Tanner Holmes  "Goat"

9x12, Colored Acrylic, 2023

My idea for this painting was to paint something that had great significance and at the time that I first started painting this Lebron James portrait it was very significant. I was really inspired to paint this because one night as I was watching a Lakers game, Lebron James broke the all time scoring record and it was very cool and maybe we will never see someone come to break the record again. I also had inspiration from different images that I have seen. 

My process was an easy process but a very time consuming process. The first step in my artwork was to sketch the team logos, the number in the middle, and then obviously the Lebron James portrait. I then went in and painted the team logos which took a class time in itself to finish. After that step I worked on the number in the middle which is the number of points that it took to break the record. Lastly, I painted Lebron himself and added white paint in the background to make it look smooth. 

This artworks symbolizes greatness for me because the record that Lebron James broke was very remarkable and honestly it will take many years for someone to come close to breaking the record so to personally see it is very cool. I want my audience to see Lebron for who he is as a player and not a influencer and the great task he has accomplished in his career.

I think the most difficult part for me during this project was getting the color of the skin right and not just using a solid color for the skin. To fix this I started off with a brownish color and then went in with a brighter brown and some black to give the texture of tatoos and the lighter parts of the skin. If I started over I would add some tiger strips with different colors in the background. 

This artwork is realistic because I painted a real life character as it is remarkable. This is unique to me because I have never painted anything like this and it turned out really good. I love that I can tell what it is and what it means.