Ever want to watch a painting grow up? As I was painting one of the most recent portraits in the Gender Portraits series, "Norah," I stopped to take photos with my phone along the way. Later, I decided to put all the images together in a gif, and this is what it looks like. It may be the poor man's time lapse, but it is still pretty cool.

An animated gif of one of my most recent portraits, "Norah," being painted - as seen through my cellphone.

I started taking the photos right after I finished the under drawing on the fresh canvas. Every painting I make starts with a detailed drawing of how I want it end up. This helps guide me through the process. All those movies where the artist stares, memorized at the blank canvas with a quivering paintbrush in their hand are a little misleading, no? It's okay, their version is more romantic.

Why does the painting suddenly turn red? One of my favorite things to do is do pick a color for my new piece and cover the whole canvas in that color right from the start. It has a few benefits, but my favorite reason for doing this is that it gives the whole piece a strong mood at the end, because the color usually influences the way I paint the rest of it.

A big thank you to Norah, my model. I'll tell you more about her on a later date. Don't look so shocked, I can't tell you everything now! ..Patience.

Here is what the final painting looks like:

Thank you for checking in, more coming soon!

Time Lapse Painting