She is the future.

I wanted to take a few minutes and write about the second half of my #GirlTalkJLG (revisted) series.

At the beginning of the month I was focusing on established women that I am inspired by in honor of Black History month.  My 'twist' on this newest version of the series is that I drew them as children/young women.

I enjoyed the first part of the series, but I was frustrated sometimes because it was hard to find childhood photos of some of the women, and some of my reference images were blurry.  If you are trying to see the detail on eyelashes or the value change in a shadow around the eye...that's a problem.  Also, in some cases I could not find any photo of a woman that I wanted to draw- like Maxine Waters, or 'Auntie Maxine' as I love to call her.  She is a woman I really root for...but I couldn't find any childhood/youth images to work from.

I had already figured out what I was going to do about this issue...I was going to switch the series mid-way through with a new spin.

Then...the school shooting at MSD happened.  I made a piece to represent that.

And then...one 15th my idea to switch the series made more sense than ever.  I decided to draw some of my own seniors, mostly gals that I have known since they were freshmen.  We came to LWHS at the same time, and I feel especially connected with this group of seniors.  Now, just so folks know I formally asked permission and explained my project  and have written permission to show my representations of them on my web site and social media platforms, which I will only list with their first names.  Since my girls are seniors, most are  18 and able to sign for themselves, so that makes it an easier task.  In addition to letting me take the reference photos of their faces they also agreed to give me their own original quote to include in the work.  I hope I can find somewhere to display these at the end of the month and invite the girls to view the work.  Regardless...the work is theirs to keep.  

(Top Left) Rachelle is in my AP Art class and has really just set the bar with her work ethic and super-sunny demeanor.  She is VERY driven and I cannot WAIT to see where her path takes her.  I think I might be as excited about her college choices as she is!  (Top Right) Shay was in my 5th period class last year and I have her again for Portfolio.  She is low key hysterical and loves cartoons.  Shay loves her family and always has a funny anecdote that reminds me of my own family- especially my granny.  (Bottom Left) I had Wilna and her twin brother in art their freshman year.  She has matured into a brilliant and beautiful young woman over the years but has always maintained that same fresh, positive outlook on life she had as a freshman.  She was cheering varsity when I was coaching JV so I also got to witness her become and amazing cheerleader- I hope she will continue to cheer or dance in college.  (Bottom Right) This is my second year with Val and she continues to surprise me with her artistic talent now in AP Art.  Val has a quiet determination about her, and has really been willing to take more risks in her art this year...I think she is surprising herself even!

I didn't take the final pic of Zariyah's portrait yet, but here it is on my drawing table (above)  I first met Zariyah when she was a sophomore on my JV cheer team my final year of coaching.  (I love coaching cheer- but I decided it was cutting into my art time...so I gave it up after almost well over 10 years)  Zariyah was an awesome captain.  A natural leader that was always 100% dedicated to the squad and really was my right hand.  Like the best cheer captains I have coached, by the end of the season she already knew what I was going to say- she knew to add the level and formation changes, tighten motions, look at timing, watch lines, and clean, clean, clean the movements.  She is another driven female that I know will go out and do great things.

Nine more days to go...nine more student portraits.  A glimpse into the future- and the future is female.