Tony Bravo December 19, 2020Updated: December 21, 2020, 8:18 am
Artist Tyler Gordon, 14, had to choose from four portraits of basketball great LeBron James for Time magazine’s Athlete of the Year issue, and he chose his favorite, the black-and-white one on the far left. Photo: Nina Riggio, Special to The Chronicle
When Tyler Gordon paints, he starts with the darkest and most defined facial features: the line of the eyes, the structure of the jaw, the shadow from the chin. He continues with the medium-shaded areas, lips, hair and nose, then finishes with the lightest surfaces, like the cheekbones and smile lines. In about 30 minutes, he can create a portrait that might take other artists hours.