it all! I also had a woodshop and made furniture for about 20 years. Now I have donated the wood shop ma-
chines to the summer camp I went to, and I teach woodshop up there in the summers.
When did you know that you wanted to pursue a career in art? How?
During college, when I realized how deeply satisfying making art and teaching it is.
Do you have any suggestions for student artists at Trinity who are struggling to find inspiration?
It’s not about “inspiration”—that’s baloney. Like anything one gets good at, one works at it day after day after day, building skills. If one enjoys
it, the skills will grow and the realization will come that “hey, I love this, I want to do this all the time. This is fun!” Don’t get me wrong, there is
plenty of hard work involved, but when one loves what they are doing, the hard work feels great, exhilarating even. The problem becomes figuring
out what to do with the rest of your life, the part that is not making art. Balancing those two is the trick.

The stark, white walls of Trinity are of-
ten a topic of complaint — students can
be heard likening them to the walls of
a hospital or a mental asylum. However,
there are changes on the horizon, start-
ing with the new mural in front of the
Math Lab on the third floor. After Dr.
Newton came up with the idea during
a club brainstorm session, Math Club
presidents Gina Markov ’18, Arnold
Nam ’18, and Sara Qu ’18, led the proj-
ect.
After a month of searching online for
inspiration, the presidents each made a
couple of initial sketches. A design was
finally created, mainly by Gina Markov
and Sara Qu with help from Mr. Em-
ery and Arnold Nam. The mural depicts
mathematical concepts that are discussed
in the different math courses of Trinity.
Club president Arnold Nam stated, “the goal was to create a holistic picture of Trinity’s math-
ematics,” with references to topics such as the golden ratio and 3D geometry. After the design’s
creation, the painting process began with taping off shapes and drawing outlines on the wall;
however, partway through, the design was changed from the original. The final result has at the
center of the mural a golden ratio spiral which is a spiral whose growth factor is the golden ratio,
and a Sierpinski’s triangle, a triangular fractal that depicts an equilateral triangle subdivided into
smaller and smaller triangles. The colors were picked arbitrarily, and include purple, blue, and
green. If anyone is interested in helping out, emails have been sent out from the Math Club pres-
idents with links to sign up forms.
Although there is no set date of completion for the Math Lab mural, it will hopefully be finished
around early May. The mural marks the possibility of more art installations around the school.
There has been discussion about murals in the hallways outside of the visual arts classrooms and
the science classrooms, and possibly another mural outside the computer science lab on the sec-
ond floor—fingers crossed that the math mural sets the stage for a new era of art in the halls of
Trinity.

If you’re having trouble spelling a word, do you
a) Write it down and see if it looks correct
b) Trace the letters in the air
c) Spell it out loud and see if it sounds right
When you hear the word “apple,” you

a) Picture an apple
b) Have the definition pop into your head
c) Think of the taste of an apple
What do you find most distracting in class?

a) Seeing someone fidget next to you
b) Loud noises from outside
c) The room being too hot or too cold
When you remember your last birthday party, you most vividly remem-
ber
a) The setting or faces of people
b) The emotions you felt
c) The sounds you heard
d) The events that took place
Would you prefer that your biology teacher

a) Writes down notes on the board and draws diagrams
b) Says out information/lectures
c) Gives out models of the topic to play with
It is estimated that over 60% of the population are visual learners, so there’s a good chance that you might be one. If you have
answered mostly A’s to the quiz above, then you are probably a visual learner. But what is visual learning? Visual learning is a
style of learning that involves tools such as flow charts, diagrams, and pictures to convey ideas. Popularized by Neil D. Fleming,
visual learning focuses on the sense of sight, as opposed to hearing or feeling.
There are two sub-branches of this type of learning: linguistic (also known as analytical) and spatial (also known as global).
Visual-linguistic learners work well when it comes to seeing written language and will process written word before images. They
are able to easily memorize information through reading and writing, and reading and spelling typically come easier to them.
Spatial learners prefer the utilization of videos, images, and charts rather than words, and will process pictorial information
before printed text. A study by the University of Pennsylvania found that visual-spatial learners tend to translate words into
images, and that “[t]he more strongly an individual identified with the visual cognitive style, the more that individual activated
the visual cortex when reading more.” So the more someone saw themselves as a spatial learner, the more they pictured scenes
when reading. Many people are a mix of both types of learners.
Within the classroom, there are many different ways to employ visual learning given the abundance of whiteboards and pro-
jectors. Examples include watching videos of DNA replication, filling out cause and effect charts, or drawing scenes from a
book. Overall, this style of learning has proven simple yet effective and will continue to be used abundantly throughout the
educational process and beyond.

