Senior Artist Spotlight: Aeden Marcus

Who is Aeden?

I’m 17 (and a half) years old, in 12th grade. I have two younger siblings, a sister, and a brother.

What does Aeden like?

I have a lot of favorite foods. On the top of the list at this exact moment is lamb. I also love sharp hard cheese and dates, especially together. I had them for a snack today and it was delicious! My favorite dessert is ice cream hands down. I enjoy a range of different music, but recently I’ve been listening to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald. My favorite book is often the one I’m reading. Favorites from this year have been: The Queen’s Thief series (which I highly recommend!), The Poisonwood Bible, and The Kite Runner. I love complex plots, and I enjoy books that depict the intricacies of human character or culture, real or imaginary.

How did you become an artist? How long have you been practicing? How did you become an artist? How long have you been practicing?

I’ve been making visual art for as long as I can remember. When I was little, my family always had art supplies around and encouraged me to use them. I have a drawing that I made when I was a toddler, which I said was of an apple (but it doesn’t look like anything!). From elementary school onward, I always liked art class in school, and I decided to pursue visual art electives in high school. While I’ve always enjoyed expressing myself creatively, I developed most of my technical skills over the past three years taking art with Ms. Shea.

What inspires your work and creative philosophy? Is there anyone or anything in your life that has influenced your art or creative vision?

Often, my inspiration is just what I think will look cool! Although, I would say that I take a lot of time to really plan out a composition or choose a subject. If I’m creating a scene from my imagination, I often make multiple different doodles or sketches to “pitch” different ideas to myself. Then when I find something that I’m really excited about, I might even sketch it out again in more detail before moving on to working on an actual piece. The process ensures that I put thought and deliberation into all of my work. I don’t know exactly what has influenced my creative vision. I’ve certainly been exposed to a lot of different artwork throughout my life, so that likely has some impact. Honestly, though, I like to illustrate things that I think look awesome in real life. Some common threads in my work are glass or mirror reflections, moving water, and portraits. Those are all really complex, but it is extremely satisfying when I get them right! If you look at a piece of my artwork from the last three years, chances are it will include one or more of the following: a portrait or self-portrait (or my hand), something reflective, something moving (ex. moving water, a school bus).

What is your favorite medium? Why?

I think my favorite medium is charcoal. It’s definitely my favorite if I’m working in black-and-white. It is a lot faster to work with than pencil, and the range of contrast is basically from stark white paper to blacker-than-black , so there’s a lot of space in between to really get the right tones. There’s the added benefit of being able to get my hands a little messy by smudging with my fingers! And something about the medium that adds a sort of grainy or tactile quality to artwork. It reminds me of film photography as opposed to digital photography, especially when I’m drawing a portrait in charcoal.

What do you like most about being an artist?

Well, this is really two things, but I like being able to express an idea visually and I absolutely love the satisfaction of getting something to look just the way I want it. When I capture something spot-on, I’m really proud of myself.

Do you want to pursue this in the future?

Yes, I do, but not as a career. I put a lot of energy into artwork, and I think I would probably die of exhaustion if I did it as a job! I do, however, hope to keep creating artwork as a life-long hobby and maybe take some art classes on the side in college.

What does your art mean to you?

To me, art is seeing the world—nature, people, light, colors, etc.—at a deeper level, and then communicating that vision to others.

What are you working on now?

I’m coming close to finishing a study of an art apron texture up close, and I’m starting an oil painting on glass and reflections. Recently, I finished a small photo-realist oil painting because I was studying that art movement in history.