Since painting the portrait below I have changed my portrait style quite a bit, slightly moving away from a naturalistic style to a more stylised one where I often utilise a limited colour palette. I thought this portrait was another good chance to exaggerate some of the colours, meaning I was hoping to mimic some of the colours from the reference photo, but not following it entirely. If you want to see the image with the reference image, feel free to check out the post on my Instagram account.
If you’re looking to have a portrait, like this one, made, or maybe have an exciting project where you need help from an artist/illustrator, please send me a mail!
This portrait was the first one I did of late and great singer Nina Simone. It was painted in January of 2020, and based on an image used for the cover of her single, “Ain’t got no; I got life / Real Real”. You can also view this image on Instagram, where you can see it next to my reference image. And if you’re interested in seeing the painting process behind this image, it’s available on YouTube.