Today’s watercolor experiment:
Dad died 8 years ago today (by the lunar calendar). I lit a candle and tried drawing him from memory. Dad had a distinctive face and, of all the people I’ve (tried to) sketch, he seemed to be the easiest for me.
Seemed to be…
After I finished the portrait, I showed it to my wife. She guessed who it was…. after five tries, the first of which was ‘The Pope’. Go figure…
Am I forgetting my father or am I not translating my memory to the page properly. I will never forget Dad, so I think the latter is the closest to the truth. He taught me a lot and encouraged me to be curious about anything and everything. I am probably not grieving any more but rather thinking about what he taught me, looking at things more in the way he may have and wondering what he would think of what is going on today. I almost reach for the phone sometimes to call him to have a chat.
A faithful image is not as important as the message it carries, the message that the artist abstracts and puts down on paper. Personally, I think my painting does look like my father. I was hoping to capture the light of the candle in the foreground on his face a bit more dramatically, but I am reasonably satisfied with this portrait.
Reblogged this on perfectlyfadeddelusions.
Wonderful portrait. Lots of light and life in his eyes. (K)
Thank you Kerfe. I am a bit surprised how much different this memory portrait is from the way my dad actually looked. The exercise was a good meditation, however, which is the point of observing anniversaries, I suppose.
best,
Jack
beautiful! take a look at my blog!
Thank you very much. I visited your site. Great work. (What does GCSE stand for?)
j
you’re very welcome and thank you. And they’re the exam u take in the uk at 16 at school!
Thanks for the info!