How did you develop this composition?
I placed one side of my face on a desk with my hair hanging toward the floor. My teacher dripped acrylic paint onto my face from above. Then he took pictures of my reaction while a friend lit the scene. The shoot was hilarious, with cold, runny paint going all over the place. In the photos, the red, white, and blue paint streaking my hair looked like an American flag, so I composed my picture like a flag waving.
What was your working process?
I picked my two favorite pictures and blew them up so I could see the details. Then I sketched the outlines of my face, eyes, and hair with pencil. I started adding color with colored pencil. I worked section by section, layering the color in very small areas. Finally, I burnished it, making the surface shine by rubbing it with colored pencils. The drawing took more than 100 hours.