PUBLISHED PORTFOLIO

Tinnetta Putney

Tinnetta Putney (formerly Bell) is a contemporary realist artist and portrait photographer whose work beautifully bridges fine art and modern imagery. Formerly based in New Jersey, she is now established in Virginia, where she continues to expand her artistic practice and creative vision.

Tinnetta holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology with a Minor in Art. For more than two decades, she has captured the beauty, strength, and individuality of her subjects through two distinct lenses: contemporary realist art and refined portrait photography, both of which reflect her technical mastery and emotional depth.

Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries across the United States and featured in a wide range of publications. Her fine art has been published and sold through the Ethnic Expressions Art Catalog, Astah’s Art Gallery in Springfield, NJ, Art in the Atrium in Morristown, NJ, and several local New Jersey galleries. Her work was notably recognized with the 2021 Fire Award for Achievements in the Arts from Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

In photography, Tinnetta’s portfolio includes the cover photography for New York Times best-selling author Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche’s Get Good with Money and the Made Whole Workbook. Her work has also appeared in Essence, Ebony, Heart & Soul, Black Enterprise, Business Insider, Success Magazine, Penguin Random House, HYCIDE Magazine, MFON: Women Photographers of the African Diaspora, Money Magazine, Self Made: Photojournalism Project, Sheen Magazine, BLEU Magazine, and The Star-Ledger, among others.

Now focusing on her fine art practice, Tinnetta is developing a new body of work that reflects her evolving creative journey. She continues to explore new mediums and expressive forms, deepening her voice as a contemporary visual artist.

Artist Statement

My work is an exploration of the quiet, formal beauty of the human subject through the focused medium of graphite. Setting aside political or conceptual narratives, I choose to prioritize the visual experience itself: the satisfaction of bending lines, the weight of a shadow, and the intricate harmony of contrast. For me, art is a celebration of the formative parts of an image and the technical journey required to bring them together.

My process is one of disciplined layering. Each piece begins with a foundational sketch to establish proportion, followed by successive passes of shading to build depth and atmospheric tone. I work toward the darkest values to pull the image into reality, finishing with a final layer of fine details: the texture of hair, the curve of a lash, or the map of a wrinkle. Because the direction of a piece often evolves during its creation, the background remains a fluid element, finalized only when the subject’s presence is fully realized.

Ultimately, these drawings are about "color without color." By stripping away the distraction of a full palette, I invite the viewer to find visual satisfaction in the clean lines and simple elegance of the human form. I want my audience to experience the same joy in viewing the work that I find in the process of creating it: a deep appreciation for the beauty of a pencil drawing and the timeless complexity of the people it portrays.