My independent project is titled “Generations” I created a series of three portrait paintings of three generations in my family to show the evolution of each person. I don’t usually have a specific art style, but I went down the realism route for this project; that is a place that I feel confident in, so it works out for the best. My inspiration for this work was primarily based on my family; they are the biggest influences in my work; I rely on their opinions and criticisms to make what I do better. In this project, I used an acrylic paint medium mainly as a way of comfort since I have worked with it quite a bit in the past. My biggest struggle with technique was blending and creating a smooth surface with the paint, but it all worked out in the end. If there is one thing that I have learned about myself throughout this project has been that for as much as I love art, I’m not a big fan of working on one project for an extended period because I tend to get distracted and frustrated when working on the same thing over and over again, but that’s part of it, and I can’t get out of it. If I had to pick my favorite piece from this project, it would be my grandma’s painting (1961). I believe that one stands out and shows the difference between the different generations the best. I don’t think that I would change anything in this project, but there are a few things in each of the paintings that I feel could use a little bit of improvement, like the mouth in 1993 or one of the eyes in 2020, but overall, I’m happy with the way they all turned out. One thing that surprised me as I was making each painting was how simple it was to capture the correct expressions on each one as I usually find expressions to be one of the most complex parts of painting or drawing a face, this is because the expression is what gives you feeling and emotions and can make a dull painting enjoyable. I know my work isn’t perfect, but I love doing these kinds of things no matter how much I struggle because the struggle makes it worth it.