Portrait Revolution

This book has grown out of an international collaborative project known as Julia Kay’s Portrait Party in which hundreds of artists from all over the world have come together online and made tens of thousands of portraits of each other, working from photographs posted online. Along the way oil painters, iPad artists, professional artists and beginners, bus drivers and architects have learned from and influenced each other, become friends and begun meeting up in person all over the world. Portrait Revolution draws on the work of many of these artists to show how the idea of a portrait can be interpreted in many different and creative ways, making portraiture accessible to anyone. The book features hundreds of portraits in a huge variety of media including drawing (pencil, charcoal), painting (oils, watercolours, acrylics), pastels, prints, digital media, mosaic and collage. It showcases different styles from realism to caricature, showing how artists approach and interpret the same subject in different ways. Also included are helpful tips and considerations for creating a portrait fro a photograph and drawing from life.

Author Biography

Julia L. Kay†is a painter, printmaker, photographer, muralist and digital artist who was born and raised in New York City. She has a BA in Photography from Wesleyan University and did graduate work at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She lives in San Francisco, where sheís had the opportunity to complete commissions and to exhibit locally and internationally.

Julia launched her Portrait Party in 2010 when a personal project to draw herself every day for three years was drawing to a close.†By the time†Portrait Revolution†was published, Julia Kay’s Portrait Party had grown to more than 1000 members from 50 countries who had made more than 50,000 portraits. The portraits in the book were curated from this pool of portraits. The group continues to thrive and welcomes new members.