My Grandfather

It's a stunning portrait Thea.

A wonderful portrait of a fine looking gentleman Thea! Must have been as you said very difficult to it from a black and white photo and decide the colour of his hair and eyes etc. Lovely piece of history to go with the portrait too. Thank you for sharing it Thea.

A sensitive and respectful study. I would have liked to have known his name. Perhaps he has a recorded history in some archive.

Thank you very much Kal, Satu and Roger K for your very kind comments.

Roger, our family has searched on the internet for information about my grandfather and drawn a bit of a blank. As he died in 1935, all this was well before the days of media information and unless someone had a specific reason for charting his life, it probably isn't going to be documented. Everything I know about my grandfather comes from what my mother and father told me. My mother said that he was a gentle, kind man who lived very much in his musical world with little care for much else. Sounds a great life, eh?

I'm interested in your comments about working from black and white. I actually prefer it, as it gives you so much more freedom, though if you are going for a specific likeness, that is perhaps not what is required in a portrait!

Lovely painting Thea I can see the man you describe

A beautiful portrait Thea, you have captured a lovely expression he looks such a gentle man.

Lovely watercolour portrait Thea. Yes, it is difficult doing a coloured one from black and white. I did one for a friend a few years ago and had to keep phoning her for information on the features. It worked out alright in the end but was far from easy.

I'd rather work from black and white than colour, but of course would rather not work from photographs at all if I could help it. Not much choice in your case, of course. Obviously I have no idea if your portrait really looks like him, but it certainly looks like a real character - and if he was a gentle and kind man, well I think that comes through. Sensitively done.

Thank you very much Matthew, Dennis and Carole for your very kind and encouraging comments. I was a bit shaky when doing this as I have rather got out of practice having concentrated on the one liners for a few months, and had to think hard about it, so very glad if you think it is ok. Matthew,I agree that it is both liberating and constraining to paint from a black and white photo. If the photo is old (this one taken around 1908) then the definition is a bit blurry and you have to guess about a lot of the subtleties of the features, but on the other hand you have free rein to decide on colour.

Thank you very much Dorothy and Robert for your kind comments. Robert, I confess that my portraits are never about total accuracy and are more about trying to say something of the character and feel of the subject. Of course, not ever having met my grandfather, all I had to go on was what particularly my mother told me about him. He was a shy man as well as gentle and was apparently very sweet with my brother who was born just a year or so before he died, so rather untypical of his generation in that respect as men usually had little to do with babies. My grandmother was a formidable woman who devoted her life to charity work and being generally superior about everyone she considered as being from a class beneath her. She had little to do with her two sons and saw them at 4.p.m. every day for half an hour when they were presented to her by whatever nanny was looking after them. You do wonder how too such opposing characters got together in the first place?

Very sensitive portrait, he looks like a gentle dreamy musician. Had to laugh at your description of your grandmother, they seem a perfect reflection of Mr and Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice !

A certain amount of emotion has gone in to this portrait. There's something very touching about old family photographs and you've certainly done this one justice. Who'd have thought, all those years ago, when the photo was taken that such a lovely painting of your grandfather would appear here. It's really a lovely, sensitive painting. A painting to be very proud of Thea!

Thank you very much Debs and Louise for your kind comments. Debs, they do sound like Mr & Mrs Bennet, don't they. Louise, it is funny but I never thought of doing a painting of my grandfather until the other day. I have never done one of my father or mother either. Perhaps they should be next on the list?

A very nice painting Thea and as you say made all the more difficult by working from a black and white photo. I think all those one liners have impacted on your painting style in a very positive way Thea and there just seems to be a more sureness to your work , I'm not the worlds best with words but i like your recent work a lot . Take care .

Your feelings about your unknown grandfather show through beautifully. A lovely portrait.

It's been said Thea. Interesting background story too, which I appreciate you sharing with us. Yes, perhaps your parents next!

Thank you very much Dennis, Sharon and Gudrun. I do find the past fascinating and I am betting we all have tales to tell about those who came before us and lived in times that were very different to today. Perhaps a few more could dig out photos of grandparents and try a portrait of them so we can see into their past in an artistic way? I have to be honest and say I haven't thought a great deal about my grandfather until I came across his photo the other day. However, spending time studying the image to try and get a feel for the man so that I could do him justice in a painting let me discover a bit more about him. It is amazing what you can tell from someone's face, isn't it - the eyes especially being the window of the soul.

I find the pale applications of colour within which are concentrated splodges very appealing. I have said it before but the similarities of style with Charled Reid are there to be seen. As you will know this is intended as a compliment. Lovely work.

Thank you very much, Philip, and I take the comparison to Charles Reid's work definitely as a compliment. He is an artist I greatly admire and I have learned a lot from his various books, DVD's and the course I went on with him. I find his use way of using of watercolour fascinating and is exactly as I see it being used. However, the similarity ends with the way he can casually put a painting together whereas I have to think hard and try hard and even then I don't get anywhere near his results.

Not an easy painting to do Thea but you've produced a wonderfully sensitive portrait with an interesting story too.

Thank you for you kind comment, Christine. Indeed, it wasn't easy but I think the fact that I haven't done a more formal portrait for a while took a bit of getting back into. However, I do feel the one liners have helped me observe better and be a lot more free with my application of the paint, which is a bonus.

This is beautifully painted with all your signature traits, Thea - lovely clean and bright washes, gorgeous palette and good draughtsmanship. And what an interesting life your grandfather had! You've conveyed some of the dreaminess that comes through in your description of him.