Banksy, an anonymous English graffiti artist, has returned to New York City. His artwork, created with
trademark stencils, spreads political and social messages and has led to Banksy’s recognition as one of the most
well known street artists of our time. Originally considered a guerilla street artist in England, Banksy gained
international attention as a prankster when he attached his own works of art to the walls of the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Museum of Natural History with adhesives. He was
once again launched into the international spotlight as a serious artist when he graffitied nine controversial
works onto the Israeli West Bank Wall, commentating on the complex conflict between Israel and Palestine.
His street art often features his signature rats, which he sees as creatures that “exist without permission [and]
have no respect for the hierarchy of society.”
This is not Banksy’s first visit to New York. In October 2013, he completed a month-long residency called
“Better Out Than In,” where he unveiled a new piece of artwork somewhere in the city each day. Unfortu-
nately, many of these works have been defiled, some only hours after being painted. Despite the frequent
defacing of his art, New Yorkers have always welcomed Banksy and his graffiti with enthusiasm for their value
as not only art, but as powerful activism against the establishment, war, and capitalism.
On March 14th, 2018, Banksy began his stay in New York by painting upon a former bank building with
his trademark rat running around the inside of the building’s clock face. The historic building, which is locat-
ed on 14th street, is slated for demolition and will be replaced with forty five new apartments. The artwork is
almost certainly a commentary on the “rat race” which Banksy so often criticizes in his anti-capitalist graffiti.
The “rat race” is most commonly defined as a lifestyle in which people or companies compete for financial
gain or power in society. Unfortunately, the public can no longer see this piece for itself. Only around a week
after its creation, the clock was taken down by building owners, most likely to be auctioned off to collectors.
His next piece was painted on the corner of Houston and Bowery; fortunately, it has remained undefiled with
the exception of a few tags. The mural, which is 70 feet wide, protests the imprisonment of Zehra Dogan, an
artist and journalist sentenced to two years in jail for painting a smoldering Kurdish town with the Turkish
flag draped amongst the destruction. It is almost entirely composed of black hash marks, which double as
both the number of days Dogan has spent in prison as well as jail bars. Dogan herself is depicted behind one
set of bars, accompanied by the text “Free Zehra Dogan.”
The British artist also painted two works in Midwood, Brooklyn. One offers further commentary on capi-
talism and gentrification, where a supposed real estate developer with a whip resembling a rising graph chases
after a group of fleeing residents. The other piece, located only one building over on a former gas station,
depicts a seal balancing a ball on its nose. The meaning of this piece has remained more open-ended than
some of Banksy’s other pieces. Sadly, both of these works have already been heavily defaced.
On his website, Banksy recently confirmed another piece of his in East Harlem with the text: “You Loot,
We Shoot.” It is yet another comment on capitalism, depicting a New York Stock Exchange worker running
away, seemingly in terror, with wads of cash in his arms.
For now, these are the only pieces of work that Banksy has revealed as his own during his stay to New York.
It is unknown whether the mysterious graffiti artist is still in New York or has traveled to another city in the
United States. One thing is certain, however. Banksy’s political and social messages will be remembered in
this city, even if his artwork has been covered.

Is hyperrealistic art the pinnacle of visual artistic achievement? Is it the stan-
dard all artists should strive for? Are other forms of visual art less important,
less refined, or less skillful than hyperrealistic art?
The answer is, quite obviously, no.
We’ve all seen examples of extraordinary art that isn’t hyperrealistic - from
popular movies and comics to pieces that hang in the Met. Yet many artists
are told the idea that reaching the epitome of visual art is creating work like
the works of photographers: flawlessly beautiful, intricate and true to life,
exactly as the subject would appear to the naked eye. But as artists grow, they
realize that art isn’t only hyperrealistic. Art is not just hyperrealism; it comes
in an infinite amount of forms. Not only is hyperrealistic art more difficult to
create, many artists find, in other styles, means of expression and fluidity that
hyperrealistic art doesn’t allow for them. Some others even consider hyper-
realistic art to be purely reproduction without meaning. Famous artists like
Picasso and Rodin did not sculpt or draw their subjects true to life - they are
disfigured and different in a way that expresses love, or pain, or frustration, or
an infinite variety of feelings and ideas.
This is not to say that hyperrealistic art isn’t good. In fact, many artists first
practice hyperrealistic art, and then develop their own style from there. Prac-
ticed hyperrealistic art is a well that gives birth to an infinite realm of styles
and forms, drawing upon the basic principles of lines, shapes, shadows, col-
ors. This allows for a mastery of creative expression.
In the end, hyperrealistic art isn’t the pinnacle of art. In fact, there is no pinna-
cle to art - whatever style or format satisfies the artist and expresses what they
want it to express is their own pinnacle. There isn’t a style every single visual
artist should strive for - art is for personal expression, and whatever style you
can find that freedom in is one you can use.


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Trinity School

139 West 91st Street, New York, NY 10024

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Following the Blue Period, Picasso’s Rose Period, lasting

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What mediums do you work with?

What styles of art are your favorite to make?

Do your pieces follow a common theme? If so, what theme?

As a child, did you always have an interest in art? How so?

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Title: VMin (2018)

Title: BTS, You Never Walk Alone (2018)

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Title: The Son of Ugolino

Title: Owl in a Blizzard (2016)

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How do art and technology intersect?

Have you integrated technology into your artwork?

Do you want to share anything else with Trinity students?

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What career(s) do you work as?

Has your style changed over the years? How?

How do you find inspiration for your work?

What is the creative process like?

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What is your favorite piece that you’ve made? Why?

Do you have any upcoming shows or workshops

Do you have any words of advice for aspiring

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Alexandre Obolensky (July 28, 1952- March 12, 2018)

Carlo Nangeroni (June 24, 1922- March 13, 2018):

Gene Pearson (February 14, 1946- March 15, 2018):

Heloise Crista (March 9, 1926- March 11, 2018):

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This new exhibit brings together

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2.Take the smaller hoop and place it underneath

3.Next, take your thread, thread your needle, and tie

4. Now you’re ready to start stitching. Take

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Hopefully this tutorial was useful,

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the floral print is watercolor on

made from sticks, wire,

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Made from book pages, vellum paper,

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You are a collector yourself. What made you start collecting?

What have you learned through your years of collecting?

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How has collecting enriched your life?

Can you talk about your early experiences collecting?