Portrait on Scrap

I met a lady artist about a year ago. She was sitting in the shade by a building taking cover from the sizzling hot sun. I took cover myself, and sat about 4 feet away from her. She sat there reading a book and was intently looking at a picture of a painting, her hand moving, mimicking the movement of a brush. I stroke up a conversation with her thinking probably that she is a painter, an artist. “Painting book?” I asked. She looked up from the book and answered me politely with a, “Yes.” “Are you an artist?” I asked again. She is; had done all media: pencil, pastel, water color, pen and ink and others, except oil. (I never asked her why she stayed away from oil.) She had attended classes and workshops on art; gone to parties with her sketch book and drew the attendees. I told her that I’ve taken an oil painting class; done some paintings, but have never ventured into portraiture. She had encouraged me to take it up, and as she looked up at my husband (who stopped by) she said I should use him as a model. Yes, perhaps I can try it; I’d never know what I can do unless I try my hand at it.

Her husband, a nice tall gentleman, is a veteran of WWII; been to the Philippines during the war. Both of them have experience the days of the depression era; nothing goes to waste. To save her husband’s half-full bottle of coke she poured it in her half-full can of coke.

When it was time for me and my husband to go I said goodbye to her and told her she had inspired me; that I will try my hand at portraiture. She in turn had expressed the same, and to pick up her brush again, as she had for a while been on a hiatus.

A few days after I met the lady, I tried painting a portrait of the First Lady, using her picture on a magazine as a model. As I sat on the couch watching TV, I grabbed a scrap paper and a pencil and copied the picture on the clean side of the paper…the other side has writings on it.




















This is what came out. I would say not bad for a newbie. The writings on the other side of the paper came through the scanner. For some reason, if I do my drawing on scrap paper, I do well, but on a better quality clean drawing paper, somehow I screw up.





I tried to do the same portrait, a week ago, on a clean Strathmore drawing paper and this is what came out. Argh! I didn't do justice to the First Lady. Argh, argh!!!! It could be that my hand was shaky then, as I was still ill and not strong enough? That’s my excuse. Ha!

I'm not a professional artist. What I've done here, my artworks, I do on my spare time...it's only a hobby. But someday, I hope to devote more time on it.

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