How are we already halfway through February?

A recap of the first half of Trailblazing Women in honor of Black History Month

It’s hard to believe that we are a little over halfway through with February. And that means I’m over halfway through with February’s Trailblazing Women series. It’s been such a joy to learn about so many new people and have been really loving drawing portraits again.

In case you haven’t seen the posts over on Instagram, here is a collage of each post from the first half of the series.

Week 1:

1. Maya Angelou

2. Ma Rainey

3. Kamala Harris

4. Sister Rosetta Thorpe

5. Harriet Tubman

6. Lori Lightfoot

7. Misty Copeland

I learned in the first week that drawing famous people is hard. Mostly because their faces are so recognizable, but also because I put a lot more pressure on myself to get it right. Case in point: I struggled hard with Kamala Harris and spent the longest time trying to get her face (and nose) just right. I’m still not sure I nailed it, but was really happy with where it got to in the end. Same goes for the portrait of Misty Copeland.

Week 2:

1. Angela Davis

2. Barbara Conrad

3. Mother George

4. Wangari Maathai

5. Vernice Armour

6. Laverne Cox

7. Nina Simone

I definitely felt like I hit my groove in the second week of the project and felt like a lot of the portraits I drew came easily. That is, until I got to Nina Simone. Of course, I had to choose the most difficult pose I could find to challenge myself, but that was half the fun. The other half of the fun was listening to her music while I was drawing.

(Speaking of music, I need to go back and listen to music by Ma Rainey and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Both can be found on Apple Music!)

Have you been following along? What have been your favorite portraits of the series? Any people in particular you have enjoyed reading more about?

If I had to choose, I’d say my favorite portraits — both to create and how they turned out — are Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Barbara Conrad, Wangari Maathai, and Laverne Cox. I’ve loved learning more about Mother George, Angela Davis, and Nina Simone.

If you’re looking to purchase any of the drawings, I have prints (and a few other items) for sale in the Etsy shop and over on Redbubble.

Here’s to more creativity, joy, and learning in the second half of February.

X+O,

Emily