A couple months ago a friend reached out and told me his brother just passed away. He said he saw some of my paintings online and wanted to know if he could request something to commemorate him and their mother that passed not long before that. He told me his brother went by the nickname 'Bear' (which I think is hilarious and awesome), and that his mother loved owls. I promised him after I finished up my big "Taco" project that I would hop right on it.
I browsed the web for pictures, drawings, and paintings of bears. Black bears, polar bears, grizzly bears, you name it. I just needed something to help me figure out what to paint. I came across a sketch of a big goofy smiling bear and it was perfect. I'm sure with a nickname like 'Bear' you gotta smile a lot and have a hearty laugh. I pictured in my head what would happen if a cute little poofy owl planted itself on the bear's head, how would he react... he would probably lean his head back and chuckle.
I asked the squeeze to impersonate the bear in that moment, just to see what he would come up with. We both grabbed our sides laughing as he let out an honest and cheerful 'huyah huyah huyah!'
We both crack up whenever we look at the painting, I hope it brings my friend the same joy and entertainment it's brought us (I made sure to snap several pics so we could refer back to it if we need a good laugh)!
Bet he loves it. The colors and expression just work. Whimsical.
ReplyDeleteI did a portrait for a woman whose son died. The portrait was of the son holding his little 2 year old on his lap. Her son died at a young age, leaving the little boy without a father. The son was killed at a shoot out at a Mc Donalds in California. It was very sad doing it....
ReplyDeleteI can't image... I'm not sure how his brother or mother died, I didn't ask. I'm sure she loves having something like that to remember the moment by though, especially since it's handmade.
DeleteWell done!
ReplyDelete