Jimi Hendrix Little Wing Artwork

I had been on hiatus for the past year, when I happened upon a Dutch artist who allowed me to take a class. Her unique style included using rice paper to add texture to the work. I was intrigued, and signed up for a class. This is the first of my icon portraits using my version of the textured style. I have loved and painted Jimi Hendrix on street corners, sold numerous semi-abstract pieces with his image, and two hang in my living room. Are You Experienced was the first rock album I ever purchased. This piece began as a poured paint canvas that somebody gave me. I proceeded to texturize it with spackle and a stencil, allowing that to dry and then covering it in rice paper. I then painted it and layered color until I achieved the distressed look I wanted. I then scrawled the lyrics to Little Wing before I started the portrait in acrylic, then layering pastel, then a teal blue acrylic glaze of over it all for a slightly more vivid color while maintaining a soft focus effect. It's rough, irregular surface adds interest, and retains that raw, street art feel I seek, while being a bit more refined than my former semi-abstract style. The process is time consuming and labor intensive, but the results make me happy. I will continue to create celebrity and rock portraits as I've done for years...but now I'm adding texture as a new element.