A typical day starts at the studio with a drawing session from observation, a demonstration of an art technique followed by a projected presentation of a specific art project or an art topic. On field-trip days, after the presentation, the group would embark on its trip to draw and paint outdoors, or to visit an art museum. For drawing/painting outdoors, our group visits parks near our studio such as Battery Park City, the Marina or Washington Market Park. Our museum visits have included MOMA, Morgan’s Library, The MET, MAD, Cooper Hewitt, among others.

After a field trip and back at the studio, the group will continue to develop and/or complete their independent projects. Projects are executed with a balance of independent working and close mentoring. Materials and processes include working with water based paints for both painting and printing projects, and with a wide variety of materials. At the end of the program students bring home a substantial portfolio along with a sketchbook documenting different moments of their summer adventures!  

PORTFOLIO PREP STUDENTS

Applying to a specialized NYC art high school - For the past two years, the NYC Department of Education implemented an online process to apply to most specialized art high schools.

All audition programs, including LaGuardia H.S. offer virtual auditions in which all applicants submit the required audition materials via the NYC-DOE dedicated website MySchools. The audition materials includes two basic components:

1. Portfolio

2. Student Introduction

Wet Paint! Art Studio portfolio prep program has been designed to help students applying to the high school visual arts programs with the preparation of these two audition components. Please note that there are schools that may have additional requirements. Once the applicant has established which schools she/he is applying to, these additional requirements will be listed by each selected school.

How Much Time to Create a Portfolio?

Creating a unique and strong portfolio takes time and dedication. Wet Paint! recommends all applicants to attend at least one after-school semester or a three-week summer session with our studio to produce the required number of art pieces. Less time will not allow the same production. For details on portfolio prep requirements, please click here.

How About the Student Introduction?

In past years,  the NYC DOE has released the actual audition requirements at the beginning of the school year in the fall for the material to be submitted by early December. Therefore, Wet Paint! will assist each enrolled applicant with the creation of her/his Student Introduction only during the Fall Term (September). Once the portfolio requirements have been issued as specific requirements (i.e. subject of the creative drawing) may change for each school year application.

CREATING THE PORTFOLIO

Creating the 1st Audition Component: Portfolio - Wet Paint’s portfolio prep program is designed for students passionate about the visual arts and who are applying to specialized art high schools in NYC. Taught by professional artists, the program invites young artists to cultivate their creativity, learn new techniques, and build an interesting and unique portfolio. After review and selection of work, the final portfolio shall put forward the clearest and strongest picture of the applicant’s distinctive artistic abilities and potential. ]

Each applicant shall produce a set of original pieces of art created in a variety of styles and techniques, utilizing traditional and contemporary methods that showcase identity, thought and imagination.

Art-Making Fundamentals - Our program will address the fundamentals of art making such as:

• Shape and form; proportion, values, ligth and space

• Composition and mark-making

• Materials and techniques, and subject matter

Live Drawing Exercises - During the program, there will be live figure drawing exercises for which special emphasis will be put on the quality of the line.

Creativity - In terms of creativity, the applicant will be strongly encouraged to widely and wildly use her/his imagination.  For the creative exercises, the applicant shall experiment with the use of imaginative points of view for her/his drawing: eye level; ant’s view (from below looking up); bird’s eye view (from above looking down); in perspective; etc.

In general, the applicant shall use the basic fundamentals and her/his imagination to display and convey as best and as clearly as possible her/his ideas. 

CREATING THE STUDENT INTRODUCTION 

Creating the 2nd Audition Component: Student Introduction - During the fall term only, Wet Paint! will assist each enrolled portfolio student in creating her/his introduction piece as part of her/his audition material. In this piece, the applicant will introduce her/himself to the application review committee. The piece could be either a short video no longer than three (3) minutes or a written explanation of no more than 500 words. 

Video - In the video, the applicant will talk about three pieces from his/her own portfolio. Piece 1, the self portrait and Piece 2, the still life must be included in the talk. The third piece is of his/her choice but also from his/her own portfolio. In this short video, the applicant shall discuss his/her choice of subject matter, materials used, motivations, and influences.

Written Statement - If a written statement is preferred for the introduction, the text, as in the video, shall discuss the above-mentioned three pieces in terms of his/her choice of subject matter, materials used, motivations, and influences.

Whether a video or a text was created for the introduction, this piece must be uploaded along with the rest of the required audition material.