Sunday, March 29, 2009

A tiny portrait

I considered writing about the 15 inches of snow that fell here between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning but the photos don't really do it justice and I'm never really interested in hearing other people complain about the weather so I'll just move along.

This little ink and watercolor drawing was done about ten years ago.  The subject is my wife's grandfather.  It's barely 3 x 5" and you'll have to take my word for it when I say that it's a reasonably good likeness.

Every Christmas, for the family gift exchange, I would do these little "portraits".  They all seemed to enjoy them but I started to really hate doing them and got very stressed each year, thinking that one of her aunts or uncles would never speak to us again because of the way I'd drawn them.

This was the last of them and it fell back into our hands after he passed away.

8 comments:

  1. That's a beautiful portrait. I can't imagine anyone being offended by your portrayal of them. I can see it becoming increasingly stressful, though.

    My condolences to the family.

    --Michel Fiffe

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  2. It's always difficult to draw friends/family as no one seems lo like how they look, and if you cater the drawing to how they would like, it will end up looking nothing like the person. Therefore the risk of offending/annoying the person is high and there's no escape from friends/family!

    Kevin, not to sound like a gushing fanboy, but i'm absolutely delighted you've started a blog. I'm a huge fan of your work. I look forward to any and all future posts.

    Best,

    Declan.

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  3. I'll second Declan here. Great blog and a fantactic way to reach fans directly.

    Cheers Nick

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  4. Great Work, Kevin! I must say that I´ve been follow your work for a while. I work as an ilustrator in Spain. It´s fantastic that you now have a blog. I hope you publish here many works.
    Anyway, good luck with your drawings! (and sorry for my horrible english)

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  5. I like the shading around the eyes and chin. Really is a great portrait.

    Did you find working in that small size easier or more rigid for the drawing? Just curious.

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  6. Hi, Patrick!

    Yeah, it was a very comfortable size.

    And to the rest of you... thanks for the comments and kudos. Nice to know you're all out there.

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  7. Hello Kevin!

    I'm elated to find out that you've finally created a Blog!! I've had your Flickr site linked from my Blog, for awhile. I'll be sure to add this one, too!

    Looking forward to seeing more-and-more of your artwork.. All the snow here in Toronto, is long gone. You have all of my sympathies, in that respect!

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  8. Great to find out about your blog. I'll be faithfully following.

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