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Animals are a huge passion of mine, and some of my more recent projects include animal portraiture, a subject I wish to explore even further after I graduate from the University of Washington. My dream would be to infuse my artwork with volunteer work at animal shelters, and to portray animals that need a home in portraiture, the end goal being to find the animal a home. The most important thing to me when doing animal portraiture is to let the personality of the animal shine through, and if the viewer is anything like me, bring joy to the audience.
In my works I try to reinvent reality using bright saturated color to enhance everyday scenes. I tend to focus on portraying living beings whether they are posed or in some sort of action, as well as trying to capture their true essence.
My name is Nicole McKinney. I am currently 21 years old and I grew up in Kirkland, Washington, in a big family of seven. I had been drawn toward making art throughout my childhood and started to discover my passion for painting and drawing when I was in high school. Since then painting and drawing have been one of the biggest parts of my life and it is my pleasure to show the world some of the works I have created. The reason I decided to try out painting and drawing in high school is all due to my oldest sister, Jessica, who discovered her talent for painting and inspired me to strive to obtain the skills she had. Without her inspiration I would not be the dedicated artist that I am today. When I got to college I initially wanted to study biology. Obviously that was not what I was meant to do, and my mother pushed me to get my degree in painting and drawing. Family is a huge part of my life and having four siblings and two parents who are all supportive of the artistic path I have taken is something I am forever grateful for.