Recently, I painted a portrait of 
For the last couple of years, I've mostly been painting so-so abstracts and messing with AI art, so my skills felt rusty. The initial brushwork wasn't coming out great, so I switched to knife painting, and that didn't really help. When the piece got to the point illustrated below, I was ready to scrap the whole thing and pretend the project never happened.
Instead of scrapping the project, I persisted. Fortunately, oil paint is very forgiving. So I worked on it slowly, here and there, and eventually got the work to a point I was happy with. The reference photo I used included a tree into which the word 'Evolve' had been carved, so I made that stand out and tried to keep everything balanced by using a limited palette. Though technically imperfect, I love the energy that came through in the painting's final form.
Over the years, I've painted several friends. Some portraits, some figures, one action scene involving gardening. But this work stands apart because it was painted without the subject's knowledge. That meant it was a total surprise when I showed it to
All things considered, I consider the portrait an artistic success.
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