r/blackartwork

this piece is called Defense Mechanism

source

Hi all 😊

I’ve been focusing on my proportions and face planes lately, it’s tougher to come across well lit or high quality black subjects and I got really tired of copying/studying European subjects or subjects with Eurocentric features so I did some research and found this amazing bust by Augusta Savage. Here is the link to where I found the reference: https://www.clevelandart.org/print/art/2003.40

I do use Pinterest to find reference pics but if anyone could recommend a profile or board or different website for reference pics of black people that’d be great.

As a challenge I did a 3 hour study as I tend to take my time since I’m a beginner (been taking my art seriously for around a year now).

Any feedback is appreciated 😊

Medium: Acrylic, Feathers, Ribbon &
Glitter on Canvas
Dimensions: 24 x24in
Year: 2025

In 1898, Goldie Williams, also known as Mag Murphy, was arrested in Omaha, Nebraska on a vagrancy charge. When her photograph was taken, she crossed her arms and refused to soften her expression. That quiet act of resistance speaks across time. Little is written about Goldie, and perhaps that is the point. So many people live full, powerful lives that history never records. Goldie represents them. The everyday people.
Through this piece, I honor those whose stories were overlooked and remind us that dignity does not require permission. Some lives are never written into history.
This painting makes sure she is remembered.
Part of the "Everyday People" series.

#BlackArt #MixedMedia #ContemporaryArt #PortraitArt

Here’s a fun piece I did. The creature in the back is my dog 🐶

Realizing that it's over half way through the month and I once again did not promote my mail club to full capacity on any platform😅. But for $9 I run a print club where I send out a new 5x7in print each month! The print club is inspired by fashion editorials so if you dig that kinda vibe you can click on the link and sign up!😊 print club sign up

Have more showing off grillz ! I have prints available for these if you’re interested

After a year and a half of working on this painting, I can officially say that as of Mother's Day, I have completed one of the most important and impactful paintings of my art career. My first completed and signed oil painting, finished in my current art studio which used to be my grandmother's bedroom, with tears in my eyes and love in my heart as I finished it.💗

My grandma and her first 5 children all picked cotton to buy the 40 acres of land that we live on and have family reunions on now. My grandmother was a force and a light in my life. A walking medical miracle, too. She had 5 cancers and no operations and lived longer than anyone I ever knew.

Every flower and berry painted on this piece is currently growing on our land, and reminds me of family reunion trips to Arkansas and sleeping in her house with no A/C😂 Little did I know I'd spend her last summer there together with her before she passed on at age 92. I was a child then, my mom being the youngest of 12. I'm so grateful that I got the chance to know her and build such a beautiful relationship before she left to her next home.

And I'm so grateful to my own mother, who kept me and shaped me and got me and my siblings through so much, including that time of being her caretakers. My mom is the reason why I was able to have space to thrive academically and do well in public speaking which got me to Duke University, where I took an oil painting class and started this piece. She showed me how to make something out of nothing and always encouraged me in blazing my own path, and I will always be grateful to her for that.

I'm so honored to share a legacy with such amazing mothers. And I walk in my life everyday keeping them in mind. I gotta make sure I keep these iconic vibes that they passed on going!🥹

Thank you to every portrait commission that brought me to this day. Sometimes you gotta take the long way around to something that's on your heart. Every portrait that I painted for someone else helped me build up my strength to paint my own and the one that would matter to me most. I sobbbbeddd while painting this, but it brought me closure I didn't know I even needed until I started working on it.🤍 Thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank YOU for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Bc I sure did!🥹🫶🏾✨

(If you like this piece and wanna see more and support my work and even commission a painting of your own, I'm on Instagram and TikTok @gracefineart ! My website is gracefineartstudio.com 🌸)

Still working on completing this piece that will be part of a series called “The Origin”.

Stay tuned for the finished look 🖤

Method : Tufting w/ Mixed Media

hiii everyone!! This is my first post here 🥸.
I just wanted to show this piece that i finally finished creating after monthsss of art block! Wanted to create something fun and whimsical <3

Hey, y’all! I’m just introducing myself. I specialize in hat and scarf designs, but I’m known to make a blanket or two as well. I learned crocheting from my grandmother who couldn’t read a pattern. I’m super proud to continue her art form.

This painting changed my life and opened me up to a whole different community

I’m not much of an artist but I do some great folk work in the pageantry world. This is a bunch of signage I did for my daughter’s natural hair pageant.

She’s too young to have Reddit lol but she’s so talented🤏🏿🤏🏿

Hello, I’m looking for websites where I can practice drawing from black models. The websites I know of (line-of-action.com) rarely use black or poc models and wanted to know if there were any known alternatives.

Here’s an older sketch so I can keep this post up :)

Thanks 🙏🏽