Writing The Profile Piece

This was the first feature story I have ever done, and I've got to say that from the get-go I was a little more excited than I had ever been on my dining services beat during reporting. I was excited that I was finally able to unleash a little literary fervor that had been long-repressed since writing only hard-news stories.

My story was on an artist and the artist's aesthetic is, of course, visual. Therefore, I knew that I wanted to try and capture all of the visually stimulating aspects of his work; I wanted to mirror his work in my story and to try using words to encapsulate not only the actual art itself but the artist's style and methodology. For that reason, I knew that I would have to spend some time just observing him work. This is the first story for which I have scheduled multiple interviews with my subject, but I decided I would have a primary interview session and then follow up with an observation/interview session. The first one I used to get all the logistics: his inspiration, his life-story, his goals, a foundation upon which to gear my story. The second one, where I observed, I used to actually ask him about his technique; while he was painting I would ask what he was doing and why. I felt that in this way I had a real feel for what his style was. I got to catch a glimpse of what it took to create these paintings. I also got to go to his actual studio, and that was what gave me the inspiration for my lead. Had I not seen his place of work with all its colorful chaos, crammed with canvasses finished and unfinished, paint on the floors and walls, I would have never fathomed much of the lead or my story. It allowed me to see the shear volume of his work, which led me to inquire about his work ethic, which led me to realize how much of himself he actually put into the painting. The dude works incessantly!

Afterwards, I wanted to talk to one of his professors to get a feel of how he measured up in comparison to other painters in Moudy. I also wanted to get a professional opinion of his work, and to just dig around and see what further commentary I could acquire.

Finally, I spoke with one of the artist's patrons. I thought this would be a good way to show the audience that the artist was generating some response within the community around him. This person I talked with had purchased three of DJ's paintings, so it was good to get a patrons point of view. She told me why she liked the paintings and gave a little emotional appeal to the story.

The only challenge I had was in trying to explain the sometimes abstract and technical descriptions artists use to describe their work. The professor I interviewed especially used strange and obscure references that I would have to decode so that the typical reader could understand.