Leah Tinari said she found the process of painting one man after another frustrating.
An artist was inspired to create a book of portraits of powerful women after her 6-year-old son requested images of the presidents.
Leah Tinari told Inside Edition her son, who loves American history, wanted to put pictures of the presidents on his bedroom walls. So after failing to find any they liked, Tinari painted them for him. But it didn't sit well with her.
"I painted one white American male after another until Obama, and I was really frustrated," she told Inside Edition's Megan Alexander.
When Carrie Fisher passed away, Tinari decided to paint a portrait of her – and didn't stop there.
Now she has created portraits of 24 inspiring women, including Dolly Parton, Aretha Franklin and soccer star Abby Wambach, which she's turned into a book, "Limitless: 24 Remarkable America Woman of Vision, Grit and Guts." Fisher's image graces the cover.
"The character she played, Princess Leia, I went to see 'Empire Strikes Back' and I remember leaving there, 'Oh my gosh, she's this different kind of princess,'" she said.
Tinari said she hopes the book inspires both girls and boys.
"I think girls need to see but ... I'm raising a boy and I think it's so important," she said. "We need to have our American boys looking up to women, and [know] that men and women are equal, and my son can look up to me as much as he looks up to his father."
"Limitless" is in bookstores now and is available on Amazon.
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