Have you heard the saying, "A picture is worth a thousand words"? Well, it's definitely true for teen artist Tyler Gordon. Tyler paints faces that tell the stories of some of the most famous people in the world. At 15 years old, he has painted over 500 portraits of his heroes. Famous people—and even a world leader—have praised Tyler's work. Now, Tyler is using his talent to stir creativity. He encourages other kids to reach for the stars.
The road to greatness hasn't been easy for Tyler. He has a hearing impairment. He also speaks with a stutter. Tyler was bullied by other kids in school, which made him afraid to speak. But over time, he found another way to express himself.
"Sometimes I can't talk and get words out, so I speak through my art," Gordon told Time Magazine. "My art gives me power to be myself.Tyler began painting at 10 years old. That's when he entered an art contest at school. His mom, Nicole Kindle (an artist herself) gave Tyler some supplies. He painted a black and white portrait of his school principal. His mother was astonished at how good the painting was, and she wasn't the only one. Tyler won the contest!
Tyler's mom probably had something to do with her son's talent. She used to paint at night. Tyler was supposed to be asleep, but he would get out of bed and sneak down the hall to watch her put brush to canvas.
Tyler creates portraits using "shadow painting." He doesn't paint fine details like wrinkles or freckles. Instead, he uses dark colors to paint shadows. He leaves parts of the canvas white to show how light hits the person's face. Tyler's paintings are big, bold, and larger than lifeAnd people love them. Stars, from basketball player Kevin Durant to singer Janelle Monae, have hired Tyler to paint their portraits. His work has sold at auctions for up to $100,000. In 2020, Tyler was chosen as a finalist for Time Magazine's "Kid of the Year." Later, he painted a portrait of LeBron James. It was on the cover of Time's "Athlete of the Year" magazine.
Tyler's other fans include Jennifer Lopez and Kevin Hart. But he was especially excited when he heard from U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris. After the 2020 U.S. presidential election, a video of Tyler painting Harris's portrait went viral. Harris was so amazed that she called Tyler to cheer him on.
Today, Tyler aims to help kids use art to work through their own challenges. He has over 50,000 followers on Instagram. There, he posts weekly how-to videos. Tyler's advice is simple: Do what you're good at and what you enjoy. While painting comes naturally to Tyler, he admits that drawing isn't his thing.
And that's just fine. Every artist has a different voice, and in his portraits, Tyler has found hisThe author probably wrote this Article in order to __________.
A.introduce the reader to the bold art of "shadow painting"
B.introduce the reader to famous stars who enjoy art
C.tell about the wonderful talent of a portrait-painting teenager
D.tell about the many different ways that painters can earn money