I just finished a new drawing last week, a pencil portrait sketch commissioned by a previous client. This drawing was to be given as a gift for his girlfriend, most likely a belated, but very special Mother’s Day gift.
It’s an 11 x 14, pencil on paper.
I took two different photos and combined them into one drawing. The girl on the bottom wasn’t shown in the original photo of the mother and her younger daughter, so I added that in from another photo.
The nice thing about a portrait drawing is that you can combine different photos together into one cohesive image. This is a great image of a beautiful mom with her two smiling children, and it was wonderful to be able to create this unique sketch for my client.
With this, I think of Mother’s Day that we just recently celebrated, and how amazing mothers are. All the pain they go through to bring a child into the world, the commitment to nurse and care for that child immediately after, and all the love they pour out into their children’s life day by day is nothing short of heroic.
Speaking of heroic, I remember several years ago, when my son was just months old, my wife and I were walking from a restaurant, and she was carrying him and some other stuff, too. (What was I doing? Probably nothing!) She tripped on a divot in the sidewalk and our son went flying out of her arms. Almost like a wide receiver stretching to catch a low pass, my wife adroitly reached out her hand just in time, cupping our baby’s head from what would have been the deadly impact of concrete. She still has a scar on her hand to this day, a testament to her instinctive, selfless sacrifice.
The only thing I could blurt out was, “Nice save.”
These days, a mother wears a lot of hats. Not only does she take care of the children and the home, but she also often has to work outside the home as well to make sure her childrens’ needs are met.
All of that and she still has to deal with her husband leaving his dirty socks on the floor. Mothers are amazing!
Share Your Thoughts!
Dear Matt,
This “Mother and two daughter” drawing is excellent work as your always is. It has particularly good balance to the composition.
Eric
Eric Westhagen–Brandon
Thanks, Eric! In combining three images, it was a little more challenging. Partway through the sketching, I found out the composition was a little heavy on the left side. So I darkened and added some detail areas to the right to balance it out and it worked. Sometimes during the drawing process, I don’t always get it right at certain stages, but God always helps me to resolve it in the end. Appreciate the feedback, be blessed!