On Inauguration Day 2017, Annie Govekar, a self-taught artist and photographer, was looking for a way to counter the “defeat and uncertainty” she was seeing all around her. She found a powerful antidote in her art by drawing “a portrait of a badass woman every day for an entire year.” Now well past her original 365 day timeline, Annie’s “Nevertheless Project” has evolved into what she calls the “Badass Woman Art Project” as she continues to deliver a megadose of inspiration and hope through the ever-growing number of women she visually celebrates.
The very first portrait Annie drew was of Tony, Grammy, and Emmy-Award winning actress and singer Cynthia Erivo, a woman she deeply admires. “I saw how she was handling negativity on Twitter and I decided to draw and quote her.” From there, Annie’s creativity spiraled as she started thinking about all of the different women she could highlight, drawing their images flanked by their inspiring words of wisdom.
Nearly two years into her project and with an Instagram feed now brimming with portraits of the badass women she’s drawn, Annie’s selection process for finding them remains undefined with no set rules. She told us, “Some are women I’ve long admired. Others I’ve seen on the news who are changing the world.” She also gets her friends and followers involved by asking for suggestions – who inspires you? who would you like to see? – hoping to learn about women with whom she’s not familiar.
To bring each Badass Woman she draws to inspiring life, Annie primarily works with markers, but also likes “to dabble in coffee and drip painting.” She then layers on the unique brand of badassery each of her subjects embodies by including a quote – something powerful, insightful, positive, wise or witty she’s said – within her portrait.
Currently working full-time at a computer and network security company, Annie’s “Badass Woman Art Project” is a spare-time labor of love that sent our WYSKy hearts aflutter when it hit our radar. So we were truly humbled to learn that this woman we admire has also “found a few ideas on the Women You Should Know Facebook page” for her work.
From go, Annie was hopeful that she’d inspire “a few people” through her art. But from the reactions and feedback she continues to receive from fans of her “Badass Woman Art Project”, the work is clearly resonating in a bigger way than she ever anticipated. “I’m still surprised by how many people reach out and tell me how the project is the thing they look forward to most every day. It blows my mind.”
For more inspiration, check out Annie’s “Badass Woman Art Project” on her @anniemgo Instagram page.