A Summer Art Getaway

Audrey working on her drawing in the classroom

«Like Evelin, from whom you heard last week, I participated in the Met's Drawing and Painting Experiments program this summer. This is my third year doing the program, and I have found that each year is unique because of the different projects and the student artists who participate.»

This year, we traveled through the galleries, worked in the studio, and sketched in Central Park. I realized how much I can learn from other students and their diverse approaches to making art. If ever I needed inspiration, I just walked around the room to watch other people working. The Drawing and Painting Experiments program is a getaway for teens who just want to hang out and make art, and each year, I have loved making fast friends with people who share my interests.

Audrey and other students sketching in Central Park

In this post, I chose to highlight a project that combined drawings from our visits to the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries, the Greek and Roman Art galleries, and the American Wing. I expressed three distinct styles in this project and explored how to make them work together. For example, if you look carefully at my drawing below, you will notice that I drew a face on the tree in the right side of the composition and a face in the water looking at the tree. This choice was inspired by Andy Warhol's Before and After I, the lid of a sarcophagus in the Greek and Roman Art galleries, and Hudson River School paintings in the American Wing. In this piece, I wanted to make the people and scenery interact as if they were all meant to be in this drawing together.

Audrey. Forest of New Beginnings, 2012