Britt Miller

I let most of the summer go by without doing this self-portrait. My procrastination now has me a little panicked, not least because I’m unsure of my drawing people. But it’s time.

The first step is choosing an image. I scroll through my the photos on my iPhone. I want a photo that means something to me, because I’ll have this portrait forever and I want it to be something that I can display. I thought about painting an image of me running—that’s my main hobby—at a race in Italy this summer, but all the photos looked a little grimy. I settled on a photo of me in Florence, taken during that same trip to Italy. It reminds me of when I studied abroad there 10 years ago. It’s me sitting on a ledge in Piazza Michelangelo, which overlooks the whole city. It’s a pretty cool view: You can see the skyline, all the buildings and the mountains in the background. I also liked this picture because it was a full body shot and I’m wearing sunglasses, so I won’t need to worry as much about getting the facial features and details perfect. So it’s not just about me, but also about the background.

Once I have the photo, I open it in Prisma, an editing app on my phone, and try out some different effects. I choose a mosaic effect because I like how it looks. Next is projection.

I decided a while back that I was going to use a projector to do the drawing. Setting everything up involves getting a canvas down from a high shelf, killing a cockroach and organizing the living room. I open the image on my computer and project it onto the canvas, and then I trace the contours in mechanical pencil. This helps me place the body, landmarks and horizon, to get everything laid out. While I’m doing this, it strikes me how cool the colors look projected onto the canvas. I get the idea to paint with the projector too, to see how that works out. I’ve never done that before, but I think I’ll do it. The colors are so beautiful I wish I had enough time tonight to start painting, but I’ll need to wait until tomorrow night. By now my panic has subsided; things are going well, and now I know that I’ll sail through it.

A week later, I have put it on my calendar again to work on this piece. After work I watch some TV and then get to it. As I’m setting up, I realize I made a huge mistake: I had moved the projector since last time, and now I can’t get the projection lined up with my drawing from last time. Ian tries to help me line it up, but I make him go away because it still isn’t working. I debate just erasing everything and starting over, but then I get it close enough.

As a palette I use the cardboard flap from the packaging of the canvas, and I mix up a lot of colors—my usual working strategy. I like to go seamlessly from color to color, though if there is a big shift I do change brushes. Some of the paint I try to use is all dried up, and it reminds me that I never paint anymore. It’s all cheapo stuff anyway, just whatever you can get in a big pack, so I’m not upset about it. I just throw it away.

The canvas is on a kitchen chair leaning against a wall at the back of my living room. I sit on the floor, a little hunched over. This is how I usually paint, even though my back gets sore after a while. Ian is here watching TV. Sometimes I stop to watch, too.

Painting on top of the projection I do my skin, my shirt, my skirt, and then the buildings in the background because they’re similar colors. I’m slapping paint on the canvas because I know I’ll go back in and outline it later, so I don’t need to be precise. Next I do the ledge, then the sky, then the mountains, then the trees. Now I go in with the outlines.

I’m close to being done now, and I feel really good about it. I think it only needs another short session and then it’ll be wrapped up. I don’t want to overwork it because I tend to do that sometimes and I always end up less happy with it. Anyway, it’s near enough to being done that I post a photo on Instagram and it makes me happy that likes are rolling in. I’m also happy about this new process, painting directly over the projection. I think I’ll do more paintings that way, maybe other pictures from our trip to Italy.

The next day, again in the evening after work, I don’t use the projector. Now it’s just cleaning up the details. I’ve been thinking about it all day at work, so right when I get home I paint for a few minutes while my boyfriend is making dinner. I bring the painting over to the kitchen so I can work in the natural light. I add some highlights and definition using peach and purple. I realize my face is overworked and I freak out a little, because that’s how I tend to ruin paintings: because I’m not happy with how they look, but then I add a lot of paint and they look worse. I try to back up.

When the food is ready I stop to eat, and then afterwards I finish up the piece, now in the back of the house. By now the paintbrushes have all dried, so I put them in the sink to soak in water covered in dish soap. Now I just add little details, then take a step back and look from far away to see what needs work, and then I add more details. I do this 10 times before it’s finished.

The last thing to do is add color around the edges of the canvas, a neon red. I saw an art show recently where the artist put neon colors around the edges, and the canvas seemed to glow when it hung on the white wall. It was cool. So that’s what I’m going for. It goes well and looks great. Finally, I put on a glaze. It’s a shiny sealant which makes the whole thing glossy and brings out the colors. And it’s done!

This story was written by Tim Gorichanaz based on interviews with Britt Miller. You can learn more about Britt on her website.