Mark Making

By Christine Torrey, ‘20, Gallery Exhibition Research Assistant

Christine Torrey ’20

This exhibition features the work of advanced painting and drawing students. In these courses, students explore their mediums by utilizing formal and conceptual elements of drawing and painting. Students use each medium to discover new possibilities and to represent their own personal voice. The pieces that are displayed combine formal elements and techniques of drawing and painting with the student’s own personal expression and artistic vision. This collection of work was created by advanced art students under the instruction of Dennis McNally, Mary Henderson, and Stephen Cope.

Quiongdan Hu ’20

The drawings are created with charcoal. Charcoal is an incredibly dynamic medium, it can be constantly changed and blended until the artist is satisfied. The softness of this medium lends itself to drawings focused on mass and movement of a subject. Charcoal is used for rendering the light, shadow, and contour of a subject. Many of the drawings displayed in this exhibition are life drawings. Students rendered these drawings from direct observation of a live model.

Carley Rose ’22
Transcription: Detail of VanGogh’s “Still Life with Pears”

The paintings featured in this exhibition were painted with acrylic paint. Acrylic paint is a versatile medium. The paint dries quickly, allowing an artist to add and experiment with many layers of paint. Students in this advanced painting course were encouraged to paint subjects that inspired them. In this course, students learn to “sketch” with paint, and to trust their instincts when rendering paint on a canvas. These paintings feature the incorporation of matte medium to the paint, as well as non-traditional materials, such as glitter.

Caroline Stefan ’22