by Madeline Best
Tessa Smith – Junior
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What type of art do you create?
It’s usually traditional art. I’m really into pastel right now. It’s the thing I consider to be my main medium. I’m in painting, so I’m learning how to watercolor paint, and it’s becoming more and more of an obsession.
How long have you been drawing?
As long as I can remember. It became a thing in kindergarten when I really liked my homeroom teacher, and I decided it would be good to wake up early every morning to draw her a picture.
Why have you decided to pursue art?
Art is something that makes me happy. It is also something that is considered a talent, so it just makes sense to go down that road. It’s something I am very interested in, and I think art history is fascinating.
Where do you find your inspiration?
I typically reproduce images, so I’m a copycat. I don’t have a lot of personal inspiration. I like realism, so that’s basically how I do all of my pastels.
Where is your favorite place to draw?
Probably maybe my office [or] my desk. Art is really great when you have a lot of quiet time to just get lost in it. Somewhere out of the way of cats sitting on it, or coffee spilling on it.
What art classes have you taken at STA?
I went through drawing one and advanced drawing with [Ms. Theresa] Wallerstedt, and now I’m in painting. We did a lot of art history in [Mr. Richard] Shrock’s world history [class].
What’s the hardest thing about drawing?
It’s frustrating when you can’t figure out why your picture doesn’t look like the real picture- [the] placement of lines and shading, there’s a lot of erasing involved.
What’s your favorite thing about drawing?
I think all forms of art, music, drawing, they’re expressions of the soul which is just a really neat thing. To be able to portray the way that you feel with a sound or an image, I think it’s a really healthy expression.
Who are your favorite artists?
Michelangelo is my soulmate. [My] current favorite artist is a student [named] Brigid Vaughn. [She] is in school to be an animator and I found her online. She does the most spectacular cartoons portrayals of all of my favorite book characters.
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