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A1 Collections, David Fishman

4/22/2020

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David Fishman 

After exploring a variety of mediums at Artists First, David found his niche with water color paints. His paintings range in size from 6" x 6" up to 30" x 40". He has an impressive amount of art! This post highlights just a few of the sizes that he's most recently worked in. 


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14" x 16" watercolor on watercolor paper 

14" x 18" water color sketches on paper 

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a1 collections, Steven Mcgee

4/21/2020

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Steven McGee

“I like being at Artists First. I get to do lots of fun art and spend my day drawing. That’s exciting to do and makes me feel good.” 

Faces 

Figures 

Work In Progress 

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new shirts

4/15/2020

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#CreativeAF

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Order Now




follow us on Instagram @artistsfirststl 

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continuing to create during covid-19

4/15/2020

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We reached out to St. Louis artists to find out how the arts community is holding on to creativity during the COVID- 19 crisis. Local artists responded to the following questions, 

How are you staying creative during COVID-19 ?

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How is your art helping you ?

St. Louis Artists 

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Thank you for sharing your creativity and inspiration with us! 


​HOW ARE YOU CREATING DURING COVID-19 ? 

Drop in to say hello and let us know what you're up to on our Facebook page, 

https://www.facebook.com/ArtistsFirstSTL/

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How to find us on artistsfirststl.org

4/1/2020

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Directions for Our Artists 

This post is for artists who are new to using the internet.

Follow the step by step directions to learn how to navigate the Artists First website.

​Use the website to find fun art activities you can do at home. Check out the blog to see updates from  your friends and pictures of updates from the studio. 
videos of art you can do at home
pictures from your friends + updates from the studio

Directions for finding us on artistsfirststl.org 

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I Am WHo I Am, art exhibition

3/13/2020

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March 13th - March 27th, 2020 at Stone Spiral Gallery  

An art show focused on self expression and uniqueness.  

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Image showing the left and corner wall of I Am Who I Am. Four artworks are shown at angle. Two framed drawings are on the back corner wall.
Image showing a painting of a kitchen space with a man in a wheelchair. The kitchen room is colorful and surrounded by abstract patterned stripes around the edges.
"Superpowers" Image of a comic style painting with a superhero standing in front of down town St. Louis.
"Dragon" Image of a comic style painting of a dragon looking out at a castle in the distance.
"1970s Attire" Image of a painting of a man in a green bellbottom suite. The man has an afro and bright blue eyes. The painting is made from blocks of solid color and thin black line work.
"Self Portrait" Image of an abstract painting made out of stripes. Large stripes cover the background and much small tiny stripes of color fill in patches of the foreground.
"Tanner Milner" Image of an abstract painting with a figure waving his hand up. The painting is covered with geometric patterns and shapes.
Image of a cartoon drawing of a cat. The cat is siting in a garden with flowers. There's a bright blue sky that fades to purple in the background.
"Ricky Douglas" Image of a surrealistic portrait. The portrait depicts a face floating in out space.
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Image showing the right wall of I Am Who I Am. Four artworks hang horizontally in a line. The drawing to the right depicts a mans face floating in space, next to the left is an abstract watercolor followed by a cartoon cat and a brightly colored abstract expressionist portrait to the far left.


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The Artists 

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Overcoming Inspiration, art exhibition

2/15/2020

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 February  15th - March 6th, 2020 at Gretchen Brigham Gallery 
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An art show celebrating artists that are:  
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more than their limitations 

more than their disabilities 

more than an inspiration 

"Out of Order" , Charles Baunach Image showing the back of a wheelchair turned towards a tree in what appears to be a park. Text at the bottom of the image reads, " I'm going down the road when suddenly my wheelchair is stuck, no one around to help ever, I'm stuck! "
"Tree of Life" LaRonda Lowery Image showing an abstract painting made out of different colored shapes and patterns of zig zagging lines.
"We Are Not Charity" , Sam Baskin Image showing two small hands passing symbolic forms of what appears to be paper money back and forth. The majority of the painting is constructed out of three solid primary colors painted on in three solid stripes.
"Charles", Charles Baunach Image showing a self portrait of Charles with his a floating face in the center he is surrounded by a vibrant abstract background.
"Out of The Shadow" , Zach Holloran Image showing a dark painting of a boy standing in a cloak.
"Multiple Worlds, One Universe" , Ricky Douglas Image showing a drawing of outer space depicting earth, stars, galaxies, and several planets in the distance.
"The Face of Love" , Koren Duke Image showing a close up painting of an abstract face. Three large hearts are painted surrounding the portraits eyes.
"Acceptance" , Aiden Jorden Image showing an abstract painting made with splattering and stamping techniques.
"Who I Am" Jimmy Holmes Image showing a watercolor painting of a man in bellbottoms, a button up shirt, and a small afro. Two speech bubbles to the right of the face read: " I am a person & not a diagnosis - " " which is only a part of my whole self"
Journey Inside" , Julie Hart Image showing an abstract rainbow drawing constructed out of individual lines of varying color and shape.
"In This Together" , Julie Hart Image showing a rainbow abstract pastel drawing made out of blocks of shaded color.
Meet The Artists 
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Logan

2/7/2020

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The Beginning of Art 

Logan started coming to Artists First around the age of 10. He’s one of the few artists who has seen Artists First evolve into what it is today. Art has always been Logan’s favorite form of communication. As far as he knows, he’s always been an artist, creating things for as long as he can remember. Art was especially important when he was younger and speaking was more difficult.  Since, spelling and language processing can also be a challenge,  the visual arts serves as a true place of freedom for expression. During school he learned to draw because it helped him focus during class and develop better coordination.
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Logan's most recent project is a new piece for a national art contest that brings people of disabilities together.

