This is a portrait of my late Father-in-Law, Bob taken from a photo I took of him in our garden. Older faces are so good to draw and this one stands as my all time favourite drawing to date!
It is a work in graphite onto smooth japanese plywood board, which was a dream to work on.
The wood grain, still visible through the medium, informed the piece perfectly as it helped unify all the other wooden elements surrounding the subject as well as the natural lines on his face.
He was 86 years old at the time of making this portrait of him and he always loved it.
The family loved it too and displayed it at his funeral wake alongside a gallery of treasured photographic memories of his life. I was very touched. it now hangs pride of place in our home as part of our private collection.
The image below shows the comparison between the snapshot and the finished work. Note how the drawing, although capturing the likeness of the man, differs from the photographic representation and how the natural grain of the wood, has been allowed to show through and very much informs the narrative.
