Sunday, July 11, 2021

The Coolest Cat

acrylic on canvas paper mounted on board, 12" x 12"

This portrait of Nat King Cole is the second in a series I'm doing of Black American singers and musicians, and I've decided to expand the category to include Black artists of all stripes.  This one was painted with a very limited palette of burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, ivory black, and white.  The portrait of Billie Holiday was also done with a limited palette, the same as this with the addition of Indian yellow.  

Nat King Cole is one of my all-time favorite singers, and his version of "Nature Boy" is, quite frankly, one for a time capsule; it is the definitive rendition of one of the most poignantly beautiful songs ever written, and NKC's voice lifts it to the heavens.

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