This 30″X30″ Acrylic and Collage Painting on Canvas of Serena Williams will be auctioned to benefit the Serena Williams Fund in South Beach this Friday.

Here’s how the painting came together, soundtrack courtesy of MH the Verb‘s recent album — The Balloon Guide. And now for a photographic breakdown of the process.

Beginning with the headline and image collage… I wanted to zero-in on Serena’s connection to New York, her nature, victories and friendships… most notably, of course, her sister Venus and Caroline Wozniacki.

Kicking things off with a fiery under-painting.

As always, identifying the shadows first… the best way to quickly capture a likeness.

Getting into the secondary and tertiary shadows… at this point, I realized the background required some blue.

This change was critical in mixing the highlights.

My first attempt didn’t work out… the tone looked OK, but I wanted to capture the spirit of Serena… her competitive energy in a moment of relaxed beauty.

There it is… the highlights are mixed yellows and oranges…

Painting the top of the background, allowing the figures in various states to float in a field of light blue with visible brush strokes.  With the blue in the bikini top, I looked to strike a hot/cold balance.

And completed! Serena Williams… tennis champion, (role) model, humanitarian… and now, a collage painting. Here’s hoping Serena loves it, and most importantly, raises a great deal of money for charity.

UPDATE: I’m pleased to report, the painting auctioned for $14,000.

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