John's Art

This old lady was on the front page of the, Saturday Evening Post in 1967.  She was 107 and talked about her life in Canada for all of our confederation time and 7 years more.  Sometimes I would take weeks to do a portrait but I did her in a couple of days; she haunted and inspired me such that I almost finished her on the first day.  I at 70 now have an idea of what makes her look so forlorn; memories are great but don’t hold a candle to a future of which she has so little.

This lady was in National Geographic and is from somewhere in Africa.  I’ve no idea what her expression means but it is a face that can conjure many thoughts on the subject.  I like her very much and she is my wife Peggy’s favourite.

Another National Geographic; he’s an, Ethiopian Christian Holy-man.  Unlike the old lady, he took weeks to complete.  I never tired working on him but he just didn’t fire me up.

This little Indian girl with the exception of a, Paint By Numbers lady with large mammaries, was my first oil.  Literally my first and therefore I think it was pretty damn good, even though it was a copy of another oil.  The original artist is well known in this area and when I remember her name I’ll post it.

This little boy is a copy of work done by the same artist who did the little girl, only it’s charcoal on very fine sandpaper.  In the beginning I used this type but later I found it on backing about 1/8th of an inch thick (3mm).  It got a few honorable mentions in art shows but it’s just a copy with no technique.

Again National Geographic; it’s an Arab Dhow on the Nile.  I don’t like it all that much, too neat and tidy again.  In real life it does look better because the colour washed out somewhat from the camera flash.  It is a good rendering but I might just as well cut out the picture from the magazine and tacked it to the wall.

Originally this fellow was an Eskimo but now I think he’s an, Inuit or something of that more politically correct persuasion.  It’s okay but the frame is better.

Ironsides (USS Constitution): I had no heart for this one at all, that’s pretty evident.  This is probably the first time I didn’t use enough detail and I should have learned how to sketch rough water and rigging.  She reminds me more of the, ‘Marie Celeste’, a ghost ship.

You can use your immagination on this one, I'm not going there.

The Inuit, the old lady and the African lady were done in the early to mid-seventies all the rest in the very early sixties.  I haven’t done one stroke in about 36-37 years but have been thinking about it for some time now but I’m afraid that I might have lost what little talent I had.  By the way, in real life the pictures look somewhat better because the flash has washed them more than a little.  I’m not being modest even though almost everyone who has ever seen my work gives me such glowing compliments.  It’s true but if I ever asked if they’d like to buy one the response is something like, ‘Can I get back to you on that’?  I’d like to have another go but I think I’d like to get some help or lessons to go boldly where I never have before.  I know so little about art but my understanding says that in exciting and inspirational work, you can see brush-strokes and texture in well found composition.  I could be wrong but my renderings are just copies, not art in the true sense of the word.

If anyone out there has any thoughts at all, I’d be so pleased to hear from you.  Just click on, ‘Send Me You Comments’ and you can fill in the email.

You can click on an image to enlarge it but they become, I think too big to help.  When I can, I'll compress the enlargements somewhat.