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Part 1. For this drawing, take 3 large pieces of paper, turn off the lights, and make drawings in your room, at night, in the dark. Begin by toning your paper with a middle grey by rubbing an even amount of charcoal all over your paper; push it into the surface. Use your eraser to…
Isabella Pineda is an Art Effect, Teen Art Shuffle Plus student and a teaching assistant at One River School in Englewood, New Jersey. She is seventeen and grew up in Palisades Park, NJ. She began taking classes at One River over a year and a half ago. “I would always see One River on my…
Since I started One River, I have become enamored with what I call “The Joy of Sharing”. It’s that moment when a student proudly shows you what they completed and it is a really important one. Whenever we create something, whether it is a painting, a writing or a music composition, we spend a lot of…
It’s funny to think about how artists utilize experimentation in comparison to scientists or doctors. In the world of science and medicine, an experiment is aimed toward a specific problem, such as curing a disease or creating a new technology. They establish a hypothesis and then implement a series of tests to get closer and…
Henry Gunderson’s paintings will always surprise you. He switches up his styles with each new body of work. From what looks like an assembly of instruction manuals of nonsensical parts to sneakers filled in with microcosms of objects, his work is always painted with remarkable skill. It is always done by hand, in acrylic and…
This past fall, I started to see Alan Prazniak’s paintings in many of the Instagram feeds that I follow and I couldn’t help but notice how much substance was packed into these small paintings. The works, all of which are oil on linen, are densely packed with color and imagery that provide a journey into…
It’s no secret that reading and art-making provide health benefits for our overall mental health. Luckily, there’s a huge market and demand for contemporary art books. Reading books about art allows other ways of thinking, new theory concepts, understanding different views and critique. Whether you’re at a road block or interested in reading a different…
The thing that got me into this business in the first place was my curiosity. When I worked in big companies, I didn’t always find the culture supported my interests in exploring new ideas and strategies. The truth is, the larger a company gets, the more hard wired their processes becomes. As I grew older…
In 2011, I sat in awe at a painting lecture by the great Catherine Murphy as she proudly bellowed “What’s the story and how you ‘gonna tell it?’” Catherine Murphy, a legendary representational painter who stands steadfast in her commitment to painting and observing daily life, is a bold and exemplary example of an artist who…
Why are we drawn to a career in the arts? Is it the mission OR purpose? Is it the avoidance of “corporate America”? Is it the notion of doing something that makes us feel better about ourselves? In some respects, my path was not traditional because the first twenty years of my career wasn’t art…