Families in Frames

A custom-painted frame.

Families are complicated messes, most times.
A maelstrom of the young, middle-aged and old, just trying to get through a holiday dinner with one line of conversation instead of eight or nine. About the only time everyone's in one place, quiet (and, hopefully, smiling) is at picture time.
Lasts about three minutes.

 "My wife LOVED your picture. She was blown away and wanted to make sure that I told you that you did a spectacular job..."

FAMILY OF FIVE

But these are the images that people keep. They used to wind up in frames, in photo albums and in scrapbooks, back in the days of film and print photography. Nowadays everything is impermanent -- easily erased if not saved to a disk or a card.  People are uploading zillions of images to thousands of web sites, and then forgetting about them.

"I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for doing such an amazing job..."

SIBLINGS

Every once in a while, there's a need for a picture in a frame. On a lonely wall. Something big, and uniquely permanent.
That's where I come in.

WINNERS

Maybe it's for a gift. Perhaps there's been some event to be celebrated, or memorialized. Or, there may be a desire to create one picture from several. Sometimes a poor quality image needs sharpened by a sharp pencil.

BROTHERS AND SISTER

Most of these sketches are large -- big enough to dominate a room as the central image. They are overwhelmingly children, meaning that these images will be passed through generations.

BROTHERS!

Each is an original. No reprints, no mass production, no computerized tinkering. There can be only one, from a No. 2 pencil.

NEWLYWEDS

Many are tributes to those loved ones who can no longer join us at the table.

BILL AND ROSE

DELORIS

KARA 'n' KATE

WEDDING TOAST

PATRIARCH

THREE PALS

Consider an original for your next occasion. Or afterward, depending on how many pictures you take -- and how you want to keep them.

hankbonesman@embarqmail.com

willstom01@gmail.com

"Can you draw a horse?"

MARENGO, September 2011

"Can you draw a horse, do ya think?"
Never really thought about it.  But a friend wanted a big drawing of her Arabian, Marengo.
Drew the lady, Emily Love, too.
This one is among my favorites, because it is completely different from any others I have done. It was also among the most difficult, and went through several changes along the trail.

And now, a few words from Emily ...

http://awomanwalks.blogspot.com/2011/09/this-guy-can-do-anything.html?showComment=1316561804937#c3631653422277285243 

 

 

Below is the original photograph, which is in a small frame. A lot of guesswork went into the riding clothes because I really couldn't tell where the horse stopped and the rider began.

I liked the fence but felt the trees would distract from the central image.

I was so worried that Marengo would turn out like a German Shepherd. But the fence and landscaping proved the biggest hurdle. Below is the drawing before I replaced and "fixed" the fence rails.

 

At first I was just going to have Marengo standing on the ground, but the drawing looked a little empty.

Here are a few more looks at how it all came together:

I really know very little about horses. But an afternoon was spent with Emily at the place named for Marengo, and with the happy horses, dogs and cats who still live there. I certainly appreciate their beauty, and she loves them all. I think she will be happy with Marengo again, too.

I am way overdue for another visit.

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English to Italian translation

Tutto il meglio per gli anni a venire dal tuo amico Tom.

Eh, close enough.


I will draw your horse, your pets, your kids -- even yo' momma. Contact me at willstom01@gmail.com or hankbonesman@embarqmail.com

Meow Mix

MEOW MIX, August 2011, 3' x 4'

My faithful dogs, Bella and Corleone, are very upset about my latest work, "Meow Mix."
The drawing shows the dogs' sworn enemies half-awake, in a ball, on a blanket. It's pretty much what cats do.

The black one is called Weez, because he wheezes.  He was bottle-fed as a kitten, four years ago now, he was so small. He's always in trouble but is a friendly pain in the ass.
The striped cat is Waylon, or "Wayne." He was found in our trash can about 16 years ago, has had several brushes with death, and is a badass.

My dogs torture these cats. They feel no love for each other.

But the dogs would be really upset if they knew what I've been cooking up in the basement the past three years: Cat drawings for my friends.

