Since the last time I was on here I made some progress in my Flower Girl Series. The second girl is coming along great. I really need to figure out what their names are gonna be. In order to find out the inspiration for this painting check out my previous post. Now to the art.
The first thing I did was start out creating a rough sketch.
I chose the color scheme (I discussed more about that in the previous post). I began laying in the color and added the background.
Spring is here and I decided that I wanted to go back to a series of sketches that I drew and never quite painted. When I came up with the concepts for these drawings I was just thinking about how many people use complexion to determine beauty. I was researching colorism. It's sad that people are still so close minded when they look at the beauty of a woman. Beauty comes in every shade. It's really crazy when you think about it. I watched the video below, among many others and I found that it displayed many sides of this issue.
In my series I wanted to depict a group of women who were beautiful in a
variety of skin tones with different but equally beautiful hair types.
In every race especially the black race female aesthetics are also
judged by hair type and texture. I wanted to depict girls that didn't
necessarily have "Good Hair" (by the way I hate the whole "good hair"crap). Chris Rock created the best film on it (but that's just my
opinion).
Beyond those topics I was inspired by the flowers I bought from my local produce market and the primary colors. I wanted to create a series that connected a group of sisters with a variety of complexions and hair styles and textures. Here is the first of the girls. I haven't named her yet.
Anyway onto the art I started with a basic sketch(line drawing).
Then I came up with my color scheme. Next I began placing some of the colors. I began adding detail in the hair (which is my favorite part).
Yesterday I worked on painting the background. I think it came out really good.
Let me know what you think(about the painting and the videos).
So much has been going on in my life and I feel like my art has been on the back burner which is horrible. So I guess there is no time like the present to change things around. Time for new beginnings.
While I was in college and living in Baltimore, I decided I wanted to work in the criminal justice field. I thought it would be a great way to help improve the world and, cut back on crime. At that time I believed, I would make the world a better place by aiding in the imprisonment of criminals. After many discussions with my mother, she made me promise I would not become a cop. We had long talks about the different ways a person could change the world and make things better.
Today I am so glad I did not pursue that field. The criminal justice system is reactive and I needed to find a career in an institution that would be proactive. I decided I would become a teacher. Being a teacher is amazing because you have the ability to help shape the minds of children. An education is the most priceless thing that can be given, from one person to another person.
After doing some writing and thinking about education. I started thinking about the inequalities in education and the silent war that is going on. I watched these videos and it aided me in the creation of my latest piece.
The School to Prison Pipeline
Under educated, Over incarcerated
Pipeline -Skip to 1min11sec
I recently accepted a position as an educational assistant in a school. I am so excited to work with the children and help give them the tools they will need to fight against a system that often wants them to fail. I think it is time for us to open our eyes to the things that are going on around us, and take the time to be a part of the change we would like to see.
When I created this painting I was thinking about the inequalities in our society and the war on the futures of our children. " She Sees The War" was not meant to be a pretty painting. It is the manifestation of my feelings about a silent war.
Today I have been doing a lot of thinking. I have been thinking about life and death, and what I want to be remembered for. What will I leave behind when I am gone? How much of a difference am I going to make in this world? I've had a bunch of those types of thoughts. Since high school two of my classmates have passed away Corey Murray and Charles Hatchett. It just made me think about an obvious fact that we never know when we will die. I have to make sure I leave more than memories behind, when I pass away.
I know this topic sounds a tad bit gloomy, but if you look at it a different way it is really positive thinking. I decided that as an Artist I can do so much more than make work that is aesthetically pleasing. I realized that I have so much to say, and I feel so passionately about a variety of subjects and it is time that I use my work to discuss important subjects. I also decided to start experimenting more with my work. I know this is a short one but it's all I can write as of now. Off to painting
I love jewelry it's a slight obsession. When I was younger I couldn't afford all of the jewelry and accessories I wanted in Claire's ( a little accessory store in the local mall) so I began purchasing beads and creating jewelry. Oh yeah, I thought I had it going on.
A few months ago I decided I would start making jewelry again, and I have (mostly for myself). Unfortunately, I received bad news today. I was told that the love of my life Zuri-Jade would need $6000 worth of surgery on her knees. She has a condition called luxating patella, pretty much her knees pop out of place and cause her to fall and it makes it hard to walk.
ZURI-JADE
This is the first picture I seen of her and I fell in love.
This is how she looks now. She's changed quite a bit.
Now my plan is to create jewelry to help pay for her surgeries. My first battle is with the beads. I can't believe I have so many. I have been finding containers of beads every where. The room I am in looks like a beaded disaster. BEADS! BEADS! EVERYWHERE! So the goal for the night is to organize them. Wish me luck
My latest inspiration was Amy Winehouse. Can we say amazing? My friend Kenny introduced me to her music in college and I was in love ever since. Do to her unfortunate death on July 23, 2011 I began to think heavily about her story and what most people know about it. Everyone knows Amy struggled with alcohol and drug addictions. She shared her life with us through music, although it was great music it did not usually have happy themes. Do to the media, as fans we were exposed to more of the negative sides of Amy than the positive. So I began to research and I found out Amy participated in a multitude of charities. In 2008, Amy appeared naked in Easy Living Magazine to promote breast cancer awareness. Amy was a participant in the Hear the World Campaign which was organized to promote awareness about hearing loss. Amy even allowed the free usage of one of her hit songs "Back to Black" to help promote AIDS awareness through a film for Global Fund's Born HIV free Campaign and that is just a few. After learning this information, and so much more I knew I had to do an Amy piece.
When coming up with the plan for the Amy piece I was inspired by her style. She is what I'd like to call " Funky Glamorous".
So I decided to take her vintage style and incorporate one of my favorite interior design periods " Hollywood Regency". Due to the charity work that Amy participated in I wanted to add that "Saintly Gold" color that can be found in many picture of Saints. Here are a few pictures that inspired me. The Hollywood Regency Wallpaper was amazing
This is my finished Mixed Media Painting entitled "Amy"
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