Kelis

I remember the very first time I saw Kelis, I was in my brothers room watching the Pepsi Chart Show. The video for Caught Out There was playing and my 8 year old self was absolutely transfixed.

I grabbed for my oil pastels and drew her as soon as the video ended. Ive been a fan of hers ever since.

I was only right for her to be the second artist I made a portrait of. Her was a joy to recreate and I love the colour palette.

Lianne La Havas

Lianne La Havas

Lyrics from Please Don’t Make Me Cry

For a while, I wanted to make portraits of my favourite musicians. Lianne La Havas is definitely one of them an I’ve been a fan since the beginning.

She recently released her new album and its become a firm favourite of mine. One of those albums where you don’t press skip for a single track.

I really enjoyed creating this piece. Lianne’s hair was the most fun to make!

This portrait will be the first of a series. I have so many more artists to get to work on!

My Self Portrait

Another project I worked on during lockdown is my self portrait. I really enjoyed making it as it’s not often I get to create something for myself to keep.

For reference I used a photo of myself wearing one of my favourite items in my entire wardrobe; a bright orange biker jacket.

I also experimented with a new technique for hair. Rather than cut out one flat piece of paper I wanted to try using multiple layers, just like how my hair is cut in real life. It was a challenge but the end result was better than I could have expected and will definitely be a technique I continue to use going forward.

Hand lettering with brush pens

I bought a set of metallic brush pens a while ago but hadn’t got round to using them correctly.

When the government announced we would be in lockdown I thought it would be a good time to learn a new skill. So I decided to take up hand lettering and modern calligraphy.

Practicing the alphabet a letter at a time.
I started off with basic drills to get used to up and down strokes.
Song lyrics from Friendly Fires Hawaiian Air.
Practicing hand lettering helped with memorising scripture through repetition.
Positive affirmation from the Bible.