In the zone with the rappers
I can't explain what happens when I paint rappers. Maybe it's the fact that they perform on the edge that frees me up to have fun and use unlikely colours and styles.
When I painted Tupac it was like I was high on something; I was not. I found myself in a state of creative flow and ended up with a piece that seemed to sizzle. I tried listening to his music while painting it. That lasted for about two minutes. Too much swearing for me.
Painting Notorious B.I.G. had a similar effect. It was so fun to do this one. I made a second attempt at listening to rap and was much more successful.
I have no memory of how Eminem had popped into my mind on Monday afternoon. He has been suggested numerous times. I had finished two animal portraits in a row and needed something fun and human.
On Monday night, I created the crazy and colourful background.
On Tuesday morning, I brought in the first layer of colour on the face.
It took three more rounds of painting through the day to bring it to completion. It is a rare time when I go beyond my 4 pm cut-off point, but I certainly did with Eminem. I couldn't stop.
He sold immediately, disappointing several people, including a client who had made a request some time ago for a painting of this famous rapper. Feeling bad that I had missed this client's request, I committed to doing another portrait, a new one, right away. It became Eminem week in Birdsong Studio.
I started, as I often do, by laying down warm tones: alizarin crimson, cadmium orange, deep yellow, and dioxizine purple. That took most of the afternoon. After dinner, I started going crazy with little dabs of colour, utilizing my "block" technique. Again, I felt like I was in that special place of creative flow and didn't want to stop.
When I painted Tupac it was like I was high on something; I was not. I found myself in a state of creative flow and ended up with a piece that seemed to sizzle. I tried listening to his music while painting it. That lasted for about two minutes. Too much swearing for me.
Painting Notorious B.I.G. had a similar effect. It was so fun to do this one. I made a second attempt at listening to rap and was much more successful.
I have no memory of how Eminem had popped into my mind on Monday afternoon. He has been suggested numerous times. I had finished two animal portraits in a row and needed something fun and human.
On Monday night, I created the crazy and colourful background.
On Tuesday morning, I brought in the first layer of colour on the face.
It took three more rounds of painting through the day to bring it to completion. It is a rare time when I go beyond my 4 pm cut-off point, but I certainly did with Eminem. I couldn't stop.
He sold immediately, disappointing several people, including a client who had made a request some time ago for a painting of this famous rapper. Feeling bad that I had missed this client's request, I committed to doing another portrait, a new one, right away. It became Eminem week in Birdsong Studio.
I started, as I often do, by laying down warm tones: alizarin crimson, cadmium orange, deep yellow, and dioxizine purple. That took most of the afternoon. After dinner, I started going crazy with little dabs of colour, utilizing my "block" technique. Again, I felt like I was in that special place of creative flow and didn't want to stop.
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