The Process
Traditionally, portrait art has always been an intimate process. One artist working with one model. Not any more. 4traits take the idea of portraiture to a totally different place. We’re a team of artists working together on a group of portraits, blending our separate styles, talents, and insights into a cohesive whole.
Four people sit across a table from four artists. The artists work on the portrait of the person seated across from them for about 5 minutes. When the 5 minutes are up, the person and their portrait move on to the next artist, like an artistic assembly line. The next artist picks up where the last artist left off, continuing to build on the previous artist's work, adding lines, shapes, shadows, texture, color...until all four artists have worked on all four portraits.
The Crew
4Traits are Assembly Line Portraits created by a group of four emerging artists from Washington, DC: Brandon Bloch, Alex Slater, Rob Stelboum, and Ming Yi Sung Zaleski. These four artists come from diverse backgrounds, with artistic talent in different media (graphic, video, textile, illustration)… but they all bring their strengths together to create tag-team portraits as a collective group.
Rob Stelboum
Most of my artistic training has been in drawing, painting and printmaking. (I also spent a short time working in video). My personal work tends toward expressionism (which might be another way of saying I don’t have the patience to be a realist). My day job is in advertising, where I juggle managing an art studio and being an art director/designer.
In one way or another, I’ve always worked as an artist, but I’ve never had so much fun creating art as I have as part of the 4traits. Creating art (not advertising) is a solitary process. Standing, staring at your empty canvas, tentatively applying that first brushstroke. It’s an immensely satisfying and individual process. But I’m a social creature. Creating a 4trait is about as social and eventful as art gets. Each and every piece is a collaboration between the 4 of us. We share ideas, vision, and technique, and we do it all without words. The art speaks for itself as it passes from artist to artist. Which, of course, allows actual conversation to be about anything-with each other or with our subjects. Laughing while we create art. Who would have thunk it?
WooHoo!!!!!
Brandon Bloch
My training as a portrait artist began with drawing caricatures of my
teachers in the margins of my class notes. #2 pencil on college-ruled
paper was my bread and butter. Since then it's been clear… no matter
where I am, no matter what I'm doing, I must create art. Over the
years I've been steadily adding to my repertoire – now I use artsy
pencils on artsy paper. Plus I've learned graphic design, motion
graphics, oil painting, screenprinting, photography, and filmmaking.
Whatever media I need to employ to bring my creative vision to life,
I'll learn it. During the day I work as a documentary filmmaker… and
I'm also pursuing a master's in filmmaking at American University.
Working with the 4Traits has been a great adventure since our first impromptu session in a DC café. I'm thankful I found a great group of artists to work with – we keep each other active, constantly learning from each other's diverse artistic approaches, feeling open to take risks as they come. Also, with only five minutes to make my mark on each portrait, I'm learning to work faster… no longer contemplating each individual mark for minutes on end, like I tend to do with my personal work. Above all, being with the 4Traits has been a great way to bring my artwork to the public. Our work is really only as good as our models, and with such enthusiastic kids and adults at every event, we can't help but make some really great portraits!
Ming Yi Sung Zaleski
I have always been creating art as far back as I have memory.
Naturally, my family pushed my to go in the direction of art schools
and formal art trainings -- From being in the fine art programs
throughout secondary schools in Taiwan, to going to undergrad and
graduate school at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, I have been
exposed to different ways and using a variety of mediums to express my
ideas. I kept my interests open to new mediums: from 2-D mediums of
drawing, painting and printmaking, to 3-D mediums of clay modeling,
ceramics, mold making, casting, papier-mache, fiber and assemblage.
And in practice, I teach elementary school art to keep my previous
knowledge alive.
I feel that one artist cannot be too comfortable with a particular way of making art. Being a 4Trait is a great opportunity to set my artist's ego aside and humbly learn and absorb the other three's artistic energy. We challenge each other in the practice of 4Traits.
Alex slater
i am a little uncomfortable writing a bio for myself being that i have never written a book and i'm still alive. and if anyone does anything more than scan through this casually they may realize i am by no means traditionally trained in any classic art form. and that may be weird...for them. no, it's true, i have no art school training.
now that all the hardcore art critics and pompous fine artists who think i'm tainting this pool of talent are gone i will tell you what i know. i've always been artistic, but without the opportunity ($$) for such a luxury as art school. i've been a piano mover, landscaper (aka "yard monkey"-that's what my boss called us), assembly line tech, medical research assistant, 1/3 fireman, designer. the last one is where i fortunately landed. most of my art therefore takes shape on the computer screen, making 4traits a great outlet to excercise more traditional methods. i can tell you i most enjoy being either the 1st or last artist on a "4trait". also, i try to get a game of Mario Kart in at least once a day.
