"A man's dying is more his survivor's affair than his own" (--Thomas Mann)

Part two in the saga of this portrait attempt:

Well, now I've built up more detail in this piece. It's taken on a little more shape if you compare yesterday's initial stages. It still needs more work, and I've added a simple, kind of nondescript background, which I'll talk about in another post. I worked on the shadow side of the face a bit, and corrected the eyes a bit, as well as the hair. I deepened the jacket tones some, and then went in and deepened and lifted some color from the tie to try to make it look a bit dimensional. Overall, I'm pleased enough with it, (although honestly, he doesn't really resemble the reference photo at all!) But as a portrait study, it's not bad. It's just not particularly "dramatic," or expressive, and I'd like to become confident enough to project some of that in my work...one of these days, right? I tell myself, "Rome wasn't built in a day."

I'm also building another piece I showed you that I started a week or so ago. It still has a way to go as well, and I have to add the dreaded background, as well, but it's developing. Notice I made the shoes black, which was my intent all along. I added the green, and deepened the yellow tones to try to "punch" that shadow a bit. Ever so slowly, but surely...

And as Monty Python would say--"now for something completely different..."

OK--Now, I don't mean this in a morbid way at all, but have you ever thought about what you want done with you when you die?

I have always loved travel, and seeing the world as much as I can. I want my son to experience other cultures and see some of this big old globe as well, before he dies... So, I told him often, while he was growing up, that I want him, when I die, to take my ashes, and scatter me a little bit in Venice, Tuscany, around Lago Maggiore, and maybe a little bit in Provence, and maybe the Netherlands, and Greece. That way, if he follows my wishes, he will have seen some of the world that I've found really beautiful!

Typically, Eric rolls his eyes when I discuss this matter, and says that "even in death, I'm going to be high maintenance."

Joe tells me Eric will probably take my urn of ashes and toss me out the window in a Walmart parking lot one day.

"A person starts dying when they stop dreaming." (--Brian Williams)