I don’t know what it is, but whenever I do a portrait I somehow feel connected to the subject somehow. I guess when you spend a week or so going over the eyes several times to just get them right, or smoothing out the cheeks, adding color here and there, wrinkles and subtle touches that define the person, it’s hard not to feel a connection. You are not only painting a picture but expressing an emotion with the sparkle in the eyes and the curve of the smile. You want it to feel like the subjects are there in the room with you, and if they passed on, they feel somewhat alive again. I guess that’s the best way I can explain it. That’s what I try to achieve in my portraits.
The commissioned portrait came from a woman who wanted to give it to her father as a gift, It was of his parents. This portrait was really special to me because first, it was my first couple portrait. And second, I found out they both passed away on the same day. All I kept thinking was how they must have loved each other so much, they could not even leave each other. So, it was even more important for me to get this right. The only thing was, I only had a small picture to do the portrait from, and even when I blew it up to get the details, most of the fine details were missing, like the woman’s eyes. I could not see the colors of either of them as well. I had to ask what the colors were and hope for the best.
I guess in the long run, it was right on or at least very close, because the woman said her dad cried when he opened the portrait as a gift. And that is what it’s all about. To make it that “real” that it touches someone that way, I can’t even explain how it makes me feel. It’s God given and I believe that, and I just want to do the best that I can with what he gave me. It’s a gift and I want to share it to make people happy, and so far, it looks like it’s working. I thank him everyday for it. Have a gift, give the gift. Pass it on. 🙂
The completed portrait on it’s own
The portrait and the original photo
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