Adrienne Bell-Koch

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A peek into my sketchbook(s) for ! A mix of studies for a painting and some v fast line drawings done from life. I lov...
10/03/2021

A peek into my sketchbook(s) for ! A mix of studies for a painting and some v fast line drawings done from life. I love drawing and want to spend more time with my sketchbook. This is where paintings are born šŸ˜

For today's I want to introduce y'all to . Who am I kidding you have to be following them already, right?If you don't ...
08/30/2021

For today's I want to introduce y'all to . Who am I kidding you have to be following them already, right?
If you don't already know, they're a cofounder of .bqpc, a black q***r production collective. They have dedicated so much to uplifting q***r black voices, carving space for them to tell their stories. They are a musician, artist, fashion icon, and so much more.

For me, Basit is an icon for what it means to live a non binary life: joyful, free of expectations, full of creativity and possibility. They taught me the true meaning of gender euphoria and show the world the beautiful possibility of a future of gender play, exploration, and being instead of our current system of restriction.
These are little oil studies done in a watercolor sketchbook.

The next I decided to study is Zanele Muholi, a South African artist who I learned of through her series of photograph...
08/12/2021

The next I decided to study is Zanele Muholi, a South African artist who I learned of through her series of photographs entitled ā€œSomnyama Ngonyama: Hail the Dark Lioness.ā€ I was particularly excited to study her compositions because they are very different from my own. They use black and white photography to create portraits filled with meaning and purpose. Muholi has so much technical mastery over their medium-- and I especially admire the precisely controlled value in each photo.

I started with small, loose thumbnails to explore the luscious textures. The physicality of charcoal matched them well, especially to capture the rich, deep blacks.

These sketches made me realize that their precise control of negative space really defined their style, so I tried a more finished drawing with white charcoal on black paper-- letting the figure be carved out by the light.

I started studying their work purely on formal grounds, but as I learn more about them, I know they will be a lifelong inspiration for how to create in a way that not only says something powerful but does real work to build community and connection.

The latest painting in my .portraits series is of . Like all of the pieces for this project this image was deemed unacce...
08/10/2021

The latest painting in my .portraits series is of . Like all of the pieces for this project this image was deemed unacceptable when posted by the original artist because they are a swā€™er. Head to .portraits to hear Monaā€™s story in their words.
Being shadowbanned and censored makes it difficult to grow a following, receive financial support as an artist, and to find clients for her business. If Mona were to want to exit the industry, many jobs would choose to see her previous work as disqualifying. Iā€™ve learned from speaking to her that after being a full-time companion, side projects and other ventures can be daunting because of the intensive stigma and doubt about the validity of their work experiences. This causes them self-doubt about their art succeeding, but I hope that their poetic message and unique experiences can bring the attention a non-s 3 x working artist would receive.
This was the first painting in the project where genitalia are visible or implied, so some may think censorship was appropriate. Why are body parts harmful? Who do they hurt? Where is the violence? Entire algorithms are devoted to tracking and erasing this content and by extension the people.Ā  The people who saw this photo had to follow (consent) Mona to see it. They knew the type of content they created, and it was limited to 18+. Insta has chosen to specifically attack self-expression through sexuality. This same photo was not removed from Twitter. Instagram is a powerful tool for reaching people and creating community-- being denied access can cause harm.Ā 
If Nudity is not okay on this platform, then why can I post this? Why is a beautifully shot, artistic photograph less acceptable than a painting of the same subject matter? If the subject matter was the problem, all the paintings in .portraits wouldā€™ve been deleted. But they havenā€™t. They havenā€™t even been threatened.

.Studio .portraits

Iā€™ve been craving change and growth lately, in my life and art. While scrollingĀ  through posts by amazing artists and cr...
08/10/2021

Iā€™ve been craving change and growth lately, in my life and art. While scrollingĀ  through posts by amazing artists and creators who IĀ  follow, I realized that I had a huge collection of images to study and learn from at my fingertips! This is just the first in a new series called . Iā€™m taking the artistic tradition of painting or drawing copies of the old masters (think Renaissance or Dutch revival) and applying it to the people I consider to be contemporary masters.
First Up is . I chose his work because he focuses on figure and portrait, similar to me, with a true love for these individuals while expressing a vibrant, psychological space through abstract forms. I was initially attracted to all the color in his work, and wanted to study his color palettes. How can he balance so much bright color in one space? I chose three small pieces to recreate, trying to break down color placement and form as I did so. For me, drawing is thinking-- just looking is not enough to see. Then I replicated just the abstract lines and forms of a large piece, to try to understand how these forms defined the composition for the figure to rest within. I feel like Iā€™m beginning to comprehend what color can do as an independent force in an image.
Who do you follow to get inspired? Share them in the comments!
Slide 5: "Just Let Go"
Slide 6: "Power"
Slide 7: "Chameleon"
Slide 8: "Sassy"

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