Legacy

I left painting until late in the day today, and was unsure what I wanted to do. It being Father's Day, I had been thinking of and missing my dad all day (and since 2011), but I looked through the few photos of him that I have and didn't feel inspired to make a painting from any of them.

Then I came across a black-and-white photo in my Reference folder that I had saved because it reminded me of Dad's family, the Wilmeths and Garrisons. The man in the picture was dressed as so many of my granddad Elmer's generation did for day-to-day work, in a white shirt tucked into overalls, and in the foreground of the photo was an old gray felt hat just like Elmer always wore. (I forgot to paint in the hat until too late.)

The man was taking his ease, reading his copy of The Progressive Farmer out in the yard in front of his clapboard house, and I had thought maybe I could fit him into my "People Reading" series. Elmer wasn't a big reader, but my dad, Joe, and his siblings certainly were, so this photo also gave me a feeling of legacy.

It wasn't until today, looking through my reference photos and suddenly focusing on this one, that I realized exactly why I had saved it. The man in the photo is holding his paper with his hand cocked at a particular angle that was so familiar to me from years of seeing my dad read, and it's a BIG farmer's and builder's hand, just like his was.

It was that hand that made me save this photo, even though I didn't know it at the time. Granddad and Dad had almost identically shaped hands, and I inherited them too (although not quite so large!). It was satisfying to be able to use mine to paint this, in memory of Dad.

DAY 16: JOE READS

#30x30DirectWatercolor2019