Today I talked to Hannah Metzger, currently a senior at DePauw, who is double majoring in studio art and computer science.
Her Campus: Hi Hannah, thanks for taking the time to talk with me today! Since things are very different than previous semesters, I was hoping to ask you about what this semester looks like for you? I am especially curious about how you are proceeding with your studio art major because of how hands-on those classes typically are?
Hannah Metzger: Yeah of course! I am all online this semester and I’m living in Nashville with my friend Katie— we will be living here for 7 weeks. I am definitely taking a different approach to my art because of being online, partly because I can’t paint here on a large scale as I have done in the past. Also, I began painting mostly with oil paints this summer and those fumes are dangerous without proper ventilation, which would be an issue here.
HC: What kind of different approach or medium will you be using to create your work?
HM: While I’m in Nashville, I’m going to focus on drawing with mostly watercolor pencils. I typically first draw a pencil sketch, kind of like you would with a normal colored pencil drawing. If I want to, I’ll go in with a brush and water and paint it. It pushes the pencil marks and blends the colors as it would look in a regular watercolor.
HC: That is interesting, I have tried watercolor but never watercolor pencils. Is there a particular reason someone would use that method with the pencils versus a watercolor paint set?
HM: Well for one, this way I can draw wherever I want to on the paper and I can do linework (and keep only the drawing if I want), but I can also get shapes of color if I choose to paint it with water. Also, I don’t get as much attention in public whipping out watercolor pencils and drawing versus pulling out a big set of paints and painting there on spot. Also moving here with smaller and fewer supplies was more convenient than the supplies I would need with any other type of painting.
HC: Since you were majorly focusing on bigger works and painting in the past, do you feel like it’s a setback to switch your medium and/or content? How has your content changed
HM: Well I really switched my mindset 8 months ago when I went abroad and did more drawing for similar reasons as now—I took a drawing class abroad also. I had been painting abstract landscapes first semester of junior year, but I transitioned into wanting to focus on practicing how to draw naturalistic drawings.
HC: That definitely is a big change, not to mention how different classes might function now, being online for most juniors and seniors. How does your seminar this semester work, given studio art majors have to do seminar both semesters of senior year?
KL: I meet with the class over zoom twice a week for two hours. We need to be developing our own personal body of work and on top of that, we have weekly art projects. For example, one assignment I had was a prompt called “body in place”, in which you would photograph your body inserted in a space that was currently “home” for you.
HC: I bet that seminar alone keeps you busy! Anyways, thank you so much, Hannah, for talking with me! I wish you luck in making the best of this different type of semester and your new take on art.
HM: Of course, I am excited to see where it takes me!