How to Shade Your Drawing
In these lessons I will show you four different shading techniques that are super easy to implement into your art projects.
“Making History: Meta Warrick Fuller’s Ethiopia,” by Renée Ater
At the same time, Ethiopia's message was assimilationist in the way it was exhibited at a "melting pot" event, representing the emancipation of a people attempting to prove their value to a society that had long excluded blacks from full involvement as United States citizens.[2]
Read more “Making History: Meta Warrick Fuller’s Ethiopia,” by Renée Ater
Canvas Art Prints “Queen Bee” 🐝
If you haven't tried printing your artwork on canvas I highly recommend it. Your customers will appreciate it and you can keep your art. Queen Bee Art
Love is color by Dina Saadi
Love is color by Dina Saadi
Artist: Harmonia Rosales
At the time I didn't know who the artist was but my first thought was....now this makes sense. It was that moment of wow! This is an art piece I would love to see up close.
Time to Rest, Paint Brushes Down
It's so hard for me to just stop and rest. Even now I'm writing this blog, but you know what I mean, right? At least I hope so.
The Package Arrived: Art Shipment Update
I forgot to update you guys about this but that art package I sent to my grandmother arrived!
Lipstick Speed Painting
Speed Painting of Lipstick & My thoughts and experience with filming my work. Learning to let go, enjoy the process and PAINT....because that’s what it’s really about.
Packaging & Shipping Art (16 inches by 20 inches)
Packaging a 16 inch by 20 inch canvas sounds easy to say but with two small children, a husband and working overnights, what should have been a seemingly small task to complete turned into....something much more time consuming and I'm so glad I did some test shipping.
Large Canvases – Acrylic & Interior House Painting
Last spring, the arts and crafts store Michaels had a sale on large level three canvases so purchased a few. I've never painted on such large canvases before so I was excited about the experience. For whatever reason in my mind, I didn't think there would be much of a difference working on a large surface. I don't know why I thought this.
Read more Large Canvases – Acrylic & Interior House Painting
Upcycling Your Own Art
A few weeks back I went through all my artworks and decided that some of these works could use some work. I don’t know about you but after a few years of holding onto these artworks I decided to revamp them or upcycle them. Basically I said these old canvases could use a makeover. I…
Beach Landscape Painting – Upcycled Art
Here is one of the upcycled large canvases I added to our living room. Before the beach scene, the canvas was an abstract art piece. I was exploring colors and shapes. See the next images. I was completely filled with joy that I was able to create such a large art work. And I became…
Book: Augusta Savage Renaissance Woman
I initially was attracted to her story because of the fact she didn't let her personal life overshadow her career. As a working woman with children it can be difficult to find that balance. Especially, as a working African American woman in the arts during a very difficult time period. She paved the way for artists of color, women and inspired many sculptors, painters and more. Augusta Savage was an artist, educator and activist, a true Renaissance woman.
Portrait Studies
The portrait below is my seventh of the same one, it's not complete but it does get a little better each time. My peer's critiques don't sting as much and my ability to focus while painting has increased. I'm practicing patience which is like pulling teeth, but I think this is my take away. I always want it right now but that's not how life works and with creating art and writing I'm slowly learning....patience. I don't know the ending of this journey but I am enjoying the ride and I'm enjoying sharing it with you.
Architecture Studies
When I was younger I would stare at the ceiling imagining gravity dropping and floating upwards placing my feet onto the surface and walking around. It was a fun past time. I did the same daydreaming at LAX airport recently however this time I took a few photos.
Muse for “Glory” by Elizabeth Catlett
In a recent blog post about Elizabeth Catlett's sculpture tilted "Glory" I wanted to know more about the art work. Who is the woman depicted? What is her significance to the arts and history? After researching I was amazed. The woman sculpted below is Glory Van Scott, actor, dancer, and educator. Read the excerpt of her story here.
