This is a 24” x 36” oil & acrylic painting on canvas. I wanted to do a psychedelic portrait, so I started with a powerful, head-on shot of Rihanna. I chose Rihanna because she is symbolic of strength and beauty to me. I added depth and multiple perspectives by including close ups of flamingo feathers, and a mountain range with a tiny man standing on it. I also added flowers and flourishing metallic elements to the piece for more symmetry. I used oil paint for everything in the piece, apart from the vibrant acrylics used on the face. The photo below on the left is the original Photoshop collage, and the photo on the right is the finished painting.
01 / “Goddess in Bloom”
This is a 24” x 36” oil & acrylic painting on canvas. It is an abstract piece composed of countless layers. This piece was challenging because I would make a few marks, then have to look at the piece as a whole, and then respond by making more marks to balance everything out to work together. I tried to employ depth and show multiple planes by using transparent washes of paint in certain areas, as well as paint the woman’s figure in the foreground. Pictured below are a couple of stages in the painting process, as well as the final piece on the far right.
02 / “Anomalie”
This is a 24” x 24” oil painting on canvas. This painting is an exercise in realism. I created a collage in Photoshop using pictures of a butterfly wing, a valley, sage with smoke, a glitter eyeshadow, a crystal, and some string lights. I used an underpainting to plan out the placement and textures using different values. I then tried my best to match the reference as realistically as possible. Below is the Photoshop collage, the underpainting, and the finished painting.
