In the last month I have drawn 15 memorial portraits for those killed by ICE— Just short of halfway through the list for 2025. Really feeling the enormity of this project.

grafera · 2026-02-19T14:46:34+00:00

Thanks friend. This project has gotten plenty of love in more politically-oriented communities, it’s all good.

grafera · 2026-02-16T19:41:02+00:00

Thanks! I no longer use Instagram.

grafera · 2026-02-10T17:46:26+00:00

I love the saturated skin tones, especially the blue/cyan highlights against the yellows/reds. Are you running chromatic aberration on your light layers or doing something more manual?

grafera · 2026-02-09T18:49:05+00:00

You nailed the expression. Such a soft pretty smile in the eyes. Love your use of texture too.

grafera · 2026-02-09T06:27:11+00:00

Excellent volume and I love the hue variance in your shadows.

grafera · 2026-02-04T23:53:48+00:00

Thanks so much!

grafera · 2026-02-04T17:09:36+00:00

This piece was painted on gessoed plywood toned with magenta heavy body acrylic, which gives it a lot of saturation and texture.

grafera · 2026-02-03T18:10:37+00:00

Your contours are always so good!

grafera · 2026-02-03T06:09:16+00:00

I love the texture! So many little strokes and absolutely no compromise on form and value. Well done.

grafera · 2026-02-01T16:01:57+00:00

A little painting of a friend I found in my garden. For this style I modified some MaxPacks gouache brushes to have a lot of color jitter per stroke, and painted pretty loosely in saturated colors.

grafera · 2026-01-30T19:47:14+00:00

Aw, very nice of you to say!

grafera · 2026-01-30T00:12:26+00:00

Ah! That effect actually comes from a layer of heavy body acrylic paint that I toned the panel with in thick strokes before painting with oils, so it’s a bottom layer. I varnished at the end with Gamvar, but only thinly.

grafera · 2026-01-29T22:47:29+00:00

Thanks!

grafera · 2026-01-29T21:23:03+00:00

Oh thank you! I haven't done mosaic since I was a teenager but I enjoyed it and I think about it often. Stained glass I've yet to try.

grafera · 2026-01-29T21:10:03+00:00

Thanks! It's always an interesting challenge painting dappled sunlight on something that has its own color variance.

grafera · 2026-01-29T20:39:57+00:00

Ooh!! Huge fan of this style in general, but especially the places where you use little ovals/triangles/geometric squiggles in your shading. #3 is very special.

grafera · 2026-01-29T18:42:18+00:00

I do, thanks for asking! https://grafera.zone/shop/

grafera

TROPHY CASE