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Style ​

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Logan is an avid arts learner.  “When I’m not doing art I’m usually studying art, by watching other artists do their art on youtube, different pencils, marker styles, learning about materials.”  He doesn’t follow any certain style and is instead always looking to try new techniques. He absorbs new styles and techniques quickly.

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Logan describes his drawings as a mix of art styles. Other people often describe his work as anime, cartoon, or comic style. He’s focuses most of work on drawing, but is open to trying new things especially when he’s in a class or doing a special project.

Special Projects

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In school, Logan’s taken several types of art classes. In class, he’s explored many mediums outside his comfort zone of drawing. By the looks of it ( see dragon above), it appears to be quite a success. The dragon sculpture he made is by far one of the largest and most intricate creations out of his whole class. When I asked him how he came up for the idea of his sculpture, he explained that he just worked session by session with no plan other than making a dragon. Over time, the sculpture evolved purely from his imagination.

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Logan’s most recent project is a new piece for a national art contest that brings people of disabilities together. 

The Process

“Whatever pops into my mind I do.” Logan doesn’t draw in a series unless it happens naturally. Because he’s always learning new things, he tends not to go through art phases. If anything, he cycles between using new types of materials and drawing techniques. Logan finds his inspiration from looking at other pieces of art and seeing if he can do learn to something similar.

​“ I have to be in the right mood to create.”  Still, Logan draws almost everyday. His whole creation process is fluid. He completely trusts that as he adds to a work in progress, that his next idea will naturally evolve from the first one. “I will add stuff to it and go back and forth between creating something and then getting inspiration off of what I’d done. ” Sometimes his drawings take several months, but that’s only if long breaks are needed, as he waits for stuff to “pop up.”

Future Plans

In the future Logan plans to continue to learn more about art, especially new mediums like painting. Although drawing is mostly something he does for fun, he’s very committed to continue his development as an artist. He believes he will always be an artist. He’s wondered a lot about a career in art, but isn’t really sure how to make it happen. As a child he always  wanted to grow up to be an artist and wherever he went, carried a notebook with him in case inspiration came at any time. Still to this day he always has a notebook and when he gets an idea does a small sketch to remember for another time.


“I’m just me, I do what I want to do and no one can change that.”

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Dyron Williams & The Future of Comics                         By Jasmine Raskas

1/13/2020

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Dyron Williams stands in the Artist’s First studio holding a framed drawing
The Beginning 
Dyron got into art when he made the simple choice to pick up a pencil and persist. In 2013 he started drawing without guidance or classes and by the end of the year was regularly cranking out characters, cartoons and comics with a consistent style and theme. When Dyron started out, he didn’t think he was very good but instead of moving onto another hobby he “just kept doing it anyway.” ​
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A framed colored cartoon drawing of “Anastasia” standing in three different poses.
Without close friends or family who are artists, Dyron worked to create what is completely his own personal vision of art. So far, he’s received nothing but appreciation for what he does from his proud friends and family. Shortly after he started out with drawing he was referred to the Artists First Studio. Aside from drawing, he enjoys his part time job at a hotel and free time filled with TV shows and video games, where he finds the inspiration for many of his characters.
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To understand what Dyron is all about, you have to understand the significance of the game console. The console is not just an object, but representative of an entity and personality in of itself. He enjoys learning new information about a world he never had the opportunity to experience himself. Each console has its own meaning partially connected to the historical research on the first video games
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line drawings of different video game console, “Gameboy” , “Sega Genesis” , and “ Atari 2600 (1977)"

