No. 188: A War of Wills

Anthony, 3 Months.  By Tom Wills and only Tom Wills, February 2013.

Two artsy-fartsy types under one roof can either create, or create friction.

I pretty much taught myself how to draw, other than getting some great guidance in high school.

My youngest daughter Emily has always been a good artist, but now she’s going pro, studying art at Kent State University.

Every now and then we try to give each other an art lesson.

Here comes the friction.

 

I started drawing my grandson Anthony, 3 months, on a Tuesday.  I did the eyes and went to work, afternoon shift.

By Wednesday the eyes had been joined by a nose and a mouth. Off to work again.

Thursday, a forehead and some hair. More work.

All I wanted to do after work on Friday night was tinker on Anthony’s face. I had picked up a nice frame and was full of anticipation.

Came home, went downstairs to my drawing table, and saw the note:

“Derp! He is NOT Asian!

Stop drawing Kara and her child like they are.

And yes, I f**ked with this.  A LOT. (She underlined ‘A LOT.’)

And don’t be afraid to actually press on the pencil.”

And then, I saw the drawing. Emily had gone over my work, adding her work.

I was speechless. And pissed.

Peoughed.

She and I have different techniques: Mine is light and “suggested,” hers is dark and “defined.”

I use one pencil; she uses an array of leads.

Emily thought Anthony looked more realistic, more detailed.

I thought he now looked like a black alien.

Friction ensued at the kitchen table.

“Don’t you ever do that again. My stuff is mine, and your stuff is yours,” I fairly shrieked.

She reminded me she’s studying, going to do art “for real,” and can “draw circles around” me.

Aaaauuuurrrggghhhhh!!!

Pissed and crushed!!!  And paying tuition!

Now, I will give her this:  She is the far better “sight artist.”  She sees, she draws.  And paints.  Mostly, she paints.

I see, enlarge, measure, draw, erase, repeat. And repeat.   Eyes first, then nose, mouth and head.  Eyes wrong, all wrong.  Eyes right, all right.

In my opinion, Emily had made Anthony’s eyes wrong.  Too many hard and dark lines.

She’ll disagree, but it’s my blog so I win.

Saturday afternoon, I erased all of her work -- in the process also erasing my work.

I started over.  Eyes, then nose, then mouth.  Then nose and mouth again.

Anthony has reddish, blotchy skin, like rosacea.  So his face was difficult to shade. 

My version is dark, though not black alien dark.

His hair is thin, his neck and chin kind of morph into one.  He tilts his head as if to say, “You people are crazy.”

Emily woke up about 4 in the afternoon and I showed her the drawing. She said it “looks like Anthony” and she apologized.  She said it was wrong for her to intrude on my work.

And yes, it was.  It would be like me painting over one of her still lifes.  Trust me, I’m not the greatest painter.

Later, the drawing passed the Mommy Test.  Kara, my oldest daughter, said it “looks like Anthony.”

He’s the best Anthony that I could do.