First of all, I just want to say I don't think I can call myself a "Swiftie" because nothing I do anymore can me describe in any way as "swift". But I think Taylor Swift is an amazing talent and here's why: not only she is an amazing songwriter, I think one of the best of her generation, but she is a great musician, a wonderful singer, AND, a fabulous performer. It is very difficult to have all 4 talents. There are a lot of great singers, but they might not write their own songs, or play an instrument, or be a great performer. Taylor has all four.
When I heard Folklore and Evermore, which I consider in my mind as a double album, I was completely blown away. The songs were so unique and varied and the song lyrics were so intensely original and poetic they were simply astonishing. I listened to all her albums while I was making her portrait, but Folklore and Evermore were especially inspiring to me.
When I started on her portrait, I knew a few things: I wanted her looking straight out at the viewer, I wanted to include at least one of her hands (as the instrument through which she creates her music), her hair had to be yellow, her eyes had to be blue, and her lips had to be red. I chose a similar palette with which I created my portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but I chose to make the colors lighter and I chose to focus more on purples and greens and left the blues for her eyes. I hope you enjoy her portrait as much as I enjoyed creating it.
