I loved drawing people as a teenager… faces in particular. After I drew the okra blossom at the Social Security office on Friday (10/12/2018), I pulled up a photo of my husband on my phone and worked on a portrait sketch of him.

Honestly, I had no expectations. I was 17 or 18 the last time I drew a portrait sketch. I drew for a while, not worrying about what it looked like, just getting the lines, the proportions down. Then I held the sketchpad at arms’ length and looked at it. My first thought was, “Yuck!” It was not good at all. But I was not going to quit.

I noted the areas that seemed okay and then zoned in on the sections that were off – the mouth, the eyes, etc. I studied the photograph more closely, making sure I got the shapes right, the laugh lines around his mouth and eyes, the shape of his eyes, etc.

As I tweaked, the portrait sketch began to shape up. By the time they called my number at the Social Security office, the drawing actually looked like Dave. In fact, as I held the portrait out at arm’s length once more, the woman beside me said, “You’re really good.”

She was surprised when I told her I hadn’t drawn anything but doodles in 34 years.

When I got out to the car, I took a photo and texted it to my daughter, Jillian, to get some suggestions. She reminded me to add shading. When I got home, I studied the photograph more closely for shadows and added the shading. By Friday afternoon I decided it was good enough to give Dave for his birthday.

I was so excited to share it with him, it was all I could do not to give it to him early. Waiting the extra 10 days has been hard. I realize this portrait is not a masterpiece, but I wanted Dave to see it. I wanted him to know that my love for him inspired me to do something I haven’t done in years. I wanted to share my excitement with him. I wanted him to rejoice in this little tribute to him… my first real foray back into drawing.

Hobby Lobby had a 50% off sale on frames. I bought a 8×10 mat and a 11×14 frame for only $14.00. I love the mat color. I think it looks great with the frame and the sketch.

When I gave Dave the portrait for his birthday yesterday, he seemed to really love it. He said he’d always wanted to have a portrait done.

His family handles a lot of estate sales, and he noticed that during the liquidation of an estate, family members always debate over who is going to get the portraits. That’s what people want to have to remember a loved one. I had no idea he always wanted a portrait done, so this was fun to find out.