Dillon Corsair (’22), a graduate of Tenafly High School and a student at Washington University, has left a lasting mark on the Tenafly community through his art. Most recently, Corsair painted a tiger mural on the wall of the Tenafly Public Library, transforming the blank space into a vibrant landmark.
Corsair’s artistic journey began in preschool, where he drew a lot of snakes, sharks, and other animals. What excited him most at the time was combining these creatures into fantasy designs.
“I loved it at the time, and my parents encouraged me to pursue it,” Corsair said.
Throughout elementary and middle school, he attended One River, an art school in Englewood. There, he expanded on his art by exploring various forms and techniques.
But at the beginning of high school, he lost his passion for art and stopped doing it altogether. That changed during the pandemic when he rediscovered his interest in art by exploring a side he never knew before: the science of art.
“I liked learning about artists’ study of anatomy, rendering, and things in that context,” Corsair said. “I find it fascinating that you could break art down into science by improving your art by making it more beautiful and impactful through the intent of what you can put on the canvas.”
Corsair added that he was interested in studying animal muscles and bones to understand their movement. Inspired by Terryl Whitlatch’s The Science of Creature Design, he learned more about how animal bodies could be creatively interpreted. This inspired him to do more sketching and anatomy studies.
Corsair also found inspiration from artists like Steve Huston, Jeffrey Degol, J.C. Leyendecker, and Frank Frazetta, whose works helped shape his artistic style.
“Looking at their artworks gave me a lot of inspiration and motivation to always have the desire to improve and apply new things into my artwork,” Corsair said.
During high school, Corsair attended Bon Art Academy, where he studied and also taught other students, which gave him a new perspective on art.
“When I taught there, I focused on explaining why I make certain decisions, how things look the way they do, and how to represent those things with material,” he explained. “It is not something that is vague with random decisions; there is actually a lot of science behind art. Learning and drawing things you’re curious about by actually thinking about them when you draw is a creative science that I wish more people would be open to.”
Corsair’s first big public mural came at the end of his high school senior year when he was hired by Juma Fit, a fitness studio in Tenafly, to create a mural on their outdoor fitness space. This opportunity prepared him for an even larger project: the Tenafly Library mural, which he completed during the summer of 2024.
The library mural was part of the town’s effort to make the community space more energetic.
“I saw that [the wall] had a lot of potential, and that made me excited to make this place something that the community could use more,” Corsair said.
Corsair studied tiger anatomy to prepare for the big project and sought inspiration from artists like Aaron Blaise. He experimented with color, form, and texture, exploring different styles from photos and videos to give the tiger a unique color and a geometric shape rather than something more round and soft.
“In terms of the design, a technique that I used was considering a lot of color relationships,” Corsair said. “For example, making sure the blue matches the red, using warmer colors, and adding shadows. I also created my own colors by blending them, which made the process take way longer.”
Starting by priming the wall with rollers, Corsair transferred the digital design that he sketched onto the surface. He got the digital dimensions of the wall from the town and made the digital canvas the same ratio as the wall so that he could accurately input his drawing onto the wall.
Once Corsair finished the drawing on the wall, he taped it and painted around the tape. Then, he got a paint sprayer for the background and sprayed it in blue. After that, he painted the tiger with the help of many volunteers.
After spray-painting the background, Corsair decided that it needed more spark, so he did a digital sketch and free-handed the background pattern.
“People were telling me I’m crazy for adding more to the background because it’s so much more work, but at that point, I was already super motivated and wanted to make it even better,” he said.
However, other than being able to explore his artistic interests, , Corsair was able to form a deeper connection with the Tenafly community through this project.
“In the beginning, when we were just painting the wall white with primer, a lot of people were asking a lot of questions like ‘Why are you painting the wall white?’ and ‘What are you doing?’” Corsair said. “When I responded, ‘This is going to be a mural,’ people got more excited.”
“Many older folks came by too and told me their life stories, which was a nice experience to learn about other members in my community,” Corsair said.. “For example, there was one person who told me their experiences from traveling the world or someone who served in Vietnam.”
Corsair adds that this experience showed him how well people respond to art, made him appreciate art more, and fueled an enhanced commitment to art. He hopes that his piece inspires other young artists to work with local businesses and make their creative visions a reality.
“There’s so much potential for collaboration,” Corsair said. “I hope my project inspired local businesses to look to collaborate with younger artists and inspired younger artists to put their names out there and find collaboration opportunities.”
Looking ahead, Corsair is seeking summer internships and is preparing to study abroad in Florence this spring. His advice for aspiring artists?
“Be ambitious and put yourself out there, even if you don’t think you’re ready,” Corsair said. “That was something that I struggled a lot with, but over time, I realized that you have to put your name out there and create your own opportunities.”
