Cherry Hill resident Giselle Brown won the New Jersey District 1 Congressional Art Competition earlier this year with a winning piece the 16-year-old called “Little Muse.”
The competition honors high-school students by selecting ther artwork for inclusion in an exhibit at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., that is viewed by millions of visitors each year. Brown is one of 12 New Jersey students represented in the exhibit; there are a dozen congressional districts in the state.
Brown’s winning piece is a hyper-realistic charcoal drawing of her then 14-year-old sister. It is on display for a year in the Cannon tunnel of the Capitol building.
“Little Muse” captures Giselle Brown’s sister with a serious expression on her face.
“Little Muse” was initially done two years ago, when Brown was 14, and she went on to improve the piece before submitting it to the state contest. Brown had been drawing people for about a year at that time and wanted to capture her sister’s expression. The piece took about six months to complete. Brown also finished another mixed-media charcoal portrait of her sister as part of her new “Keep it Simple” series.
“I had my own reason to draw her just because she’s important to me,” Brown explained. “She has this look that she does. Most of the time, she has a very serious look, kind of emotional in a way, but still serious. But I thought it was interesting and I wanted to capture it.”
Brown is home-schooled but also takes photography classes part time so she can enhance her art by learning how to take better reference photos for her drawings. She has recently started to paint as well.
“I make sure they have a very clear photo to make sure that it shows the skin texture and all the little details,” she noted. “I like to make sure the eyes are very clear, especially because they see into the soul.”
Since Brown created “Little Muse,” she has added a hyper-realistic charcoal drawing of her dad and a mixed-media painting of her sister and brother to her portfolio. Her favorite project is also her most recent: a portrait of her father that took her three months to draw. It is a closeup of his face as she sees it, his eyes looking up at the viewer as he gives a small smile.
Brown tries to capture the essence of a portrait when she draws.
“She might stage the area, but she could never stage the true person, the true character,” her mom Jolie observed.
In a typical week, Brown tackles her college coursework first, followed by art projects for school and personal projects. When not working on art, she also enjoys reading, watching anime and hanging out with friends and family.
Since Brown began taking her art more seriously a few years ago, she has also started an Instagram page to share her work and the stories behind it.
To see more of Brown’s art, visit https://www.instagram.com/giselle_v_brown/.
This article was updated on July 25, 2024.