The comic strips Dyron creates are a combination of gaming components and the characters he creates. Sometimes the characters are shown in a traditional role with the game console, but often times they are interacting or representing the game console in unusual ways. The console is used as anything from a piece of furniture to a brand of clothing Dyron calls, “ Hero costumes.”
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(Left) (Right) A colored cartoon drawing of “ Cady Heron” sleeping on top of the game console. (Right) A colored cartoon drawing of “ Cady Heron” sleeping on top of the game console.
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Originally Dyron used characters from movies and games to create his cartoons, but now that his drawing has evolved, he tends to create most of them himself. Over the years he’s created over 30 characters which re-appear in multiple character books and series. Sometimes the characters talk to each other or interact by playing games.
Most of Dyron’s characters are shown with what’s similar to an imaginary version of a game console encyclopedia entry. The books contain a synthesized background history about each character and its role with gaming. Aside from drawing, he uses these same ideas to create sculptures and 3D gaming parts.
He’s currently working on his biggest project yet, “Super Gaming Heroes” with the goal of completing it by his next birthday, in April. He wishes to continue to make characters and to someday have his work published as a series of comics. 
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Dyron holding his 3D art of a game
Inspiration 
Dyron plans to, “Keep his art forever, until the next future.” He loves that his finished ideas are forever stored in his imagination cloud. He described this helpful daydreaming process where “the paper takes me up to the art cloud and there are sunflowers and wildflowers in the clouds, and then it will show me what I’ve made.” 
His plans to practice drawing are simple but effective, “ I do art when it's time, when it's time, I will feel like it and then I will do it.” Dyron draws both at home and an Artist First. Aside from inspiration through gaming and TV shows he’s also interested in creating what he calls a “futuristic nature” with things like “mechanical trees growing antennas”. And perhaps the most important motivation we discussed here is Dyron’s search for the perfect art date who will be 
taken aback and inspired by his creations as much as he is. We can all agree a personal drawing is absolutely the perfect gift for someone you’re trying to impress.
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Artist spotlight - steven mcgee

11/26/2019

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Origin of Art 
Steven McGee is a long time artist at Artist First studio. He’s dedicated to his practice of art and the community of friends he’s made there. He spends most weekdays in the studio. Steven’s art is a combination of drawing and painting characters, often inspired by cartoons and video games. 
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Two cartoon characters stand next to each other. The main on the left has green hair, a purple jacket and a smirk on his face. The women on the left has multi colored hair and what looks like a cheerleader uniform. She has very little facial expression.
he deeper side to these characters are represented by details in their clothing, accessories, and facial expression ( or lack thereof). Steven doesn’t just create an image he creates a story. Each character has its own personality, hopes, dreams, fears, and outlook on life. 
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Steven’s been drawing characters for as long as he can remember. He doesn’t know when he became interested in art because it’s just always been so much a part of his life. Aside from a cousin who paints realism, Steven didn’t grow up with anyone else close to him interested in the arts. As a child he constantly drew stick figures, which developed into more human like images as he became interested in cartoons and video games. Prior to joining Artist First studio, Steven had been focused on creating images of masks which he now incorporates into the drawings he makes today.
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A woman in a red hat and a red shirt tilts her head to the side and appears perplexed.
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A woman with light red hair, crossed eyebrows and blood dripping down one side of her face looks out of the drawing. Her mouth is covered in red tape that says “ get out” and her blue shirt reads “ Fear Me”
The ProcessSteven gets inspired for a character while he’s playing video games or watching a movie . When he’s settled on an idea, he takes a mental note of it and saves it until he gets to the studio. He never writes anything down to remember, but is certain about his process and doesn’t have any concern that he could change his mind or forget before arriving at Artists First. 
Steven focuses on both drawing and painting. All of work ends up with vibrant colors and thin deliberate lines or strokes of coverage. His style contains a unique, repetitive but yet evolutionary style of mark making.

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A Simple line drawing of a mask
When Steven is drawing, he’s focused on ways to represent the style and mannerisms of the character in his head. He thinks about the type of clothes the character will wear, the positions of their body as well as tattoos, accessories and of course various forms of masks! ​
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pastel colored painting of a man in a multi colored mask. The man’s clothing is decorated and his face is quite blank.
Steven likes sharing his art and would love for it to go up in Coffee shops and restaurants. So far, he’s sold several of his drawings and enjoys being involved with art shows through Artist First. ​
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A close up drawing showing Steven’s use of line work. As he uses a marker he takes careful note of the direction each line is pointed in as he colors in the images in patchwork like chunks which can be noticed only with careful attention to detail of the drawing.
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A painting of a man wearing an ancient looking mask. The background of the painting is hot pink and the man’s clothing and mask are decorated boldly in the primary colors.
Artist Stats
Favorite color combination: blue, red & orange Favorite things to draw: people, colorful shapes and design Inspiration: cartoons and video games, especially Dragon Ball Z
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simple colored pencil drawing of a man with a bright red blindfold.
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drawing of a man in an orange sweatshirt and a mouth covered in tape that says“fight.” The words “love” and “peace” are written inside the pupils.
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A drawing of a troubled looking man again wearing an orange sweatshirt. Surrounding the figure there are the following phrases “ The cops hate me," “I can’t live," “what did I do.”
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A line drawing of the same cyborg character with a more detailed torso that appears to have another face on the chest.
Exciting Fun Fact: “I’m a nice person and I like to have friends”, Steven has many friends that he draws and collaborates with at Artist First
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A framed drawing on the wall of a man with a neatly trimmed beard and a multi colored earth toned bare for a hat. The man is smiling and squinting his eyes at the same time.
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A framed drawing of a pastel colored mask. The background of the image is bright orange and hot pink stripes that give the green components of the mask lots of dimension.
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