My painting “Side Eyes Through Tortoise Shells” was birthed from an experimental process. Where I take an original image and alter the image in photoshop creating a new figure from the original. The finished edit is then used as the reference for the painting. From the selection of the photo, to Photoshop, to my mind, to my hands, onto the canvas is the process. When I first saw the photograph of the young lady, I was inspired by the confidence in her expression. The photo alone, exuded power, a self awareness, and attitude. There’s also a certain mystique about her gaze. Almost as if she knows something that we don’t. The woman in the reference isn’t a known celebrity but she is represented as an unknown icon. I used deep magentas, crimsons, and burnt umbers to render her skin tones as an accessory to accent her prominent African features. She looks down at the viewer through her stylish frames fully aware of who she is in this world. - Brandon Deener