Senior art major Ashton Mills only began to seriously pursue art during her sophomore year at college, but has since become one of Hillsdale’s prominent portraitists.
What mediums do you use?
Oil paint, drawing, graphic design, and I’ve taken sculpture and photography, but those are not my preference. Oil painting is my favorite and I like graphic design as well.
What are your favorite things to paint?
My family. I like painting people the best.
How did you get into art?
I’ve always liked it. When I was in high school we didn’t have any art classes, so in my second semester sophomore year I took my first art class here, and I just fell in love with it. The more classes I took here, it was all I wanted to do.
What are your plans after graduation?
Right now I’m thinking about teaching or working in graphic design. My dream job would be to own my own business where I can design my own products and portraits.
Who is your favorite artist?
I really like Jenny Saville. She’s a contemporary artist. She paints figures using a lot of overlapping.
What do you dislike about being an artist?
I don’t like how it doesn’t seem valued by our culture so it can be hard to have opportunities.
How long does it take you to complete an average painting?
It depends on how big it is and what it is, but most portraits take me from 50 to 70 hours.
How do you persevere through such a long process?
It helps to be in class where I have to work on it, but I also low-key hyperfixate on my art. When I’m not in the studio I like taking pictures of it and looking at what needs to change the next time that I go into the studio. I try to always be thinking of ways to improve whatever I am working on.
What do you like to listen to while painting?
I usually listen to podcasts or audiobooks because I get tired of listening to music for three hours straight. My go-to podcast is “Dissect.” It’s about this guy who every season has a new album from a rapper, and he analyzes every song from the album.
What’s a stereotype about artists that is true?
That they have big egos.
What’s your opinion on modern art?
My main thing with modern art is with modern art education. I don’t think they do a good job at teaching fundamentals, which is why I like Hillsdale. They teach you traditional skills and then say, “You can do with this what you want to.” A lot of schools now just focus on the concepts. As a result, modern art can be super pretentious and kind of ridiculous. But also I think there are really cool things that can be done with modern art, and they shouldn’t be ignored. I think that studying modern art can give you new perspectives on how you do representational art. I think the best art is representational art that uses abstraction.
Who has been the most influential figure in your development as an artist?
Definitely Professor Suarez. It’s very evident that he cares a lot about teaching and about our development as artists. He has poured into me a lot and tried to push me as an artist while encouraging me. He’s just there if I need anything when it comes to art.
