I love to experiment. This is a portrait of one of my friends. She’s young and trendy and smart and kind, so I tried to dream up colors and shapes to reflect her energy. Many people prefer realism, art that looks like a photograph. If a picture or painting makes me feel frozen in time for just a second.. I adore it. It’s like my heart skips a beat.
I tried something new. 1st step I sketched the image on a treated piece of Masonite.
![](https://crowjohnsonevans.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2C2B28A0-8B82-4C0B-828B-60936335BC07-1024x614.jpeg)
Then I used acrylics to very roughly add in the values. (dark, medium, and light areas)… the sort of foundation for the next step.
![2nd Values](https://crowjohnsonevans.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FED6027D-93E3-4D46-B14D-F649D43180A2-1024x614.jpeg)
Next, I got wild with oil paints and discovered that they take forever to dry. And the thicker you put it on, the longer it takes. I’m talking weeks! But I got some textures on it.
![](https://crowjohnsonevans.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/FA591E02-349A-45C5-9FB3-6E9387654E3E-1024x614.jpeg)
Last step: I got impatient and scanned the painting into ProCreate and played and played and played.
![](https://crowjohnsonevans.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/CF30EBBA-45B6-4764-939D-C4C4B2AF4A9B-768x1024.jpeg)