 

Yes, my friends have cats.  And that's OK. Some of them have dogs too. That makes them even better.
I'm a dog person at heart.  But cats are cool in a low-maintenance kind of way.
In fact, they could care less what we think of them. And they ignore the dogs, which pisses off.Bella and Corly even more.
Here are some more cats, drawn in secret and kept out of sight of the canines:

 "Literally took my breath away. ... You are absolutely amazing."

 

  

Want me to draw your cat? Bring me a picture.  Don't deliver the actual cat.  The results will not be good.  The dogs, you know.

For inquiries: hankbonesman@embarqmail.com or willstom01@gmail.com

Two Years Gone

No 401K, savings account, or CD will give you the return on investment that a four-legged friend will, one who will love you for nine or twelve or fourteen years and stay in your heart forever.

HANK, August 2009, 3' x 4'

This is Hank, beloved Chocolate Labrador Retriever, who died at 13, two years ago. 
This is also one of my early drawings, just as I was getting back into the craft.
I would change just about everything on it, doing it today.
I wouldn't change a thing, having done it then.

Hank's been over the fireplace for two years now.
He's watched his little sister Bella grow up.
He's met Corleone, the German Shepherd, who would never dare replace to Hank.
He's seen his cat pals Waylon and Weez get relegated to the basement by Corleone's endless torture tactics.
I love them all, but Hank, perhaps, the most, still. We went through so much together.

There's still a shrine to Hank over that fireplace. Knick-knacks, Chocolate Lab figurines, photos. A box of his ashes.
For two years there have been discussions on what to do with these keepsakes, where else to put them.
All have stayed put.
Shortly I will move the ashes and the knick-knacks to other places. But I think the sketch will remain in the family room.
I like seeing him first thing in the morning, and last thing at night.

He also sees us.
So indulge me this weird little reminiscence about a dead dog.
Some of you will be shaking your heads in disbelief, wondering why the continued obsession? Why the wasted space and time? "Get over it, already. Don't you have enough to do today?"
Yeah yeah yeah.
But those of you who are truly alive and feeling humans will be OK with this.
I am a mess right now, and I'm done. Next year will pass quietly.

Living Color

SWALLOWTAIL, August 2011, 2' x 3'

Surprise!
Not everything in life should be black and white, cut and dried.

So, I splashed some colors over one of my drawings. The result is one of my first watercolor paintings.

Welcome to my house!

The butterfly visited a friend's garden, and she caught it on her camera.
For more of her work, on Facebook, check out  https://www.facebook.com/StorytellerPhotographyImagesbyRebecca
Storyteller Photography is a photography studio in Kinsman, Ohio, owned and operated by Rebecca S. Nieminen Sloan, an artist, author, teacher and award-winning journalist.  She strives to create beautiful and unique images that capture the essence of her subject and spark the creative imagination.

This one's a a perfect picture: The colors on the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly are perfect, and the flower had just bloomed. The butterfly is a female -- you can tell because of the blue. The plant greens are vibrant with summer light.

 I thought it would make a beautiful painting, and I thought on it for three weeks before getting started.

 

It's not perfect. In fact, it's amateurish. And, I went over the butterfly wings with a pencil to bring out details that I couldn't capture with a brush. But it is pretty. and I am happy with it.

The background of greens, blues, browns and blacks (and a little orange and yellow) is supposed to depict the other flowers and foliage behind the pink flower and the yellow-purple butterfly. It has a translucent quality, which was unintentional.

It was a challenge mixing up all of those color variants in a Dixie Cup.  Actually, I used several cups. The paint set was a cheap Crayola kiddie box, with black, red, orange, yellow, green, purple, blue, brown and black. That's it.

Drawing in black, white and gray comes easier to me than working in a color field. It's a slow process, waiting for that paint to dry, and then layering on more and more. I will surely try it again, but not for awhile. Perhaps I'll wait to see what fall's colors reveal. Or, maybe I'll wait 'til next summer and see then what blooms.

https://www.facebook.com/StorytellerPhotographyImagesbyRebecca/info

 "Swallowtail"
A watercolor by Tom Wills, 3' x 4'
From a photograph by Rebecca S. Nieminen Sloan
This piece is for sale
To inquire on this, or other original art: hankbonesman@embarqmail.com or willstom01@gmail.com