acrylic on canvas 18x24 in.
I'm really pleased with how the portrait came out today. Kelly did an amazing job as a model and it was rough to accomplish since there were so many elements i decided to put in. I've extended the view to the shoulders, also to work on the hair and accessories. in between layers i used a hair dryer to work on more sections at once, since I went with thicker paint today. i didn't do an outline of the basic shapes today, I went with colors and with different sizes brushes throughout. i had to trust the process, and trust myself blindly but at the end it looks just like her and i was really happy with it.
again with thematic on women and their essence; Kelly (witchy, mischievous and charming) is one of my closest friends and fellow artist; we're constantly teasing each other and we always laugh way too much and way too loud when we are together; Kelly is an avid reader, a strong feminist, gym goer, tattooed and pierced badass of a woman. we've gotten plenty of tattoos together, mostly on whims. before the panorama* we would go dancing to bembe on our Brooklyn escapades, chug wine in the car, dance till we had blisters and have greasy halal food at unholy hours of the morning.
(rebel girl plays in the background) ***we protest together, go to concerts together, we eat and drink way too much and we know exactly how to annoy each other. my mom treats Kelly as an extended daughter and besides her rough sometimes intimidating exterior, Kelly is a romantic at heart. my mom hated visible tattoos because it reminded her of pirates, yes pirates. eventually when she met Kelly she couldn't help but adore her and slowly her view on people that are heavily pierced and tattooed changed.
Kelly will always have a beautiful place in my heart because as a fellow artist, she's always supportive and has such a way with her time and patience with me; she's tenacious and extremely passionate, we've discussed some tough topics because of our similar upbringing and culture, similar mental health conditions and the way we deal with life and love. it's difficult being "minority" women in the arts , specially on heavily conservative families, being the black sheep isn't easy. I feel like being around her is being around fire, playful, fun and powerful. pyromaniac girl*- her collection of knives and swords is impressive as it is her bottomless love for Guinness and whiskey. her dolphin chaotic sleeping patterns never cease to amaze me, because she could be awake at 4 am making clothes for her cat, or drawing; go to work, gym, school, sleep 2 hours and go party for another 6 hours like nothing. in many ways we're soul sisters with similar chaotic/night owl energy.
fun fact *Kelly can't lie for shit which is hilarious around republicans, pro-life people, racist, misogynists', orthodox religious groups and patriarchal oriented men/women.