Basquiat Lesson. Welcome. Inspiration. I don't think about art when I'm working. I try to think about life. -Basquiat

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1 Basquiat Lesson Welcome Inspiration I don't think about art when I'm working. I try to think about life. -Basquiat Hi Everyone! I m so glad we are on this journey of creative expression together. I love to create portraits because to me they are an expression of direct connection. I chose to do a portrait of Jean-Michel Basquait. When I work on my portraits I feel that I am in connection with my subject and I love to get lost in that process. I am so looking forward to seeing what you create with Basquiat as the inspiration. Basquiat's art focused on "suggestive dichotomies, such as wealth versus poverty, integration versus segregation, and inner versus outer experience. He appropriated poetry, drawing, and painting, and married text and image, abstraction, figuration, historical information mixed with contemporary critique. He died at the young age of 27. -referenced from wikipedia

2 Part 1- Sketching When I create my sketch for a painting I try to pay attention to spatial relations. Where do the lines fit into the space? The face is a puzzle and each line relates to another to create a whole. After loosely sketching an outline for the head, I break the space up to create a visual measurement. I then fill in those spaces with loose shapes to figure out where the features will it. This part of the process is followed by a refinement of the features where I like to add finer details. Sketching to me is like a meditation. I truly try to focus on the energy of the person who I am sketching. Who are they? What are they trying to say? In this first video I will lead you through my sketching process. I find it helpful often to sketch more than once, maybe even three times to truly make the connection to what I am seeing. 6H Pencil Kneaded Eraser

3 Part 2 First Washes of Paint In the first stages of my painting process I like to add a wash of mid tone color since this is a portrait with a deeper skin tone. I use Cadmium Red Medium, Cadmium yellow Medium, Ultramarine Blue (to down a bit) and create a watery wash. I apply this wash with an inch flat brush leaving the highlights untouched. After I allow this layer to dry, I go in with the first washes of color. My process is to go in with the deeper mid tones, followed by the deeper shadow areas. I then continue to refine in layers. In the washes I like to pay attention to the shapes that the various tones make. I refer to the idea of the puzzle once again because I paint in this way too. Which colors create what shapes? I am always looking deeper and deeper and noticing more and more. Alizarin Crimson (cool red) Cadmium Red Medium (warm red) Cadmium Red light (warm light red used for light coming through skin such as through ear lobes) Cadmium Yellow Medium (warm yellow) Quinacridone- Red/Orange Ultramarine Blue (cool blue) Prussian Blue Dioxonine Purple (cool Purple)

4 Quinacridone- Red/Orange Titanium White Paynes gray 140 lb Watercolor paper Water in a cup or jar Paper towel for blotting Palette paper pad Small liner brush for acrylics and watercolor Small shader brush for acrylics and watercolor ¼ inch shader brush for acrylics and watercolor ½ inch oval brush for acrylics and watercolor 1 inch flat brush for acrylics and watercolor Part 3- Finishing touches In this final video I bring in the details. I love to use fine brushes to truly refine and focus on the depth and areas that I truly want to see come through such as the eyes. I am paying attention again to the shapes that

5 are made, the depth of the line color and where to focus on highlights in the eye and other areas. I also love to do final washes of color that make have faded while drying in the earlier processes. Final touches are created with a china marker to create rough outlines. I love the loose expressive feeling of the china marker. Alizarin Crimson (cool red) Cadmium Red Medium (warm red) Cadmium Red light (warm light red used for light coming through skin such as through ear lobes) Cadmium Yellow Medium (warm yellow Ultramarine Blue (cool blue) Prussian Blue Dioxonine Purple (cool Purple) Quinacridone- Red/Orange Titanium White Paynes gray 140 lb Watercolor paper Water in a cup or jar Paper towel for blotting Palette paper pad Small liner brush for acrylics and watercolor Small shader brush for acrylics and watercolor ¼ inch shader brush for acrylics and watercolor ½ inch oval brush for acrylics and watercolor 1 inch flat brush for acrylics and watercolor China Marker

6 Goodbye and Thank You!! I want to say thank you for choosing to come on this journey. When you hear that creativity takes courage, it is the ultimate truth. To sit in front of a blank slate and make something that seems impossible possible is creating somewhat of a miracle. Each piece of art you create is truly yours. Each is a step on your journey. I see this as a path of self care and self realization. What I hope to offer you is support on your path. I hope that we will learn together, play together, get frustrated together, rise up together and create art that is unique to each of us. What a gift. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!!!!