The Paradise Hits

Oil stick, acrylic, and flashe on linen.

24x24"

The star of “The Parade Hits” is the epitome of calm, cool, and collected. She leans against her classic car with a single knee raised in a fashionable full-length dress, crossing her arms and smirking nonchalantly, unbothered by the cop car hurtling toward her.

Impasto is used here to highlight her afro and dress folds and creases. Mengle mixes acrylics and flashe on the palette to leave visible blended brushstrokes, using the underlying gray gesso to modulate the final saturation and value of paint applied with varying thinness. Her hoop earring is made from a touch of iridescent copper to draw the eye and create an effect that can’t be replicated digitally.