Kehinde Wiley (1977-   )

Kehinde Wiley is a contemporary portrait artist living and working today. He is from Los Angeles but lives and works in New York. He is a huge figure in the art world today for his raw artistic talent and his subject matter. Wiley references old master's paintings for the poses of his figures, and he blurs the line between representation from the past and representation today. All of Wiley's figures give off a feeling of power, heroism and dignity taking black men and women and putting them in positions of power. Through his work, he addresses the image and status of African American men and women in contemporary culture.  

He completed his Bachelors of Fine Arts from San Francisco Art Institute in 1999 and his Master of Fine Arts from Yale in 2001. 

Your Assignment

You are to digitally paint a portrait in the style of Kehinde Wiley. It must include the following:

1. It must be either of yourself or someone you personally know and can be either a full face or a portion of the face.
2. The floral background must appear to be behind the portrait and on top of the portrait to give it that Wiley look. 
3. It must be well balanced and have a strong composition. 
4. Evidence of an understanding of blocking and blending using the Adobe Photoshop brush tool. 
5. Good work ethic and EFFORT.

Tutorial Below: 

kehinde_wiley_portrait.pdf
File Size:	2303 kb
File Type:	pdf

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