Hooray hooray! I was finally able to finish this large oil and resin portrait! My first ever 3D portrait of a male subject! And he’s got the most insect adornments of anyone I’ve painted so far!
This model is actually a Charleston/hometown friend of mine from way back in my middle school days of mixed tapes and Airwalks, Chris, who I’ve been lucky enough to have a super deep connection with still to this day.
I love the look of wonderment and possibility captured in his face. Knowing Chris as an intellect and thoughtful person, I really wanted to bring that personality trait to the forefront of this piece in an infectious way. I want the viewer to get lost in thought with Chris’ still dynamism as he almost seems to be pondering a clear future right in front of us.
This piece is a nice large size of 14 x 18” and includes a real butterfly, a bee, a lizard, a leaf bug, a wasp, a cicada and two water bug exoskeletons, and a few reproduction butterflies along with a flurry of gold leaf and pink pinwheels the tree outside my apartment shed last fall. Add in a few dried ferns and the painted-on mushrooms and Chris really is pretty well splendidly nature-iffic!
I know most of us are used to painting and drawing the lovely ladies most of the time, but today I’m happy to show that guys can be just as inspiring too! I know I certainly plan to paint more!
4.5.2022
