Nick Cassleman - Paintings

College oils

I took a painting class in college and learned a bit about oils. This was my formal art instruction since maybe elementary school, so I relied heavily on abstract to cover up for my lack of technical ability.

I guess this one was supposed to be dirty and sinister and layered? During critiques, I set the painting up on a plinth alongside my dirty yellow rags. To look at it, I made folks wedge into the tight space behind the temporary wall holding up everyone else's art. A cheap trick.

This os an abstraction of a staircase outside the art room. I had just learned about chromatic grays, which I am still in love with. (Chromatic gray is a with bits of color in them.)

College watercolor

Watercolors freak me out because I love to overwork things (and that's a big no-no with watercolor). Still, a friend asked if I could illustrate a pair of articles for the Southside Weekly magazine after seeing a watercolor poster I'd made at my favorite café.

An illustration for Fish Sauce. I draw a little scene depicting a fish-based divination which doesn't have anything to do with the poem but I thought looked cool.

An illustration for Spokane, by my friend Hannah. She had an aunt and uncle there who owned a goat farm in Spokane near where I grew up in WA. The pose is inspired by Joanna Newsom's album, Ys. The hills in the background are of the Palouse, the land around Spokane.

My regular sandwich shop, Z&H Market Cafe, used to have a weekly taco night. I'd usually made drinks for my friends (aka the staff). One time, painted a picture to go along with the margaritas.

College acrylic

My butt print, created for the UChicago Scavenger Hunt. We had an item where teams had to guess which judge's butt print was whose 😈