“Glory” inspires Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project
Elizabeth Catlett's "Glory" inspires music. The sculptures of the late African-American artist and civil rights activist Elizabeth Catlett are the inspiration for a new jazz composition. Rufus Reid, a bass musician who's been playing jazz for half a century, uses Catlett's artwork to explore the intersection between music and the visual arts. In his new project, called "Quiet Pride," Reid tries to convey Catlett's sculptures in sound. [1]
Read more “Glory” inspires Quiet Pride: The Elizabeth Catlett Project
“Singing Head” by Elizabeth Catlett
Elizabeth Catlett, Singing Head, 1980, black Mexican marble, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 16 x 9 1/2 x 12 in. (40.7 x 24.2 x 30.5 cm.)
“Untitled” New Orleans Series by Gwendolyn Knight, 1941
"Untitled" New Orleans Series by Gwendolyn Knight, 1941
Read more “Untitled” New Orleans Series by Gwendolyn Knight, 1941
Renee Cox – Artist & Photographer
Renee Cox continues to question society and the roles it gives to blacks and women with her elaborate scenarios and imaginative visuals that offend some and exhilarate others.[2]
Clementine Hunter – Folk Artist
Clementine Hunter is celebrated for her use of bold colors and shapes to narrate plantation life in 19th and 20th century Louisiana as an African American. Clementine Hunter is Louisiana’s most famous female artist, and she is one of the most important folk artists of all time.
Her work can be seen in the Smithsonian Institute, the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, the High Museum of Atlanta, the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, the New York Historical Association, the Oprah Winfrey Collection in Chicago and many other museums and private collections across the country.[1]
Augusta Savage – Sculptor
In the 1920s Augusta Savage received commissions to create portrait busts of W.E.B. Du Bois and black nationalist Marcus Garvey; both pieces were hailed for their power and dynamism. On the strength of these works and especially the poignant Gamin (1929)—a portrait bust of a streetwise boy and one of Savage’s few extant pieces—she received a Julius Rosenwald Fellowship that enabled her finally to study in Paris in 1929–31.**
Senga Nengudi – Artist
Senga Nengudi emerged as part of a group of avant-garde African-American artists active in Los Angeles and New York in the 1970s and 1980s.
Elizabeth Catlett – Artist & Advocate for Social Change
In a career spanning more than 70 years, Elizabeth Catlett has created sculptures that celebrate the heroic strength and endurance of African-American and Mexican working-class women. With simple, clear shapes she evokes both the physical and spiritual essence of her subjects. Her hardy laborers and nurturing mothers radiate both power and a timeless dignity and calm. Whether working in wood, stone, bronze, or clay, Catlett reveals an extraordinary technical virtuosity, a natural ability to meld her curving female forms with the grain, whorls, color, or luster of her chosen medium. The beauty of her subjects is matched by the beauty she reveals in her sculptural materials.**
Read more Elizabeth Catlett – Artist & Advocate for Social Change
Dr. Leslie King-Hammond: Artist, Art Historian and Curator
“I always made sure that all those people who thought they weren’t part of the opportunity to participate in the arts could find a way to become part of that experience,” said Leslie King Hammond, PhD, graduate dean emerita and founding director of the Center for Race and Culture at MICA. Her words are realized with the creation of the Leslie King Hammond Graduate Award. *
Read more Dr. Leslie King-Hammond: Artist, Art Historian and Curator
Valerie Cassel Oliver – Senoir Curator
Valerie Cassel Oliver, senior curator at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, has become a powerful force in contemporary art.
Dr. Samella Lewis – Artist & Art Historian
Samella Lewis, the first African American to earn a PHD in Fine Art and Art History, in creating published works about African American artists.
She is my inspiration and one of many people who inspire me.
Artist Spotlight: Ajuan Mance
Mance created 1001 Black Men: An Online Sketchbook as a reaction against the controlling images that have limited and defined media representations of Black men. Mance will use a slideshow of images from her series as the basis of a wide ranging discussion of art, Black maleness and gender performance, and representation.
Mystic by Nelijah Cox
I wanted to share this article with you because it discusses healing through artwork. Overcoming depression and sexual trauma.
Teacher by Day. Illustrator by Night. Introduction to the works of Artist Cindy Nzeakor Part One: Brief Description
Looking through Cindy Nzeakor's drawings you will see pop culture references, anime styled figures and fashion illustrations.
